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MaXXXine (2024)

This is the third film in the X series after X & Pearl with MaXXXine taking place six years after the events of X. We follow Maxine as she tries to become a movie star in Hollywood whilst there is a serial killer in town. The film takes advantage of the type of horror films that existed in the 1980’s so this has a more more traditional plot like a lot of 80’s horror films have. MaXXXine is soon connected to the deaths of the women by the police and soon a private detective is following her to try and force her to meet his client. 

There is a portion of the film which takes place around the Bates Motel and House from Psycho II which was released in 1986 the following year this film was set and normally its a sign that the film has nothing left when it starts invoking better horror films (FYI Psycho 2 is a very good horror film and well worth your time), however this film manages to get away with it. The whole idea of having Maxine become a movie star helps create this atmosphere about the era of 1980’s cinema where it was clearly coming out of the gritty period of the 70’s but there was still some seediness to it. 

There was the subplot of the serial killer but there is a line that is bought up by either Michelle Monaghan or Bobby Cannavale (both great by the way) where they say that the women killed in the film aren’t being killed by the serial killer comes to be quite true when its revealed that the actual killer is Maxine’s pastor father who isn’t too happy about his daughter’s career choices. When this twist was revealed I didn’t see it coming and I usually take that as a good thing because if it were obvious then that would mean the film is not entertaining enough and there is time in the movie for me to put two and two together. When I am engaged in the story then I don’t stop to think about these sort of things. They might still be obvious to some or most people but to me this is how I can tell if a film is working for me or not.

Mia Goth is great as Maxine, she has consistently been good in these films and I never felt sorry for Maxine because she’s never written or portrayed in a way which makes her seem less than strong and determined to better herself. Kevin Bacon is chewing the scenery but is clearly having great fun as the shady and at times creepy John Labat. Giancarlo Espoito is clearly having fun as well as Teddy who basically helps clear up Maxine’s problems including squashing John Labat in a car crusher. 

MaXXXine is very different to X and Pearl but thats not a bad thing. I enjoyed myself a lot in the screening and you know a horror film is working when it makes you look away and I’m not ashamed to say that it did. The scene where Maxine gets the Buster Keaton impersonator to strip down and then she squashes his….erm…..little busters was something that i wasn't expecting but it was horrifying and that is what a horror film should do, produce something horrifying. We are currently in a period of TV and film where the nostalgia for the 1980's has been driven into the ground to the point where it just becomes obvious that its a cash grab and involves little effort but MaXXXine isn’t like that. It’s clear that time and effort has been put into making the whole thing feel authentic even down to the way the credits appear on screen with the slight flicker on it. Hopefully there is more because if its done right then this could be a franchise that is stronger in terms of quality than some of the greats like Halloween or Friday the 13th. Maybe.

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