Post by Dracula on Apr 2, 2022 21:50:50 GMT -5
X(3/24/2022)
Warning: Review contains spoilers
I do love movies that are willing to have one letter titles like Z or M (been meaning to see O) and now we have a new one with Ti West’s new horror film X. This film is being released by A24 and is looking to be a bit bolder than your average studio horror film but it is also different from the moody and allegorical horror films that that distributor is known for as structurally it’s a riff on the slasher film and it’s more defined by its graphic sex and violence than by metaphors for trauma. The film is set in 1979 and focuses on a small filmmaking unit who are going out into rural Texas to board at a guest house on a farm where they intend to film a pornographic film called “The Farmer’s Daughter.” However when they get there they find the farm in question is owned by a weird old coot and his half senile wife and tensions arise as they begin to secretly film their scenes. Violence ensues.
The film has a very strong set-up. The idea to set a slasher film around a 70s porno shoot is a clever idea and the various porn actors and directors make for a nice twist on the usual random horny teenagers who tend to populate these movies and the film’s cast does make you like these victims a bit more than usual… not a whole lot more mind you, but it’s an improvement above replacement. Really, it’s when the bloodletting starts that things get a bit more mixed. The visuals of a van coming across a rickety house in rural Texas where a night of mayhem will ensue of course instantly brings to mind The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which is certainly an influence but (and I’m going to start getting into spoilers here)
*** out of Five
Warning: Review contains spoilers
I do love movies that are willing to have one letter titles like Z or M (been meaning to see O) and now we have a new one with Ti West’s new horror film X. This film is being released by A24 and is looking to be a bit bolder than your average studio horror film but it is also different from the moody and allegorical horror films that that distributor is known for as structurally it’s a riff on the slasher film and it’s more defined by its graphic sex and violence than by metaphors for trauma. The film is set in 1979 and focuses on a small filmmaking unit who are going out into rural Texas to board at a guest house on a farm where they intend to film a pornographic film called “The Farmer’s Daughter.” However when they get there they find the farm in question is owned by a weird old coot and his half senile wife and tensions arise as they begin to secretly film their scenes. Violence ensues.
The film has a very strong set-up. The idea to set a slasher film around a 70s porno shoot is a clever idea and the various porn actors and directors make for a nice twist on the usual random horny teenagers who tend to populate these movies and the film’s cast does make you like these victims a bit more than usual… not a whole lot more mind you, but it’s an improvement above replacement. Really, it’s when the bloodletting starts that things get a bit more mixed. The visuals of a van coming across a rickety house in rural Texas where a night of mayhem will ensue of course instantly brings to mind The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which is certainly an influence but (and I’m going to start getting into spoilers here)
the film that is also being invoked here both in name and premise is Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Psycho is a movie that’s been endlessly spoiled over the years but the audience watching it is, for much of its running time, supposed to think it’s a movie about a crazy old woman murdering people and this new movie ponders “what if someone actually made a movie that was straightforwardly about that.” It’s not exactly the first movie to do this, there’s something of a slasher tradition of movies that want you to think they’re about young men killing people only to reveal as a last minute twist that it was actually an old woman, but this movie just goes all in on having senior citizen killers doing all the murdering.
This is perhaps an idea that works better in theory than in practice. For obvious logistical reasons West did not hire actual decrepit 80 year olds to play these killers and instead opted to create his geezer and crone with makeup; the old man is played by a guy in his 60s while the old woman is actually played by the film’s 28-year-old star/Final Girl Mia Goth, doing a double role. I don’t exactly begrudge West for not wanting to put actual old people in danger but I also don’t think he really pulls it off… the makeup isn’t good enough. Don’t get me wrong I can certainly see some skill the makeup’s application but it feels more like “monster” makeup than realistic old age work and hits a certain uncanny valley place where if just isn’t real enough to be convincing and I found it to be something of a distraction more than anything. But even if the makeup was perfect I’m not sure these old killer characters are really handled well here. They seem to be motivated by some combination of jealousy, repressed homosexuality, and extreme religiously motivated prudishness… which could all be interesting but I don’t think it’s really handled all that elegantly and doesn’t translate to the screen effectively. Having said that, these old murderers are effective in bringing some pretty gnarly kills to the screen so if you’re a gorehound this will probably satisfy. Really the whole thing is weird because it does have the makings of a strong slasher movie in general; it’s got (relatively) interesting victims, a skilled director, and some well-staged murders and gore, but its idea for who should do the murdering just doesn’t work and that’s close to a fatal flaw.
This is perhaps an idea that works better in theory than in practice. For obvious logistical reasons West did not hire actual decrepit 80 year olds to play these killers and instead opted to create his geezer and crone with makeup; the old man is played by a guy in his 60s while the old woman is actually played by the film’s 28-year-old star/Final Girl Mia Goth, doing a double role. I don’t exactly begrudge West for not wanting to put actual old people in danger but I also don’t think he really pulls it off… the makeup isn’t good enough. Don’t get me wrong I can certainly see some skill the makeup’s application but it feels more like “monster” makeup than realistic old age work and hits a certain uncanny valley place where if just isn’t real enough to be convincing and I found it to be something of a distraction more than anything. But even if the makeup was perfect I’m not sure these old killer characters are really handled well here. They seem to be motivated by some combination of jealousy, repressed homosexuality, and extreme religiously motivated prudishness… which could all be interesting but I don’t think it’s really handled all that elegantly and doesn’t translate to the screen effectively. Having said that, these old murderers are effective in bringing some pretty gnarly kills to the screen so if you’re a gorehound this will probably satisfy. Really the whole thing is weird because it does have the makings of a strong slasher movie in general; it’s got (relatively) interesting victims, a skilled director, and some well-staged murders and gore, but its idea for who should do the murdering just doesn’t work and that’s close to a fatal flaw.
*** out of Five
