Hello Halloween pals and gals, and everyone in between! Slick Dungeon here and I’m back to review another spooky film for my favorite horror movie month. This time I watched a surprisingly decent film with a small cast just called X. No, not the artist formerly known as Twitter, the movie called X. There are going to be some spoilers below but they will be fairly mild. Still, if you are averse to spoilers watch the movie first. It’s a good one so it’s worth your time.

It’s Art

Still with me? Okay good. X is a movie about a group of filmmakers trying to break into the adult film industry in the 1970’s. This rag tag bunch of eccentric folks who cut against the mainstream want to capture the success of the famous adult film Debbie Does Dallas. Our heroes in X are also from Texas so it makes sense they might want to capitalize on this trend. They have a cast, a producer, and a director and they’re all ready to go. The group even has a location. The plan is to shoot the film on a little farm out in the middle of nowhere. The farm lets people rent rooms on the property for a fee. The only catch? Our movie makers have chosen the wrong farm. Also, they haven’t told the farm owners what they’re up to.

If there is any one particular protagonist here it’s Mia Goth’s Maxine (spelled with three X’s in her stage name version). She wants to be a sex symbol and rich and famous and this movie is supposed to be her start.

I don’t want to spoil the movie too much but as this is a slasher film, well, let’s just say things start happening and bodies start dropping. As the audience we have a pretty good idea of who is doing it although how believable that is can definitely be up for debate.

The movie knows what it is and makes reference to Psycho more than once, acknowledging and subverting its predecessor in several ways. The movie is superbly acted with great performances from everyone in the cast but Mia Goth stands out here. It’s rare that anyone can outshine Jenna Ortega in a horror film so that’s saying something.

The movie also has some great cinematography and is very well directed. There are definitely some moments that stretch the imagination but when you get right down to it, this movie knows it’s just dumb fun. And that usually makes for the best of slasher films.

Why the 1970’s?

Did this have to be set in the 70’s? Not at all. But putting it there actually does a lot for the film. First, the 70’s and early 80’s is when a lot of the greatest horror films were made. Second, we don’t have to deal with cell phones and the internet which make a serial slasher killer going around for hours without being caught much less believable. And with such a small cast and low budget, the time period really works. They did a fantastic job mimicking the look and feel of the fashions from the decade.

More to Come

One thing to note is there is a prequel movie to X called Pearl. I happened to watch this in release order but this is a rare instance where I really think it does not matter which movie you watch first. I’ll have a separate review for Pearl soon.

However, there is apparently a third film coming. To give you the name of it would actually spoil something from this film so I’m not going to say the title but if it is as good as both X and Pearl are, I’ll be watching for sure.

In conclusion

If you want a fun slasher flick that doesn’t talk down to the audience, is smart enough to keep things tight and short, and has excellent performances, X is a great choice. If want a great double feature experience, throw on Pearl as well. And truly, it doesn’t matter which one you watch first. I’ll say I am slightly more partial to X but it’s a really close call.

Horrifically yours,

Slick Dungeon