See how Mia Goth and Ti West close out this X-cellent trilogy.
“X” is the A24-distributed horror film that came to great success by standing on its own and having the prequel “Pearl.” To remind you loyal readers about this franchise, “X,” which was set in the late 70s, had Mia Goth in a dual role as the porn actress Maxine Minx (not her real last name), who is determined to be a movie star, and as the evil old lady Pearl, who envies her ambition in the entertainment world. And “Pearl,” which was set in 1918 showed us the younger Pearl, who was like if Dorothy Gale was raised by Miss Gulch and went on a killing spree and got away with it.
Both these films had the quality and worthiness of a drive-in movie theater, especially with inspiration from other horror movies like “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” And writer/director Ti West has proven himself to be a horror genius.
Now, we have the ambitious sequel “MaXXXine,” which concludes the trilogy and continues its trend with Goth’s performance, its “Psycho” influence, and its love letter to 80s horror movies. And who could forget the adult section in the back of the video stores? The place the cashier told kids they can’t check out.
The movie is now set in Hollywood, 1985, and opens with Maxine struggling to get major roles because of her adult film filmography, but managing to land the leading role in the sequel to the horror film “The Puritan,” which originally starred Molly Bennett (Lily Collins with an English accent). The director of that film, Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Dibicki), is also ambitious to make a name for herself in the entertainment world, and tells Maxine that whatever problems she has in her life to “squash it.”
The serial killer in the movie is inspired by the Night Stalker, who murdered about 14 people usually during various break-ins the afternoon. He was revealed as Richard Ramirez, and his other nicknames were Walk-In Killer and the Valley Intruder. So instead of using this name, let’s have him in wear a black suit, hat, and gloves, and let’s see him grip the bars when he sees Maxine’s eroticism.
In the meantime, two of her friends (Halsey and Moses Summey) get slaughtered, and two homicide detectives (Michelle Monaghan as the good cop and Bobby Cannavale wanting to play the bad cop) question her. And then there’s the “private investigator” (Kevin Bacon), who knows that the porn star survived the Texas slaughterings. So, she needs some protection from her agent (Giancarlo Esposito), while being haunted by images of Pearl.
Other than a squished testicle, “MaXXXine” is further proof that Goth is “a f***ing star.” She’s able to portray the actress with the right amount of cocaine and ambition to allow her to continuing thriving against her killers and transition from pornography to feature films. And it kind of makes sense that she would make the leap on the silver screen in a horror movie, especially if it’s a sequel that wants to live up to its predecessor’s high standards.
There’s also brilliant supporting work from Esposito, Dibicki, Collins, Cannavale, Monaghan, and Bacon, who each share their own words on the movie world and what comes out of it. There’s false blood, classic music (with Kim Carnes “Bette Davis Eyes” closing it out), kinky sex, and even religious protests of the sins of pop culture.
People have been spreading the word that “MaXXXine” doesn’t completely live up to “X,” but I say: it still loves movies, sex and violence, and cult horror movies.
And now I’m pondering if we should see Maxine Minx in the 90s. But maybe the 70s-80s are better.
