Year: 2022
Director: Ti West
Screenplay: Ti West
Starring: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, and Scott Mescudi.
Synopsis is here:
I’m not sure at what moment Ti West’s X got me once again
frustrated at film awards. It was possibly around the point in which the film
delivers a tender split-screen involving Britney Snow singing a cover of
Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. It might be the moment when a character tugs at a
light switch. The film suddenly cuts back to the aftermath of a violent attack.
An almost innocuous moment that becomes the film's most effective jump scare.
West has always been an exciting horror filmmaker. However, watching the
filmmaker’s maturity grow as a craftsman within these small moments reminded me
of how much film organisations do the dirty within areas of the genre. Do I
expect Ti West to win an Oscar? Not at all. But watching West create such an
entertaining provocation on a tighter budget and with less pretension than some
of the more typical prestige movies Hollywood tries to inflict on us reminded
me of just how much horror should get more kudos.
X riffs hard on Tobe Hooper’s gruelling 70s opus; The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Like its predecessor, this slasher tale of an amateur
porno crew embarking on a doomed feature starts innocently enough. Aspiring
Porn actress Maxine (Goth) and his producer boyfriend Wayne (Henderson), head
up proceedings with fellow actors Bobby-Lynne (Snow) and Jackson Hole (Mescudi),
Director RJ (Campbell) and girlfriend Lorraine (Ortega) in tow, as they
gallivant off to a rural Texas homestead to film footage of their movie The
Farmers Daughter. They arrive at their location, which is home to elderly
couple Howard and Pearl (Ure and Goth again). The abrasive nature of the
shotgun armed Howard does little to deter the gang from performing their visual
carnality. However, the day’s antics stir something within Pearl. Which soon
quickly morphs from sexual to murderous, with tragic consequences.
Ti West coming off the back of a few years of TV work has
come back with a horror throwback that holds a compelling use of form. The
filmmaker seems to be in his element. Playing with classic inspirations as he’s
known to do. The homages are evident.
Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) is noted in both the dialogue and visually. Maxine’s opening moments of preparation pay
subtle homage to the mirrored finale of Paul Thomas Anderson’s porn drama
Boogie Nights (1997). Albeit without the large penile appendage. The religious
fervour peppered on old televisions holds shades of Michael Parks’ crazed
priest in Kevin Smith’s Red State (2011) as well as the likes of noted,
real-life televangelist Billy Graham. Such moments appear in the film’s neatly
detailed 70s aesthetic as lived in aspects. It never feels that the nods are
cheap.
X spends a good deal of time allowing its characters to be
people. Let’s be honest, this is a 90-minute slasher movie, so we’re on the
lookout for grand opera. But what the film does have is characters with valid
intentions. The film’s cast is headed up by Mia Goth, whose dual role as both
adult movie starlet Maxine, and elderly host Pearl, highlights the young
actress’ incredibly versatile range. Never one to shy away from the sexual
(2013s Nymphomaniac), strange (2016s A Cure for Wellness), and horrific (2018s
Suspiria remake) Goth is remarkable here. Playing both titillating temptress
and spiteful, murderous OAP with more nuance than one would expect.
From repressed sound girl Lorraine (Ortega) whose curiosity
about the sexual exploits she’s being shown shifts almost 180 degrees, to the
rudimentary yet liberating sexual politics of porn stars Bobby-Lynne and Maxine
who are more than happy to toast to the perverts who are paying their bills.
The film is just as wry with its topical conversations about sex as it is with
its sympathetic commentary of its rueful antagonists. West’s maturity has the
director blending in modern tropes of sex positivism along with its scattered
movie references to a more seamless effect. The film's overarching theme,
however, involves ageing and regret. Howard and Pearl rue the fact that the
passage of time has removed their youthful vigour. While the porno scooby gang
has only angered up the blood. If only they could see that such frustrated
desire will occur to them too.
West has been around the block for so long that fans are
wise to his trademark approach to horror. Slowly placing block upon block of
slow-burning dread tentatively on each other before everything collapses into chaos.
The deliberate manner is reminiscent of West’s Satanic panic feature The House
of the Devil (2009). Much like House, X takes its time presenting its
characters, giving them time to breathe before the mayhem starts. What stands
out is just how well everything is staged. Much like Hereditary director Ari
Aster, West isn’t afraid to make the whole thing look beautiful. Delivering
picturesque wide and overhead shots so pretty, they make you forget about the
unnerving isolation of the surroundings. Backlit closeups and grim set pieces
are equally well envisioned. And there’s never a feeling that a scare has taken
an easy way out.
All the scuzzy feel
of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre can be felt in X. But with none of the
cumbersome “gen-z” pandering made by the recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel.
X certainly enjoys touching on topical sexual politics of the present and
playing Don’t Fear the Reaper in a slasher film is just one of the few obvious
gestures that X decides to make. However, West directs X with the kind of care
that is needed in the genre. Creating a horror film that folds in eroticism,
voyeurism, and the ravages of time with a sensitivity that a lesser film would
bypass.
There is always talk about whether the horror genre is in a
period of boom or bust. With no awareness that for the most part, the genre is
nearly always steady. However, what makes the horror of the current age
interesting is its strength in variety. There’s a genuine feeling that the
genre and its filmmakers aren’t resting their laurels on just one thing.
There’s also a strong crop of filmmakers who have something to say about the
world. Even when mining into nostalgia to do so. X displays West’s deft ability
to take what’s come before him and invigorate it with modern freshness and
energy from unexpected places. An effective shocker with something to say. X
proudly makes its mark screaming at the top of its lungs. It deserves credit.
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