How the movie "X" combines the story of the filming of porn and the drama of generations
Miscellaneous / / April 23, 2022
The picture from the studio A24 will appeal to all fans of unusual horror movies.
On digital platforms, a new horror with the short name "X" has appeared. The distribution of the picture is handled by the studio A24. This company has long been loved by fans of independent and simply unusual cinema. In particular, it was from under her wing that Reincarnation and Solstice by Ari Astaire, The Witch and The Lighthouse by Robert Eggers and other non-standard horror films came out.
However, in the case of "X", it may seem that the viewer is presented with some new version of the traditional slasher. But in fact, the picture from the director and screenwriter Ty West ("In the Valley of Violence", "House of the Devil") is not just scares with screamers and streams of blood, but makes you think about freedom of choice, changes in culture and longing for past.
Stylizations and the spirit of the 70s
In 1979, a group of three men and three girls travel to a remote corner of Texas to film porn movie Farmer's Daughter. Actors Jackson (Kid Cudi), Maxine (Mia Goth) and Bobby-Lyn (Brittany Snow) dream of becoming stars, producer Wayne (Martin Henderson) - to make a lot of money, and director RJ (Owen Campbell) wants to create a masterpiece at all author's cinema. Moreover, he took with him a young girl Lorraine (Jenna Ortega), who did not know at all that they would shoot something frank.
The heroes rent a house on the ranch of an elderly and rather creepy couple (Stefan Ure and an actress, whose name should not be named to avoid spoilers). The hosts initially do not know why the guests came. And when they find out about what is happening on their territory, a real nightmare begins.
Ty West preferred experiments with classical genres before, so the director's works often received mediocre ratings, but critics loved them. In the movie "In the Valley of Violence" he took a standard string western, but added dark humor and almost absurd twists to the plot. In The House of the Devil, the director unexpectedly rethought the horrors of the 80s.
"X" can be considered his final declaration of love for a bygone era. Moreover, 1979 was not chosen by chance. On the one hand, this is the time of appearance slashers - by the mid-80s, they will capture literally all the screens, and then just as quickly begin to die off. And in his film, West constantly refers to the classics. The very beginning of the film and some of the twists and turns are written off from the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". "Psycho" Alfred Hitchcock, which is considered one of the progenitors of the genre, is mentioned in plain text, and then the scene of the drowning of the car is copied from there. At the same time, West seems to revive the forgotten genre of psycho-biddy (or hagsploitation) - stories in which elderly suffering women turn out to be villains. You can list for a long time - the number of obvious references depends on the viewing of the viewer.
On the other hand, the end of the 70s was a turning point in the film industry, affecting just horror and porn. Since 1977, the United States began selling films on VHS cassettes, which opened up a new market for inexpensive copyright works and "adult" products. In terms of the story of the formation of porn, "X", of course, is inferior to the painting "Boogie Nights" by Paul Thomas Anderson - West repeatedly refers to it visually, even copying some frames. But still, the new work is not a historical drama, but a horror.
It turns out that “X”, although it plays with the style of slashers, does not deconstruct them like “Scream” (ironically, the same Jenna Ortega played in the last part of the franchise) or “Hut in the forest». This is both a nostalgic film about a turning point in the history of cinema, and an attempt to look at the era from the inside.
Perfectly balanced pace and witty shooting
Despite the fact that Ty West replicates the plot of a traditional slasher movie - a group of young people go into the wilderness and face maniacs, the dynamics in the picture are completely different. The director does not immediately plunge the viewer into a bloodbath, and the characters do not die in the classical sequence. The first death will happen only after an hour, despite the fact that the picture lasts only about 100 minutes. But "X" still doesn't seem boring.
Firstly, the author does a great job with suspense and turns almost two-thirds of the film into a so-called slowburner - horror with a very slow development. From the moment they arrive, the heroes are constantly in danger: they point a gun at Wayne, an alligator swims behind Maxine, and this is not to mention the owners, who inspire fear with their very appearance, and about the mysterious scene with the crushed cow. And the long absence of detente only intensifies the atmosphere.
But in the last third, the plot accelerates to a frantic pace, which does not drop until the final credits. And here, special effects and fantasy are already fully allowed to unfold: the heroes are killed in the most ingenious and unexpected ways. Because of this ending, it seems that the entire film was very dynamic and cruel.
Secondly, "X" is superbly staged, and the director adds a lot of irony to the shooting. Right at the beginning, RJ explains that an inexpensive movie can be made more interesting through unusual editing. And after that, the viewer is shown perhaps the strangest cuts in the transition from one scene to another. The thought immediately arises: is West trying to hide the small budget of his work in this way?
Although in fact it is simplicity and seclusion that are almost the main advantages of the picture. It has only eight main characters and several locations. Therefore, the authors do not hide behind scope and special effects, but simply delight with fiction, playing, for example, with the setting of the frame. The camera seems to shoot the first scene in classic format 4:3, but then it turns out that this is just a doorway. But while working on porn, such a combination of sides will really appear, and even with film grain.
Moreover, shots from The Farmer's Daughters with the clumsy flirtation of two strangers typical of the genre run in parallel with the same scenes of communication between one of the heroines and the mistress of the house. That's just the atmosphere of the two storylines is exactly the opposite: intimacy and passion against mistrust and fear.
Summarizing, we can say that "X" is one of the best examples of work with a small budget and homages to the classics. Ty West shot the film with a clear love that is transmitted to the viewer.
An unexpectedly touching moral
If "X", even if witty and modern, only copied the author's favorite slashers, he would not like Western critics who are suspicious of horror. However, the film has a very unusual dramatic component.
The conflict between porn workers and ranchers is not just a clash with maniacs, as shown in ordinary horror. This is a real generational drama. Elderly tired people are watching the radiant beauty and sexuality girls and longingly remember the past. That's just Ty West does not get stuck in banal nostalgia.
In his story, the old people are angry with the new generation and even openly hate it, accusing it of debauchery and loss of values. Moreover, one of the young heroines expresses similar judgments until she asks herself: what does she herself want? And here several interesting subtexts are revealed at once.
"X" turns into a story about hatred for progress, freedom and moving forward. But then it becomes clear that this tape is more about anger at yourself. Or rather, longing for missed opportunities. After all, it is most unpleasant for many to see how someone does things that they themselves did not dare to do.
And here, by the way, the subtle point mentioned at the very beginning of the review is revealed. Viewers should take a closer look at the elderly mistress of the house and guess who plays her. This will turn an unusual horror movie into an almost philosophical drama. What is even more interesting, in parallel with "X", Ty West made a prequel about this heroine. So those who liked the picture can soon expect a new story about the same world.
X is a very interesting and, importantly, universal example of a modern horror film. The picture speaks on serious topics, like newfangled "sublime horror". But at the same time, Ty West does not go into excessive metaphor. It plunges the viewer into the atmosphere of the late 70s, when slashers flourished, and entertains with an unusual plot and interesting filming. Although after the ending it is still worth considering what you saw.
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