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‘X’ Movie Review – Ti West Goes Full-Throttle on Savagely Funny and Intense Throwback Horror

Bloody Disgusting’s X movie review is spoiler free.

It’s been almost an entire decade since writer/director  Ti West ‘s last horror feature, The Sacrament . Far too long. Luckily, West ensures that the wait has been worth it with A24’s X , an homage to the gritty indie horror of the ’70s but with savage style and a deranged sense of humor that’s pure Ti West. A deceptively simple setup gives way to a go-for-broke horror-comedy that leaves you breathless, both from laughter and nail-biting tension.

Set in 1979 Texas,  X  opens to the aftermath of a bloodbath, to the befuddlement of local officials. Cut to 24 hours earlier, where a group of aspiring adult filmmakers load up in a van and drive from Houston out to the boonies to shoot. Producer Wayne ( The Ring’s   Martin Henderson ) attempts to cut every corner for their limited budget, first by securing a young cinephile to direct, RJ ( Owen Campbell ), who’s brought girlfriend Lorraine ( Jenna Ortega ) to assist and handle the boom mic. Wayne’s enlisted his girlfriend Maxine ( Mia Goth ), Bobby-Lynne ( Brittany Snow ), and Jackson ( Scott Mescudi ) to star. Then he’s rented a boarding house on the cheap from the reclusive, elder Howard ( Stephen Ure ), who warns them to stay out of his wife’s sight.

The porn production quickly devolves into a fucked up horror picture when things spiral out of control.

West has many surprises in store for  X , but the first straight out of the gate is just how wickedly funny it is. From the little details like “Plowing Service” emblazoned across Wayne’s van to the consistent tongue-in-cheek euphemisms befitting of the adult film production,  X  has a delightfully wicked sense of humor. Snow and Mescudi stand out for their line delivery and comedic timing; their character gags and one-liners land with perfection.

The second significant shock in store is how fiercely the filmmaker matches the comedy with the horror. While it’s no surprise that West knows how to build tension, he brings it to a whole new level here. West, who co-edits with  David Kashevaroff , finds ingenious and innovative ways to create edge-of-your-seat suspense through editing. Spliced scenes don’t just create visual interest; they deliver potent scares. Overhead shots instill unease, a masterclass of terror and foreshadowing with gratifyingly intense payoffs later. West’s intoxicating blend of style and scare-crafting creates a visceral horror experience.

That doesn’t even begin to cover the gore of it all.  X  is a crowd-pleasing doozy when it comes to brutal bloodletting and kills. Some deaths leave you queasy, and some will leave you cackling with glee. All of it is immensely satisfying.

X  is West firing on all cylinders. The commitment to the period is top-level, capturing the aesthetic and vibe without ever coming close to feeling pastiche. It’s all the more impressive considering just how much humor gets injected, which could’ve pushed this into spoof territory quickly in other hands. The editing is a masterclass, a marvel of how West structures this wild tale to maximize the tension or offer reprieve through an onslaught of terror.

Then there’s the cast. The lean, straightforward narrative gets straight to the goods and never wastes time on heavy exposition. It’s all in the little details and the talented cast making these characters feel lived-in with a shared history. We root for this wacky, free-spirited bunch because they’re so charming and genuine. Naturally, it lends well to the horror’s impact.

The setting and period make for easy comparisons to  The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , and West uses that to lull viewers before pulling the rug out from under them. They share similar DNA and pure grit, but it’s a narratively different beast that demonstrates why West should be given full reign to go full throttle on deranged, savage, and intense horror-comedies more often. It’s a blast.

X releases in theaters on March 18, 2022.

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

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Ti West’s X aims its slasher-movie homage straight at classic horror fanatics

Mia Goth stars in a dual role in a movie that pays tribute to Texas Chain Saw Massacre, in its own striking way

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This review of Ti West’s X originally came from the 2022 media expo SXSW. It has been updated for the film’s digital release.

The House of the Devil director Ti West never left horror. It’s been nearly a decade since his last horror movie, The Sacrament , but he’s stayed busy in horror TV, directing episodes of Scream: The TV Series , The Exorcist , Them , and more. He returns to his big-screen roots with X , a deliciously gory, delightfully funny homage to 1970s indie filmmaking that lures viewers into a false sense of security with a fun hangout movie, then unleashes all hell on the screen. By the time the credits roll, it makes sense that A24 would confirm this as the distribution house’s first horror franchise .

In 1979, strip-club owner Wayne (Martin Henderson) decides to gather a group of friends, employees, and a couple of idealistic filmmaking-enthusiast tagalongs to shoot a porn film that will make them all famous . There’s Wayne’s girlfriend Maxine (Mia Goth), Bobby-Lane (Brittany Snow), and Jackson (Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi), who will star in the film. Of course, this won’t be just any old porn film. As writer, director, editor, and cinematographer R.J. (Owen Campbell) explains, he’s here to prove that it’s “possible to make a good dirty movie.” He’s ready to employ avant-garde techniques and everything, and he’s brought along his girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) as boom-mic operator. Of course, given that this is a ragtag production, corners are cut — most notably, the cast and crew are staying at a remote farmhouse owned by an elderly couple who are supposedly unaware of what they’re planning to do. Soon enough, bodies start dropping.

Though the premise of a porn shoot turning into a horror show could easily result in a schlocky parody, Ti West has more in mind. The adult-film angle serves two purposes — it puts a meta spin on the practically mandatory nudity and adult content of R-rated slasher films, and it uses the adult industry to speak about indie filmmaking at large. The first half of the film is a love letter to independent filmmaking, to the satisfactions of grabbing a group of like-minded friends and a camera, and heading to a remote location to make movies. At the Q&A following the film’s SXSW premiere, Ti West spoke about the similarities between horror and porn in the 1970s — specifically, the desire to break free from studio systems and make a name for yourself, with nothing in hand but a good idea.

Given that this is a horror film about a group of young people in Texas, there are clear homages to Tobe Hooper’s original 1974 movie The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , especially in the beginning, where West is following a group of friends having a good time, unaware of the carnage waiting for them. West carefully waits to unveil the carnage, choosing to focus on character work and setting a creepy mood through long takes and ominous cutaways. (The A24 way!) The story isn’t all gloom and doom — West is clearly having a ball making this an enjoyable comedy, too. Double entendres and crude jokes fill the first half of the film, like the team’s van reading “Plowing Services.” Even when the killings begin, most of them have a lighthearted tone.

This is in no small part due to the cast, especially Brittany Snow, whose turn as a wannabe porn star makes for a hilarious return to horror for the actress. Meanwhile, Mescudi does an impressive job as the guy full of bravado and confidence, a veteran who fears nothing, even when he should. Still, this is Mia Goth’s movie: She pulls double duty as both the lead character and as house owner Pearl, subject of a planned spinoff prequel. Goth infuses both characters with a burning desire to obtain fame, and a deep fear of losing it. Even when buried under tons of makeup, her performance shines through.

As funny as X gets at times, however, it’s just as effective at providing scares as it is at provoking laughs. Once the kills begin, West unleashes heavy gore and entertaining death scenes, enhanced by effective, novel editing that West and his co-editor David Kashevaroff use to enhance the scares, or create new ones. From smash cuts and juxtapositions to cutting away from a kill to an unrelated scene to screen wipes and split-screens, X makes for an unpredictable experience.

Sadly, as great as the makeup is, it follows the recent unfortunate trope of villainizing the elderly, implying that aging naturally turns people into vicious villains . Get ready for gratuitous scenes of naked elderly people, designed to suggest that aging is gross and scary.

Tired stereotypes aside, though, West delivers a crowd-pleasing return to horror that’s a love letter to the genre without becoming a parody. This is no Texas Chain Saw Massacre rip-off , but it is still the best Texas Chain Saw Massacre film of the year. Ti West is back — may he not leave us again anytime soon.

X is now widely available for rental or purchase on Amazon , Vudu , and other digital platforms. The prequel, Pearl , is coming to theaters Sept. 16.

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X will hit theaters on March 18, 2022.

A ’70s slasher throwback, X is writer-director Ti West’s first film in six years, and his first horror movie in nearly a decade. It feels, in many ways, like an antidote to several recent horror trends, like the self-professed sheen of “prestige horror” from distributors like A24 (who, as it happens, distributed X as well, and manage to have their cake and eat it too). In less intentional course correction, it’s also more cutting homage to Tobe Hooper’s original Texas Chain Saw Massacre than the recent Netflix sequel , which drops the ball in many respects. Set in a secluded farmhouse near Houston in 1979, and following a group of low-budget porno filmmakers, X manages to be fun, thoughtful, and even innovative on occasion, even if its eventual thrills and kills end up peaking rather early.

What makes X especially enticing during its lengthy setup is its characters, who we meet as they pack themselves into a van (winkingly marked “Plowing Service”) en route to the secluded setting. Maxine (Mia Goth), an image-obsessed porn star harboring hints of a mysterious past, is the other woman in the recently crumbled marriage of her producer Wayne (Martin Henderson), who brings the smoothness (and occasional shirtless-ness) of early romcom Matthew McConaughey, but the subtle seediness of McConaissance roles like Dallas in Magic Mike. Maxine is Wayne’s “next big thing,” though she has to share the screen with a more experienced adult actress, the sweet but feisty Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow), who has indelible pre-existing chemistry with their co-star Jackson Hole (Scott Mescudi a.k.a Kid Cudi), a man who hides his insecurities behind a gruff façade. Rounding out the main cast is RJ (Owen Campbell), a young filmmaker trying to get his start by bringing an avant-garde sensibility to the production — much of X’s commentary on “prestige horror” stems from his misguided perspective — and RJ’s shy, sheltered girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega), who agrees to help him work the sound equipment without realizing he’s making porn, but who eventually warms up to the idea (much to his dismay).

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The characters are fleshed out from the word go, making their every interaction delightful as they head towards inevitable doom; X opens after the bloodshed is dispensed with, but it doesn’t hint at who exactly has died, or how, before flashing back to the previous day. It has no pretense about being anything but a gnarly, cheap-thrills horror flick first and foremost, as unapologetic as the X-rated movie its characters are filming. This comparison comes up implicitly and often, both through dialogue — RJ wants to bring an artistic sensibility to the porno’s story, but the stars insist that people are just going to watch it for the sex — and through a number of fascinating cross-cuts between the actual plot and the film within the film, as tension builds in both stories and X attempts to draw a straight line between sex and violence in the American psyche. It doesn’t always succeed — its initial attempt at commenting on this connection is the overt and clunky appearance of a fear-mongering preacher on TV — but before long, this dynamic takes hold in the movie’s cleverly conceived antagonists.

The cast and crew are hosted by a suspicious, shotgun-toting elderly gentleman with wandering eyes, Howard (Stephen Ure), whose only instructions involve staying clear of the main house and sticking to the nearby guest lodging, so as not to disturb his easily confused wife, Pearl. The trailers already hint at a story in which this aged, demented old woman creeps out of the shadows and is eventually involved in some of the bloodshed, so there’s no real surprise when things go awry in her presence. However, what is surprising is the role she plays in the film’s overt themes. Maxine is the center of attention for Wayne (and for director West), and her dreams of stardom are expressed alongside lingering doubts, even though she insists on projecting a confident vanity as she struts about the property. Pearl is immediately drawn to Maxine, as a reflection of her own lost youth and sexuality; in a move that engenders a strange and complicated sympathy, West casts Goth in the role of Pearl as well, burying her underneath eerie makeup, but intrinsically connecting Pearl’s wistful jealousies to Maxine’s own fears of fleeting time and temporary youth.

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This clash between the old and new is at the heart of X, which is, at once, a modern take on a decades-old style of filmmaking, and applies a grimy, 1970s horror classic lens to new ideas. This manifests in a tongue-in-cheek way in an early landscape shot filmed through barn doors, resembling an old 4:3 frame, which pushes slowly forward to reveal its wider frame and its wider, more modern perspective, and it manifests even more overtly as the film goes on. For instance, many recent horror films like The Visit, Hereditary, and IT: Chapter 2 feature a distinct revulsion towards aging bodies — an idea that X not only skillfully subverts, but weaves boldly into its text.

Rather than making Pearl’s resurgent urges — sexual, and otherwise — a matter of disgust, West injects them with a sense of mournful beauty, placing the audience right alongside his apparent “monster.” The first time she kills, it’s hard not to feel for her, and equally hard not to be drawn in by the artistry of the kill itself, which involves an ingeniously conceived lighting change. However, from this point on, the kills don’t really stack up. One is edited in an intriguing way that maximizes its impact. Another is funny and surprising. Few of them, however, are any two of these things at once, and the remaining bloodshed seems to pass by without sticking in the mind or beneath the skin. For all of X’s ruminations on what fans truly want from movies — the sex in porn, and the blood and jump scares in horror — the film’s tension-building is much scarier and more incisive than any of its payoffs.

X, though it pokes fun at RJ’s perspective on filmmaking, doesn’t dismiss it outright. The character talks of editing his film in an oblique way, and though we don’t get to see what he means — we’re mostly shown the porno as it’s being shot, mostly in closeups — we do get a blast of tension from West and his co-editor David Kashevaroff during several scene transitions, where footage doubles up and the frames whips back and forth a few times between two consecutive moments. While it sounds like this approach should get repetitive, it’s used in a number of different ways, whether to contrast action and stillness, or to connect story moments with scenes from RJ’s movie, or to simply create anticipation as the screen flickers between one charged moment and the next.

Even though X’s payoffs aren’t always satisfying — they’re gory, but hardly discomforting for anyone who watches enough horror — the film as a whole flows like a murky river with hints of something sinister lurking underneath. It’s fun, and when it slows down to humanize its villains, it’s oddly reflective and melancholy, in a way few modern slasher films dare to be.

While its gnarly payoffs eventually peter out, X is filled with fun and intense setups that harken back to classic slasher fare. A story of a doomed porn crew shooting in the middle of nowhere, it has the makings of a traditional splatter-fest, but injects its story with an unexpected sympathy for its cleverly conceived villains.

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Director Ti West ‘s  X is a new love letter to the slasher film genre. This movie within a movie aims to tackle the strict relationship between sex, violence, desire and the rage that manifests when one’s life lacks all of those things. West employs all the tropes involved with pornography and horror and tries to inject personal hints of creativity and originality into the narrative. Will it age well if I watch it again in five years? Probably not. But it provides enough fun and excitement in the current moment to keep audiences engaged.

Wayne (Martin Henderson) is out to make an amateur porn video called The Farmer’s Daughter. He’s looking to take advantage of the market by shooting his own self-financed movie. His film crew consists of a couple, RJ (Owen Campbell) and Lorraine (Jenna Ortega), with actors Bobby-Lynne ( Brittany Snow ), Jackson (Scott Mescudi) and Maxine ( Mia Goth ). The troupe is traveling to an isolated location to shoot. The property owners are an elderly couple, Howard (Stephen Ure) and Pearl (also Goth), who don’t get many visitors.

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Maxine is the first to tour the grounds and notices that things are off. She doesn’t relay that to the group, but they probably wouldn’t have listened anyway. Meanwhile, Howard and Pearl are in a loveless marriage and want intimacy, but he can’t because of the husband’s heart problems. When Pearl witnesses the group shooting in all their naked glory, this ignites a sexual rage in her that she chooses to take out on the young group. Let the game begin!

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The idea that lack of sexual connection could cause one to become a murderer is interesting but isn’t expounded upon here. Pearl sees Maxine as a “special woman,” but the reason why isn’t revealed until the last scene. There are too many loose ends to count, but the redeeming cast is what keeps X afloat. Each actor brings their own quirks to the table. They are good-looking, dynamic and having a good time. 

I give West credit for having a vision and sticking to his influences. He knows what he wants to do and how to execute it unapologetically. X is surface-level entertainment — focused more on having fun than telling a good story — but still a satisfying piece of indie horror filmmaking that’s worth taking a chance on. Don’t expect anything like his previous film, The Innkeepers, but don’t think too hard while watching X . Just enjoy the ride.

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X – Movie Review (4/5)

Posted by Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard | Apr 19, 2022 | 4 minutes

X is the new horror movie by writer-director Ti West. It’s a real horror treat if you enjoy the classic slasher style. We have been eagerly anticipating this movie. Now it’s out on PVOD for all to enjoy. An awesome cast and lots of gorgeous horror references. Read our full X  (2022) movie review here!

X (2022) is the new Ti West horror movie starring Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, and Brittany Snow. Well, to mention just the cool ladies in it. We’ll get to the guys later, but we all know that – in horror movies – it’s all about the final girl. Or girls. In this instant horror classic, everyone in the cast appears to really enjoy going for it with this horror thriller.

If you’re familiar with genre writer-director Ti West, you’ll know that he excels at creating movies that feel like they could have been made a few decades ago. And yes, I do mean this as a huge compliment. He manages to take the vibe and style of movies made in the 1970s and make them feel current.

Continue reading our X  (2022) movie review below. You can find it On-Demand now.

A new horror classic

This is yet another example that clearly references a horror classic like Texas Chainsaw Massacre . Basically, this is the movie you should watch instead of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre requel, which was also released here in 2022. In other words, it’s perfect for horror fans who love the classic slasher style.

X  has that in spades but also manages to build the characters in interesting ways – all across the board.

Along with the earlier mentioned Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, and Brittany Snow – all of whom are absolutely brilliant – we also have some awesome male characters. They’re portrayed by actors Martin Henderson ( the original 2002 The Ring US remake ), Owen Campbell ( Super Dark Times ), and Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi (season 3 of Westworld ).

Also, you’ll see Stephen Ure who has been aged quite a lot, so he is rather unrecognizable. Then again, he often is in his roles. He’s been in both the  Lord of the Rings  and the Hobbit franchise. He was also in Deathgasm  (2015) which I really enjoyed!

In fact, my one real (and bigger) critique of  X  is that it has actors being made up to play old. Instead of just casting older actors. Now  that  would have been ballsy. Particularly with the very sex-fueled story!

We’ve seen older actors in horror movies such as Adam Robitel’s The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014) and  M. Night Shyamalan ‘s The Visit (2015) . Both were brilliant in casting older actors as characters that had to do extremely dark deeds. We often see older actors turn evil as zombies, but otherwise, directors tend to use younger actors made up to look older. That’s a shame.

The X prequel Pearl is to be released later in 2022

Apparently, Ti West got the idea for the prequel during the mandatory two-week quarantine in his hotel. As luck would have it, they were able to shoot it directly on the back of this production. Maybe we’ll get a release around the Halloween season. That would certainly make sense.

And now that X  turned into a success and has been hailed by both critics and film fans all over the world, it turned out to be a brilliant gamble.

We’ll be sure to update you here on Heaven of Horror, whenever more news about the release date is made known. Also, casting news, though we already know who will play the lead. I won’t reveal that here since it’s a spoiler (well, sort of, anyway), but you just have to look up the movie on IMDb to find out.

Watch the  X  horror movie On-Demand now!

Ti West is the writer and director of X (2022) which has become an immediate cult movie in its own right. After premiering at the South By South West Film Festival in March, it continued a successful run in wide release. Horror fans will get pretty much everything they want with this one. Well, if you’re the kind of horror fan who enjoys the more visceral (read: bloody) kind of horror movie.

I am. But I am also the kind of person who really enjoys the psychological aspects of horror movies. That’s not where  X  delivers much.

For me, this is a very entertaining and intriguing slasher movie and it should definitely be enjoyed as such. Also, yes, I am  very much  looking forward to the prequel that has already been shot.

X premiered at SXSW Film Festival on March 13 and was out in a wider theatrical release from March 18. Just under a month later – on April 14, 2022 – it was released on PVOD. 

In Theaters: March 18, 2022 On PVOD: April 14, 2022 Director: Ti West Writer: Ti West Cast: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, Scott Mescudi

In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the cast find themselves fighting for their lives.

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About The Author

Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard

I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!

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Never have I walked out so pleased with a movie that also had me absolutely disgusted. A true horror gem.

Full Review | Aug 9, 2023

A throwback to old school Video Nasties & B Rated horror movies. Ortega and Goth steal the show…. I left intrigued with what the prequel/sequel will be but A24 has another hit for indie films & I can’t stop thinking about the film

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

X felt like it was meandering without a purpose. And maybe that was the point–to enjoy the ride without being bogged down by a hefty plot. Those going to the theatre to see the nudity and gore of the horror movies of yesteryear will leave satisfied.

Separately, X and Pearl might not have made my 10 Best of 2022 list; together, how could they not?

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 13, 2023

A gruesome slasher reminiscent of classic horror.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 6, 2023

Ends with a wholly satisfying finale and avoids the pitfalls of frustrating the audience, as so many independent horror films seem to do. It’s a slower burn for sure, but what a bloody, gory, rewarding ride.

Full Review | Jan 4, 2023

I can give X the benefit of the doubt [with hindsight], accepting it as an entrypoint into a much larger world regardless of how incomplete it ultimately feels on its own.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 30, 2022

X was true to its name, explicit sexual scenes, horrify scenarios & every more on the stories backdrop. But as a horror film Ti West nails it with his touch on horror story telling and worst case scenario perspective for every character it’s a insane ride

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Dec 26, 2022

It's crass and ghastly, with an on-the-nose premise fit for the often- sensationalist slasher genre and the salacious X-rated cinema embedded in this story.

Full Review | Dec 16, 2022

The film itself goes beyond being merely a ‘blood and guts killer time’ with an array of porn star characters. It feeds into your adrenaline and spikes it up to ten.

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5/10 | Dec 15, 2022

If you're looking for a slow burn horror flick with plenty of atmosphere and faux-grindhouse aesthetics then X gon' give it to you!

Full Review | Original Score: B | Dec 10, 2022

The characters are fleshed-out and kooky — you’ll mourn when they meet their inevitable slaughter. And for a slasher, the acting is remarkably good: Jenna Ortega and Mia Goth in particular are scene-stealers.

Full Review | Dec 3, 2022

X reanimates perennial fears of aging, older women, and one’s fading relevance.

Full Review | Nov 8, 2022

X is a daring slasher, filled with unexpected twists that leave viewers stewing in uncomfortable moments and horrifying realizations.

Full Review | Sep 13, 2022

X is a bold horror film that might just be the best dirty movie you’ve seen all year.

Full Review | Sep 8, 2022

If you go into this with your eyes open, it delivers a well-crafted slasher horror on all counts, even if its finale and body-count are hardly a surprise.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 1, 2022

Ti West skillfully blends style with substance in A24’s X, delivering a riff on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre with a few subversive – and sexy – twists.

Whatever West is trying here doesn’t ultimately land, maybe because West himself doesn’t seem to care about any of these people.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Aug 24, 2022

Raw, emotional, upsetting, and unafraid to take its audiences to grotesque places, X is one of the very best films of the year.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Aug 20, 2022

X manages to tap into the nostalgic style of 70's horror while being a breath of fresh air for the genre. Ti West shows through his masterful directing, while winking at the audience, that you can put a ton of artistic flair into a "dirty movie."

Full Review | Original Score: 4.75/5 | Aug 19, 2022

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‘X’ Review: Trash, Art and the Movies

Ti West’s latest is a slasher film about the making of a porno film, but the result might not be what you expect.

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By A.O. Scott

“X” is a clever and exuberant throwback to a less innocent time, when movies could be naughty, disreputable and idiosyncratic. Two kinds of movie in particular: the dirty kind and the scary kind. Set in 1979, before the internet made pornography ubiquitous and before anyone was pontificating about “elevated horror,” this sly and nasty picture insists that the flesh and blood of down-and-dirty entertainment is, literally, flesh and blood.

Not that the director, Ti West, is simply replicating the cheap, tawdry thrills of the olden days. West, whose earlier features include “The House of the Devil” and “The Sacrament,” is both a canny craftsman and a genre intellectual. In the midst of the sex and slaughter, he conducts an advanced seminar on visual pleasure and narrative cinema.

And also a brief course in film history, with particular attention to “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and shout-outs to “Psycho” and “Debbie Does Dallas.” That X-rated landmark (later adapted into an Off Broadway musical ) provides inspiration for the six Texans who show up at a decrepit farmstead to shoot a hard-core oeuvre called “The Farmer’s Daughters.” The actual farmer, an apparently childless geezer named Howard (Stephen Ure), has rented them a bunkhouse on his property. He and his wife live in the creaky, creepy main house.

The cast and crew consists of three performers — two women and a man, the classic heterosexual porn ratio — a director, a technician and a swaggering entrepreneur who claims the title of executive producer. This guy, Wayne (Martin Henderson), is also romantically attached to one of the stars, Maxine (Mia Goth), who dreams of the Hollywood big time. Her veteran co-stars, Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) and Jackson (Scott Mescudi, also known as the rapper Kid Cudi), are also a couple, as are RJ (Owen Campbell), the director, and Lorraine (Jenna Ortega), who handles the sound and is, at least for a while, the designated prude.

Since “X” is a slasher film, it’s not spoiling anything to note that most of these people will not make it out alive. An ax, a pitchfork and a shotgun are all in easy reach, and for good measure there’s an alligator in the pond. Howard and his wife, Pearl, give off sinister vibes, and West’s knack for zooming, cutting, manipulating point of view and layering sinister sounds creates an unmistakable anticipation of doom.

But the sequence of deaths, the motives for the mayhem and the identity of the survivor may not quite match your expectations. Most notably, the old circuitry connecting horror and female sexuality — canonically diagramed in Carol J. Clover’s 1992 study “Men, Women and Chain Saws” — has been rewired. By the time it’s all over, the film has moved out of period pastiche into interesting new territory, exposing a feminist dimension in the horror tradition that may have been there all along. (Since West is reportedly already at work on a prequel, further exploration may be in store.)

In the meantime, you can sample the familiar, trashy pleasures of sin and skin, with a piquant sprinkling of meta. This is a movie about moviemaking, after all, like “Argo” or “Day for Night” or “Singin’ in the Rain,” and as such it teases the viewer with knowing winks and easy-access insider references.

Many of these come at poor RJ’s expense. With his stringy hair, wispy beard and wet-noodle physique, he’s a film-nerd caricature. He wants to bring experimental techniques — “the way they do in France” — to “The Farmer’s Daughters,” and worries Wayne with his commitment to the avant-garde. Still, he’s not entirely a satirical scapegoat. His sensitivity about the kind of movie he’s actually making (especially once Lorraine sheds her disapproval) isn’t played for laughs. His toast “to independent cinema” is a punchline, but it could also be West’s motto.

When RJ argues against the importance of plot, he has a point, one West both upholds and challenges. Horror and hard-core both use narrative as a flimsy excuse to show the audience the action it really came to see. And while the sex in “X” is strictly R-rated, the movie isn’t shy about appealing to voyeurism. There’s nothing coy or arty about the bloodletting.

The twists of the story — the shifts in attention from Wayne and Maxine and their colleagues to Howard and Pearl — are hardly arbitrary. West, unlike his pornographers, has things to say as well as bodies to show. Most of all, he has an aesthetic that isn’t all about terror or titillation. “X” is full of dreamy, haunting overhead shots and moments of surprising tenderness.

One of these arrives in the middle, while everyone is still alive and wearing clothes, and Bobby-Lynne, accompanied by Jackson on guitar, breaks into a heartfelt rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.” (One thing that definitely sets “X” apart from its ’70s influences is a robust budget for musical clearances.) The song serves no narrative end, or any prurient or profound purpose. It’s an unexpected gift. So is “X.”

X Rated R. Not quite what the title promises, but still. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. In theaters.

An earlier version of this article misstated where the theatrical production of “Debbie Does Dallas” ran. It was an Off Broadway musical, not a Broadway one.

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A.O. Scott is a co-chief film critic. He joined The Times in 2000 and has written for the Book Review and The New York Times Magazine. He is also the author of “Better Living Through Criticism.” More about A.O. Scott

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Screen Rant

X movie ending explained (in detail).

Ti West's slasher X introduced Mia Goth's Pearl and showcases the wider horror genre in its bloody finale, but what happens at the end of the X movie?

• X movie ending leaves lingering questions, setting up franchise spin-offs exploring the killer's origins and Maxine's pursuit of stardom.
• Ti West's X offers a bloody spectacle with hidden clues, building to a crescendo that blurs the line between convention and change.
• Mia Goth's portrayal of Maxine and Pearl in X hints at a cyclical nature of characters, leading to potential high stakes in the upcoming sequel.

The X movie ending crescendos to a bloody spectacle that throws up several lingering questions. Director Ti West's 2022 slasher X follows a film crew as they arrive at a secluded Texas farm to shoot a pornographic film in the late 1970s, which idealistic fictional adult movie director RJ (Owen Campbell) believes will be " a piece of cinema. " Seemingly blinded by their ambitions to capitalize on a burgeoning home video industry, the young group of X movie characters remains largely unaware of the covetous presence next door — the old woman in X, Pearl (played by Mia Goth).

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Ti West's X movie has horror fans hyped the world over for many reasons, not least of which is because of the franchise-spawning X movie ending. Between several big character deaths and hidden clues that point to a whole canon unexplored in the movie, X 's final scenes are quite the rollercoaster ride. The X movie ending has also spawned a prequel exploring the killer's origins, and the upcoming sequel MaXXXine . Hindsight gives the X movie ending even more significance .

What Happens At The End Of Ti West's X?

The X movie ending conspires to close the narrative loop of Ti West's film, bringing audiences back to the bloody scenes shown in the X first act . The X ending sees just two surviving members of the porn crew, with Maxine hiding under Howard ( The Lord of the Rings trilogy's Stephen Ure) and Pearl's bed, while Lorraine is locked in the farmhouse basement. Pearl and Howard, excited from the savage murders they have just committed, have sex, allowing Maxine to quietly crawl away and find Lorraine.

However, when Mia Goth's Maxine frees Lorraine from her basement prison, Lorraine reacts rashly, unfairly blaming her promiscuity for the horrors that have unfolded across X 's runtime. Panicked, disoriented, and hysterical, Lorraine attempts to run from the farmhouse on foot, only to be shot by Howard. The X movie endgame then ensues, with Lorraine's death rattle scaring Howard and inducing his heart attack that he has long since dreaded.

Enraged by the death of her husband and confidante, Pearl (also Mia Goth) attempts to shoot Maxine with Howard's shotgun, but the force of the weapon's blast throws her backward, breaking her hip. As Pearl lays stricken on the floor, begging for help, Maxine decides to take revenge for her slain friends, reversing over the aging Pearl's head in RJ's van in a particularly sickening scene before driving at break-neck speed away from the farm .

The next morning, Sherriff Dentler (James Gaylyn) and his police force arrive at the house at the end of X to retrieve the crew's bodies, which they still believe to be intruders following Howard's earlier call to police. However, the police soon discover RJ's film camera and speculate what the footage is, indicating the aging Pearl and Howard's murderous deceit will soon be rumbled. The X 2022 movie then ends with a shocking reveal that Maxine is the daughter of a conservative Christian, whose local televangelist-style speeches have been playing on Pearl and Howard's grainy television throughout the movie .

15 Best Horror Movies Of All Time, Ranked

Why pearl is a killer in x.

Ti West's horror movie X ends with Pearl killing RJ and his pornography crew in the movie, with Mia Goth perfectly portraying Pearl's jealousy at the group's hedonistic pleasure when X reaches its murderous rage-fueled crescendo. Pearl's envy of their overtly sexual lifestyle is also why Howard barks at the group to stay away from the farmhouse itself, knowing full well that his wife will react poorly to the porn film being shot on their property.

However, the X movie ending doesn't explain the reason Pearl killed so many times before very well , particularly given Howard's admission midway through the film that he has cleaned up the murderous Pearl's messes in the past (as evidenced by the car in the lake and the chained corpse in the basement, then expanded on in prequel Pearl ). It is unlikely that there are many roving groups of pornographers looking to use Howard and Pearl's farm in the 1970s, leading audiences to rightfully query what Pearl's specific homicidal trigger on this occasion actually was.

The prequel established Pearl was already a killer prior to the X 2022 movie, but the justification for her final spree in X itself is best explained by her covetous nature , which comes to the fore as she watches over a sleeping Maxine. Pearl's confidence when strutting around the farmhouse and the talk of her " glory years... before the first war " indicates a singular desire for her to return to her former, beautiful self.

In this way, it is inferred by X that Pearl kills out of jealousy and spite against her own mortality, rather than being purely triggered by sexual acts as X 's story initially indicates. This also tracks with Mia Goth's casting as both Maxine and Pearl, with Maxine closely resembling a young Pearl as an overt nod to her lost youth taunting her throughout Ti West's movie.

Who Is Maxine's Father (& What It Means)

As aforementioned, the X movie ending shockingly unveils Maxine's father as the local televangelist barking at his acolytes on Howard and Pearl's old TV set. On-screen, the Christian preacher reveals that he is Maxine's father and subsequently prays for her to return to the family and God. This biblical tie to Maxine's less-than-pious life is subtly repeated throughout X , with the film's final girl often repeating " I will not accept a life I do not deserve " — a sentiment lifted from Mark 10:15 in the Bible.

Bible verses are, of course, a long-standing horror trope used in classics like The Exorcist , but the X movie uses them particularly well to hammer home its narrative themes (instead of simply adding a bit of Gothic horror flavor, as some movies and shows do). Maxine discovering her heritage affirms her own, oft-used mantra to herself, with Maxine now using her father's prosperity gospel as her new driving force.

Maxine's X ending is somewhat ambiguous, leaving it open to interpretation whether Maxine chooses to seek her family or not, but her most likely destination seems to be Hollywood , with Maxine speaking of " making it " in Los Angeles before the bloodshed at Howard's farmhouse begins. No doubt the sequel MaXXXine will cull this ambiguity, but for now, Maxine's reaction to her father post the events of X is unknown.

Pearl: Mia Goth's 10 Best Movies, Ranked (According To Rotten Tomatoes)

The real meaning of x's ending.

While on a surface level the X movie ending is classic slasher fare as the final girl overcomes the murderers and escapes, Ti West's horror movie is interwoven with more symbolism than Maxine backing over Pearl's head with a van would suggest. The symmetry of Maxine killing Pearl (both played by A Cure For Wellness ' Mia Goth) is representative of a natural life cycle, with the new outlasting the old .

Pearl covets that which she can no longer have, youth and beauty, and, despite her best efforts, can never attain it — with Maxine rebuffing her advances before defeating her in the final act. In this way, Pearl is representative of convention, while Maxine represents change , and while the two inevitably clash, change inexorably comes out on top both in the real world and in X 's final reckoning.

The X Movie Ending Set Up A Franchise

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Mia Goth returns as Pearl, the titular killer with dreams of being a star but is resigned to a life as a caretaker on her family's farm. Pearl desperately yearns for a Hollywood life, but her devout mother and ailing father keep her grounded in a life she doesn't want. When a talent recruitment group comes to her small town, she decides to try her luck and show off her "X" factor. However, to get what she wants, her dark tendencies get the better of her, sending her on a path of carnage to escape to a life of stardom. 

Ti West's X 2022 movie sets up an entire movie franchise, with the prequel film Pearl and the X sequel MaXXXine . While the X movie ending adds a dash of finality to Pearl's story, it completely opens up the world to Maxine, who will be the front-runner in the upcoming sequel. The story and origins of the X killer are explored in the prequel film Pearl, which came out 6 months after X . What these two films do is answer two major questions set up by the X ending. The first is why did Pearl become a killer?

Pearl is set at the same farmhouse in 1918, when Pearl is a young girl with big dreams. She lives with her overbearing and critical mother and invalid father, and while Pearl waits for her husband Howard to return from WWI she's forced to take care of the latter.

During this time, Pearl also discovers she has a penchant for abusing and killing farm animals. The X movie killer Pearl had dreams of being a chorus girl one day, and she's given a shot when she goes to an audition, which she, unfortunately, doesn't get. One by one, her family members are killed off, and Howard comes home to quite a surprise.

Pearl 's gory ending rivals that of X , and also shed a lot of light on why Pearl has such uncontrollable bloodlust by the time RJ and Maxine arrive in the 1970s. The second question from the X movie ending is what will happen to Maxine now that she's free — especially in the advent of the revelation that she's the preacher's daughter. Horror movie director and fan Ti West is set to answer that question with the upcoming X sequel MaXXXine.

Based in 1980s Los Angeles, MaXXXine will follow the exploits of Mia Goth's titular character as she tries anything (and everything) to boost her way to stardom. The teaser trailer reveals that there will be plenty of 1980s pop culture fun and flair as X did with the '70s and Pearl its early 1918 setting. Period horror director Ti West brought his A-game with X , so much so that this singular film set up an entire franchise full of great horror Easter eggs.

Pearl Movie Ending Explained (In Detail)

How mia goth interprets the x movie meaning.

Mia Goth has of course given her own thoughts on the meaning of the X ending, and her interpretation of both Maxine and Pearl as characters. Speaking alongside co-star Brittany Snow , Mia Goth revealed that one of the key thematic points of the movie is tied to both characters she plays, and the fact it's her playing both of them.

We [Mia Goth and Ti West] spoke at length about the fact that they're very much the same woman. They carry the same essence, they're just at different life stages and the product of different circumstances and life choices ultimately - but their spirit is the same. When they come across each other for the first time, it's quite for Maxine, but it sparks something in Pearl.

For Mia Goth, the X movie is about the similarity between Maxine and Pearl, and how the former is in many ways repeating the same cycle of the latter . With MaXXXine completing a trilogy, the ending of the X movie will doubtless gain greater significance as part of a wider story.

Speaking to Variety , Mia Goth was very open about the third movie having significant implications for her character following from when audiences last saw Maxine at the end of 2022's X — "It’s the biggest story of the three with the highest stakes and Maxine has gone through so much at this point. So when we find her in this new world, she’s just a force to be reckoned with, and she goes through some pretty wild adventures. "

What Ti West Has Said About X

Ti West has used the X movie ending to set up an entire franchise, with the prequel Pearl , and the upcoming sequel MaXXXine . The thing about the X movie is, he always planned for it to be part of a bigger franchise. In an interview with Men's Health , the horror director opened up about the pitching process for X , and how A24 gave him the go-ahead to make a whole trilogy rather than just a standalone film.

Initially, he had the idea for the sequel MaXXXine , but realized later on that it could only work with the prequel Pearl . He reportedly sold the idea to A24 by using a Back to the Future reference, "We have to go back into the Biff Tannen timeline, and fix it, before we can go forward to make the '80s movie that you're imagining," West said.

He also talked about how X and Pearl are informed by one another , and later jokes, such as Pearl saying she doesn't like blondes in the X movie, only make more sense once the prequel has been viewed. West had this to say about the little Easter egg:

I had written the script [for Pearl] before we even filmed X. I can't remember if the blonde thing that she says was in X prior to getting to New Zealand, because it's all a blur. That probably was in there. And then I probably retrofitted that into Pearl.

All in all, the X movie ending perfectly sets up both the prequel and the sequel. Audiences will have to see what final girl/villain Mia Goth will be up to next in the sequel MaXXXine .

How A Fourth X Movie Can Make Up For Pearl's Most Heartbreaking Story

X franchise oscars snub explained.

The 2023 Oscars sent a clear signal when the X franchise was completely snubbed by the Academy. Ti West's Mia Goth horror franchise garnered widespread critical acclaim, but despite this, it has received nary an accolade. This hasn't gone unnoticed by Pearl actress Mia Goth, who took to " Jake's Takes " to talk about the Oscar snub. While being interviewed about her film, Infinity Pool , Goth challenged the Academy's decision to ignore the horror genre as a whole, stating that "a change is necessary ." On the snub, Goth said:

"It’s not entirely based on the quality of a project per se. There’s a lot going on there and a lot of cooks in the kitchen when it comes to nominations. Maybe I shouldn’t say that, but I think that’s true. I think a lot of people know that."

Director Martin Scorcese himself sang praises ( via Variety ) over Ti West's Pearl , saying that the film was a " wild, mesmerizing, and deeply disturbing " ride. Despite this shoutout, the X franchise didn't get any recognition from the 2023 Oscars, and it's quite a shame considering how impactful the X movie ending was.

How The X Ending Leads Into Maxxxine

The X movie explained in its conclusion that Maxine was the daughter of the televangelist preacher seen on television throughout the movie, which seems to set the stage for the upcoming sequel Maxxxine . The third entry into the franchise will be a continuation of Maxine's story after the events of X and will see her in Los Angeles in the 1980s as she continues to search for fame and success.

It is likely her father will play a role in the story, as the idea of a disapproving father searching out his runaway daughter in the LA pornography scene of the era is a familiar story. Kevin Bacon is also playing a private detective in the sequel who could have been hired by Maxine's father to find her.

The fact that the police also find the film at the end of X could mean that Maxine is wanted by the police as they will likely recognize her as the only body missing from the farmhouse massacre. The pornography industry at the time was also known for taking advantage of young girls looking to become stars and plenty of sad stories surrounding that world at the time.

It is possible that Maxine will once again find herself in danger. However, with the similarities in her story and Pearl's story, it is also possible the X sequel will explore the bloody methods Maxine is willing to use in order to make her dreams come true.

Director Ti West presents X, a horror slasher film set in 1979 in rural Texas that follows a group of amateur filmmakers attempting to shoot a pornographic film. When the group gets further along in the film, and the elderly homeowners take notice, they slowly realize they've drawn their formerly gracious hosts' ire - and jealously.

X (II) (2022)

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REVIEW: “X” (2022)

Ti West’s “X” is an unashamed ode to slasher movies that manages to capture what makes the good ones good while still being hampered by what makes the bad ones bad. Written and directed by West and produced by A24, “X” tips its hat to several movies both from the horror genre and beyond. West pulls most from 1974’s “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” – the blue van, the Texas country roads, a stop at an old gas station, the remote farmhouse. Even camera shots are ripped straight from Hooper’s classic.

Let me just say “X” is a far cry from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. Perhaps that’s an unfair comparison. But for a movie that calls back as much as this one, it’s a comparison that’s kinda hard to avoid. “X” shows it has the setting, the atmosphere, and at times a filmmaker with the technical know-how to create something in the “Chainsaw” vein.

But West leans on the wrong things and wastes too much time spinning his wheels. Worst of all, it all feels like an imitation. And most of its attempts at “freshness” feel like gimmicks just to make things racier or edgier. It’s as if he’s trying to rekindle the feel of the old grindhouse movies. But aside from its steady dose of sleaze and its retro credits sequences, even the grindhouse comparison falls short.

The best scene (and some of the movie’s best pure filmmaking) is the opening. West sits his camera in the doorway of a barn peering at an old farmhouse that’s bookended by two police cars. A third cop car comes into the shot driven by Sheriff Dentler (James Gaylyn). The camera then slowly creeps out of the barn and locks onto the Sheriff as he walks to the house. Dead bodies litter this blood-soaked crime scene. West’s camera and his reliance on ambient sounds enhance the unsettling mood and help the scene foreshadow what’s to come.

But then we jump to just 24 hours earlier (the timeline in this thing never quite adds up). It’s 1979 and a group of friends load into an old dodge van and leave Houston for the countryside to shoot an amateur porno movie called “The Farmer’s Daughters”. The project’s executive producer Wayne (Martin Henderson) has rented a cabin belonging to a sickly elderly couple, Howard and Pearl. It sits roughly 100 yards from the old couple’s farmhouse which should be enough privacy for their shoot. But there’s a catch. Wayne never told Howard they would be shooting a skin flick. Oops.

Joining Wayne is his coked-up girlfriend and aspiring porn-superstar, Maxine (Mia Goth). There’s the blonde diva wannabe Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) and her boyfriend/scene-partner, Jackson (rapper Kid Cudi). There’s the porn film’s director and cameraman RJ (Owen Campbell) who sits under the delusion that he’s about to make a true piece of cinema. And then there’s Lorraine (Jenna Ortega), RJ’s girlfriend and boom operator who reluctantly agrees to come along. Nicknamed “church mouse” by Wayne, Lorraine represents some kind of moral hesitation that the movie does nothing with.

After an uneven and sometimes yawny first hour where West’s infatuation with his porno movie-inside-the-movie chews up most of the screen time, the movie finally lets loose and delivers what slasher fans are there for. As you can probably guess, the old couple turn out to be geriatric psychopaths, especially Pearl who’s also played by Goth decked out in wonky looking prosthetics. It’s here that the already shallow characters make some of the same dumb choices we’ve seen countless times before (it’s no wonder they always die in these movies).

Throughout, “X” finds itself trapped between honoring slasher tropes and its aim to be “artful” or “elevated”. None of it is particularly convincing. The movie seems to want to say something about aging and sexual freedom. But it’s hard to take seriously when the characters feel so false. Even the jarringly abrupt attempts to humanize the killers are borderline comical. Like the film’s trite critique of religion which mainly comes through the blanket representation of a reappearing fire-and-brimstone TV preacher, none of it feels meaningful.

Yes it’s fun to see a nod to “Psycho”, a nod to “The Shining”, even a nod to 1980’s “Alligator”. Yes some of the gruesome kills in the final 30 minutes are well executed (pun intended). And yes I know the slasher genre is known for their collection of dumb people. But that doesn’t mean “X” gets a pass on its slew of missteps. In the end it simply feels like a trashy knock-off. And the things it does to supposedly freshen up the slasher genre are so minute that it’s hard to call anything about it “original”. “X” is now available on VOD.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

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17 thoughts on “ review: “x” (2022) ”.

Yet another dodgy horror, we can’t. have too many of those can we? yawn. 🙂

It’s bad. I’m puzzled by the widespread love it has received.

Don’t be, it’s because people are too dumb to want better.

This most definitely isn’t “better”.

Saw the trailer a few months ago and was wondering just how “original” it would be. From your review, it sounds like originality is not one of its strong points.

It’s really not. It’s almost as if the film’s idea of “originality” is holding certain shots longer, shooting a movie within a movie, or doing something slightly different with the ‘last survivor’ trope. None of it felt new to me.

I saw the foreshadowing comment you made a week or so ago, and for a moment I thought your first paragraph was revealing a change of heart. I’m a little disappointed that you came down on the side you did because my reaction to the film was so different. This is my favorite film of 2022 so far. I thought the way it was put together reflected both the horror and the porn tropes of the late 70s very effectively. There are three or four terrific shots in the film [you mentioned a couple of them], but you did not touch on the things that stood out for me. There are several subtext that distinguished the form from the usual horror film, and I particularly liked the lead actress in the dual role. That slow burn first hour is so much more of what I liked about old school horror films. I know many of your readers trust your opinion on films (I know I do, I’ve said it before, your reviews are consistently the best written that I look at), I just have to disagree with you this time and I hope some of your followers will see this response and give the film a chance, in spite of your low opinion of it. I think there is something more here.

I think more people are on your side than mine when it comes to “X”. I get what you mean about the 70s horror and porn tropes. But to me it felt more like an imitation rather than a recreation. I caught some of the subtext (it’s kinda hard to miss) and I probably would have liked the dual role performance from the lead if the makeup and prosthetics didn’t look so bad at times (to me). As for the slow burn, I’m with you. I like that about older horror films. I just didn’t buy much of anything that West was doing in the first hour. So that left me impatiently waiting for the inevitable killing to begin.

But again, it should be noted that this is a highly praised movie. Lots more people love it than don’t.

I liked this one more than you did. I had fun with it and I liked the actors. That makeup job on Mia was really good. I don’t think I would’ve realized it was her had I not read IMDB.

That’s interesting because I thought the makeup/latex was inconsistent. In some scenes she looked like an elderly lady. In other scenes (to me) it looked like someone in heavy prosthetics.

I surprisingly chose to borrow this from the library. I liked the sound of the plot. You write a really well-articulated review on it here. I never saw the horror movies you say it is stealing from so I have no comparison. I also had no idea that Goth played both the young chick and the old geriatric psychopath! I really liked her in this, both characters. I don’t like to admit it, but I wanted to be more scared watching it than I was. For me it was more revulsion than fear. I think this movie could have been elevated to a much higher place with a little more time and a little more work.

That’s a good point. I didn’t find it scary at all. Part of that (for me) was its strict adherence to the slasher formula. You could pretty much see everything coming.

I was surprised to see the main guy in this. He’s Mr. Goody Two Shoes in Virgin River, a netflix series. I hated what happened to him because of that lol

Mr. Goody Two Shoes? 😂

I still want to see this as I like these kind of fucked up horror films.

Most people seem to love it.

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