The V/H/S brand property franchise has been going for 14 years now. Its previous entries are V/H/S, V/H/S/2, V/H/S: VIRAL, V/H/S/94, V/H/S/99, V/H/S/85, V/H/S/BEYOND, V/H/S/HALLOWEEN, and also a “Snapchat-released miniseries” called V/H/S: VIDEO HORROR SHORTS. But until the new one V/H/S/MIXTAPE I had never seen any of them (unless you count Jason Eisener’s KIDS VS. ALIENS, spun off from a segment in V/H/S/2).
I’ve just been stubborn, I guess. There’s no real reason not to give them a shot. I’ve just been skeptical because I think the anthology format almost by definition creates a half-weight, insubstantial movie, almost guaranteed to be a mixed bag at best. And I am much less fond of found footage horror than of anthologies, so combining the two sounded like the worst of both worlds.
Still, I can understand why it’s been an enduring series, since the relative ease of making a V/H/S segment vs. making a real movie or even a short that anybody would ever see makes it appealing for up-and-coming directors as well as established ones looking for something fun to do. Some of the directors who have taken part who I have enjoyed movies from include Adam Wingard (THE GUEST), Ti West (PEARL), Chloe Okuno (WATCHER), Nacho Vigalondo (COLOSSAL), Johannes Roberts (THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT), Scott Derrickson (THE GORGE) and Casper Kelly (THE FIREPLACE).
And yes, of course, I know that Timo Tjahjanto (THE NIGHT COMES FOR US) & Gareth Evans (THE RAID) famously did one in part 2 that is the only thing every single person who has ever tried to justify V/H/S ever points to. The Daredevil-hallway-fight of V/H/S. Okay, I will at least watch that one. I’m sorry. The way they finally got me to watch one, though, is to say it’s music themed and it has segments by RZA and Flying Lotus and features GWAR. Sounded fun. (read the rest of this shit…)
I did see THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO at the time, and vaguely remembered it having a good puppet (by Jim Henson Creature Shop), an animated cricket, Udo Kier as the bad guy, and especially (since I was still cleaning theaters) two original Stevie Wonder songs on the end credits (“Kiss Lonely Good-Bye” and “Hold On To Your Dream,” and he also provided an instrumental called “Pinocchio’s Evolution”). I think I found it watchable enough. I always like animatronics and seeing different takes on Pinocchio, so I was down to watch it again.
Every summer it hits me. The sun comes out and I start thinking about a certain type of movie: the summer blockbuster popcorn type movie. It doesn’t even matter if I’m excited for the ones coming out this summer or not. And I’m not, really – there’s a couple Marvels and a Star War, but I’m still high off the last ones, and don’t think these will match them. Otherwise MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE FALLOUT is the main event.
