X

Year:  2022

Director:  Ti West

Screenplay:  Ti West

Starring:  Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, Scott Mescudi

Running Time:  107 minutes

Genre:  Horror

Texas, 1979:  A group of aspiring filmmakers: actors Maxine Minx (Goth), Bobby Lynne (Snow) and Jackson Hole (Mescudi), producer Wayne Gilroy (Henderson), director RJ Nichols (Campbell) and boom operator Lorraine (Ortega), head to a remote farm where they plan to shoot a pornographic film called The Farmer's Daughter.  They rent a house on the property from the elderly couple who own the farm, but when the couple find out what kind of film they are making, the filmmakers find themselves fighting to survive.

Writer, producer and director Ti West made his name with horror films such as House of the Devil (2009), The Innkeepers (2011) and The Sacrament (2014) and this is his first film since 2016's In a Valley of Violence.  X starts slowly, building up it's characters and their various relationships, but when the gruesome horror starts it doesn't let up.  It works as a homage to the old slasher films of the 1970s such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Eaten Alive (1976), as well as Psycho (1960).  The '70s ambience works well. maintained by the soundtrack of classic rock songs.  While the film is pretty much tongue in cheek for the most part, it does have something to say about the miseries of getting older and the idea that "youth is wasted on the young".  It's strongly hinted that the couple's attacks are motivated by jealousy at these good-looking young people doing all the things that they would do, if only they could.  Pearl, one half of the elderly couple fixates on Maxine, telling her "I'm what you will become!" Incidentally Pearl is also played by Mia Goth, under very heavy makeup.  It's very well made, with strong performances.  It's worth noting that the film may be too sleazy and gory for some viewers, although the violence is too over the top to be really disturbing.  For fans of the old school slasher films, however, it is a real treat.  It follows the traditional route of these kinds of movies, but throws out enough modern twists on the formula to make it feel fresh and surprising.  It's almost certain to become a mainstay of late-night horror shows in the future.

Mia Goth in X