'X' Review: Ti West's A24 Horror Flick is Here For a Slashing Good Time
R: Strong bloody violence and gore, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use, and language
Runtime: 1 Hr and 45 Minutes
Production Companies: Mad Solar, Little Lamb, Bron Studios
Distributor: A24
Director: Ti West
Writers: Ti West
Cast: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Scott Mescudi
Release Date: March 18, 2022
In Theaters Only
In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the cast find themselves fighting for their lives.
The 70’s were the prime time for the mediums of porn and horror (which were both at their own booming renaissance). Filmmakers and stars within their respective fields had moxy, a go to attitude, and a camera to get the job done, resulting in iconic works of art that every connoisseur looks up to. Now, what’s a modern horror filmmaker if he’s not paying tribute to classic horror masters? After decade long hiatus from horror features, indie darling Ti West had returned to give an ode to both fields in one of the most gory, hilarious, effortlessly nostalgic, and unapologetically fucked up films of 2022.
Lately, A24 has been that 100% bitch when it comes to bringing visibility to sex work through the protagonists in their tales and the wild rides they go on. Last year alone, they released Sean Baker’s Red Rocket (centered around an ex-porn star) and Janiza Bravo’s Zola, (centered around a part-time stripper). With X, all the central characters are in the amateur adult filmmaking circuit, and they're all a blast to vibe with. The late 70s was a period where filmmakers went against the studio norm to create the most boundary pushing flicks under the exploitation umbrella, and that notion is reflected the most through the ensemble. Through his screenplay, West constructs a fun group of characters. With their own distinct personalities, they encapsulate the period in their own ways while sharing a similar goal: to become movie stars.
The Texan-based film crew compose of hustling producer Wayne (Martin Henderson), his muse and stripper girlfriend Maxine (Mia Goth), experienced stripper and adult actress Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow), Vietnam War vet turned adult actor (Jackson Hole), cameraman and new age cinephile RJ (Owen Campbell), and sound operator (and church girl) Lorraine (Jenna Ortega). As a pumped up Maxine leaves her dressing room in the strip club she works in and hits the road with the crew to a remote farm location, you’re immediately immersed with this team and the camaraderie they share as if you’re riding in the passenger seat alongside them. If there was an improv troupe who also did pornography, this would be them because their comedy is top tier—to the point of rivaling the cast of Boogie Nights. Yeah, I said it. The ensemble cast are all full of stellar charisma and charm, which elevates the entertaining factor, but the main standout is Brittany Snow as Bobby-Lynne. At the top of her game, Snow’s frank attitude is delightful, while everything she says garners a side splitting belly laugh.
As the crew arrives at a rural farm that Wayne scouted to be their shooting location for their movie, they meet elderly couple Howard (Stephen Ure) and Pearl (Mia Goth in unrecognizable prosthetics). Unfortunately for them they ain’t one of those sweet and dainty old couples who live on a farm. Needless to say, shit gets fairly swiftly and becomes, as a sheriff says in the film’s trailer, “one fucked up horror picture”.
Through X, Ti West pays loving tribute to 70s horror slashers on his sleeve in every facet, nailing the unnerving atmosphere and campy tone in the vein of masters like Craven, Argneto, and Tobe Hooper. While many modern horror filmmakers try far too hard to channel the same energy as the classics, West makes it look effortless by striking the right balance and keeping the story as straightforward as possible. Granted, the movie is distributed by the studio that might as well have coined the term “elevated horror”, but this is as direct as a slasher gets. X is one of the few horror pictures in recent memory that successfully has its homage cake and eats it too. Its narrative isn’t contrived nor does it attempt to do any commentary about the 70s, but instead encapsulates the mindset of the clashing parties. Even Howard and Pearl, a geriatric Bonnie and Clyde, are a ton of fun and have some of the film’s best moments that had me rolling in my seat in laughter.
West embraces the cheesiness of classic porno flicks and horror films through shot composition while putting his own spin on 'em. The foreshadowing is in your face, and while some are just gonna go out given the murder weapons and setting displayed early on and, you just don’t care due to how much fun it is all around. When the film transitions into a conventional slasher, the precision in West’s filmmaking, from ghastly lighted and red tinted background to a fantastic use of practical effects, keeps you glued to the edge of your seat and flinching through each gory death.
Kudos to Mia Goth who dons dual roles and is completely unrecognizable as Pearl. Full of energy as Maxine and uncomfortably creepy as Pearl, this is her show and she depicts nothing but great range in physicality and emotion.
Intense, horrifying, unnerving, but genuinely fun throughout, X is an absolute blast that works as an authentic celebration of slasher films similar to Last House on the Left and Texas Chainsaw Massacre while being a period slasher itself. While it does have pacing issues from time to time, it always has you in its grasp brittled with enticement. It embraces the cheesiness of the films it homages and plays it up in a loving authentic manner as if it is a relic of that era. It’s the cinematic equivalent of thinking that Wig Wam’s Do You Wanna Taste It was a product of the 70s glam metal era, when in reality it was of recent time, but the illusion is so strong you’d say otherwise.
