"X" a horror fan's wet dream that's twisted, weirdly funny, vicious, and sad

X (2022)

Throw “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” “The Visit,” “Debbie Does Dallas,” “Boogie Nights" and, of all things, Michael Haneke’s “Amour” into the hopper, and out comes writer-director Ti West’s tonally singular “X.” If West’s “The House of the Devil” felt like an artifact of the 1980s, his ruthlessly vicious, effectively squirm-inducing, unexpectedly sad, thematically daring, and twistedly entertaining rural slasher feels like it could have been made right before that. "X" is the uncompromising, blood-kissed product of a genre-passionate indie filmmaker getting rejuvenated and continuing to impress.

It’s 1979, and a Houston film crew sets out in their “Plowing Service”-emblazoned van to rural Texas to make their adult film, “The Farmer’s Daughter.” There are three couples: sleazy financier Wayne (Martin Henderson), who’s grooming soon-to-be-wife stripper Maxine (Mia Goth) to be the next big sex object; young avant-garde wannabe director RJ (Owen Campbell) and his demure girlfriend, boom operator Lorraine (Jenna Ortega); and the on-camera talent, game-for-anything Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) and well-hung marine-turned-porn star Jackson (Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi). When they get to their destination that Wayne has apparently locked down as their studio backlot, it turns out to be an elderly couple’s boarding house because a farm for “The Farmer’s Daughter” equals production value. The ugly-mugged war vet Howard (Stephen Ure) greets them with an unloaded rifle, but something is even less right about his frail wife Pearl (Mia Goth squared), who tends to get confused and wander off. No discretion ensues. 

While “X” does begin with the police-arriving aftermath of the bloodbath from 24 hours earlier, there’s no lack of suspense. In fact, have no worry because even though we know carnage is coming, Ti West does not always take the most obvious steps to get there, and there’s purpose and control with every choice. Even an evangelical preacher on an old TV will matter. The 1979 period set decoration is on-point from an aesthetic level without feeling like parody, and music choices of the era, including Blue Öyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper," are perfectly curated and woven into the story. Shots lifted from horror cinema of yore also feel thrillingly fresh again and evocative all on their own by West and cinematographer Eliot Rockett. 

Though we knew he had it in him, Ti West’s technical craft, patience, and mastery in building mood and dread come across as effortless here. Foreshadowed early on, a seemingly placid scene in a pond with a gator is so methodically paced and meticulously shot that it plays us like a fiddle, only to misdirect and later pay off like gangbusters. While the crew is shooting “The Farmer’s Daughter,” West and co-editor David Kashevaroff cleverly cross-cut between shooting a scene from the dirty movie-within-a-movie and Maxine having a glass of lemonade with farmer's wife Pearl to unsettling effect. Bobby-Lynne’s on-the-couch acoustic version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” is out-there and surprisingly poignant in its use of split screens with Pearl. “X” also doesn’t skimp on moments of true horror, each of West’s characters finding themselves in their own horror-movie situation. A murder scene in front of a van, blood relentlessly spurting on the vehicle’s beaming lights and casting a red glow, is extremely gnarly yet somehow beautifully composed. It then all leads to a tense, uncomfortable, wickedly funny, and unforgettably grisly hoot of a climax, toying with how we expect a horror-movie climax to play out. 

Ever since the world met her in “Nymphomaniac: Vol. II” and then “A Cure for Wellness,” Mia Goth has such a striking, one-of-a-kind quality that one can’t take their eyes off of her. Here, Goth takes on the challenge of dual roles (one being acted in astonishingly seamless prosthetic make-up), and while both characters have a large age gap between them, they are connected by desire. She plays the cocaine-fueled aspiring star Maxine who’s told she has the X factor and wants more, but also unrecognizably unleashes the shuffling Pearl as not only a voyeuristic elderly woman who wants what she used to have but a brutally resentful killer in the night. There is something sympathetic and tragic about Pearl in her yearning to be young and beautiful again and to be loved and touched by her husband, until her violent actions are motivated by envy. In the case of Pearl, a smart distinction is made: she is not made grotesque for being old and randy, but for taking her jealousies out in monstrous ways. 

There isn’t a weak link in the ensemble, each actor specific and indelible enough in their moments to flesh out all we need to know about these unstereotypical characters with well-defined personalities. Brittany Snow makes the seemingly dippy Bobby-Lynne a loose, endearing sweetheart with a backbone and pride in her sexual freedom. Jenna Ortega also just continues to be a spectacular talent, even as seemingly prudish “church mouse” Lorraine, who takes off her crucifix necklace and becomes more sexually curious the longer she works on the shoot. Even with the movie-within-the-movie selling the T&A, there is an amusing female gaze thrown Martin Henderson and Scott Mescudi’s way, too. 

“X” is not some smutty pick-‘em-off shocker that you’ll immediately shake by the end credits. As much as it is a gory, violent slasher homage about making a movie, the film actually ruminates on the fear of aging and the longing to reclaim one's youth, beauty and sexuality, while having a healthy, weird sense of humor running through its veins. Not to steal from this film’s sheriff (James Gaylyn), but “X” is one wild, terrifically “fucked-up horror picture,” and it will be a hardcore horror fan’s wet dream.

Grade: A -

A24 is releasing “X” (105 min.) in theaters on March 18, 2022.