MaXXXine, the most recent movie in Ti West’s X trilogy, pays tribute to yesteryear’s slasher flicks. Is that sufficient?
After I noticed Ti West’s X in 2022, I felt refreshed. Sure, his lurid slasher—set in 1979 on a rural farm the place an adult-film shoot goes very, very mistaken—was hardly probably the most authentic film ever made. West is a technician who focuses on paying tribute to primo trash of yesteryear, be it a VHS “video nasty” (his wonderful The Home of the Satan) or one thing extra visceral and country-fried, similar to The Texas Chainsaw Bloodbath. X mixed the latter aesthetic with classic pornography—a classy little bit of sizzle that didn’t precisely scream “franchise potential.”
However in Hollywood, a success—even a minor indie one distributed by the buzzy kingmakers at A24—begets extra hits. Two years later, right here is MaXXXine, the third in a trilogy of horror photos directed by West and starring Mia Goth. In between was Pearl, additionally launched in 2022, a prequel set within the 1910s that evoked Douglas Sirk’s traditional melodramas amid scenes of pitchfork homicide introduced in vibrant Technicolor. MaXXXine is the primary correct sequel, following the lead character of X, Maxine Minx (Goth), an aspiring actor and the one survivor of its farmhouse carnage. Minx, who has since ascended to minor porn stardom, is now dwelling in ’80s Los Angeles and trying to make the leap to official motion pictures. In the meantime, the Evening Stalker, a real-life serial killer who murdered greater than a dozen victims in California, prowls the streets. Because it all the time goes with West, MaXXXine is an skilled homage, channeling the period’s bloody classics with loads of visible verve. Three motion pictures in, does he have the rest to supply?
Perhaps that’s an excessive amount of to ask of any horror franchise. The goriest slasher film could possess hidden depths—the mold-setting Black Christmas, the meta-aware Scream—however its major operate is offering leisure and harsh thrills. All three motion pictures in West’s X trilogy principally ship on that entrance, even the marginally ponderous Pearl, which featured fewer murders and extra tearful monologues by Goth. MaXXXine has a bitchin’ soundtrack; plenty of sultry, De Palma–impressed lengthy photographs; and a really partaking and salty efficiency from Goth at its middle. It’s enjoyable, however it’s unavoidably a little bit of a mode train, albeit an excellent one.
At this level in his profession, West is ready to entice the form of glitzy solid of character actors that the majority trashy horror administrators might by no means dream of. So at the same time as MaXXXine recollects largely forgotten ’80s exploitation movies similar to Vice Squad, it does so with a packed ensemble that features Elizabeth Debicki (as Elizabeth Bender, an imperious director who casts Maxine in her new horror movie), Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan (as sunglasses-wearing cops chasing the Evening Stalker), and a splendidly seedy Kevin Bacon (completely in his component as a low-life non-public eye hassling Maxine about her bloody previous). They’re all clued into the goofy-serious tone, and I maybe most loved Giancarlo Esposito as a bloodthirsty Z-list agent.
Nonetheless, there have been many moments the place I felt Goth drowning amongst all these fancy co-stars. MaXXXine thrives when the title character is having a very good time on-screen, combating again towards creepy muggers on the streets of L.A. and clashing with Bender, who’s pushing her towards legitimacy. But a lot of the film sees Maxine swirling in self-doubt, not sure of her appearing potential and dodging her sordid previous, all whereas she will be the Evening Stalker’s subsequent goal. West properly conjures up the anti-Satanic paranoia of the mid-’80s, however at instances I longed for the simplicity of X with its one location, tiny solid, and ruthless effectivity.
That’s most likely most evident in MaXXXine’s huge showdown with all of her tormentors, set within the spooky Hollywood Hills. The ultimate huge plot twist is a little bit of a dud, although watching Goth tackle Maxine’s many challengers is violent pleasure. (One sequence with a automobile crusher is very … gooey.) But each time MaXXXine tiptoed towards making bigger factors concerning the worth of fame, or the trauma and ethical toll of Maxine’s previous, I struggled to take it too severely. Goth is a terrific badass, and West’s digital camera loves her. There’s not a lot to MaXXXine past heavy helpings of blood and glitter, however maybe that’s all a horror hit actually wants this summer time.