Through his trilogy Ti West has been saying a lot about the history of film. First we had ‘X‘ which operated as the turning point we saw in the 70s as genre film was taking off. Yes, it is ostensibly about a group of neerdowells going to a farm in Texas to shoot a porno, but it’s the line said by the director of the adult film, Lucas/Spielberg stand-in, Wayne “It is possible to make a good dirty movie.” The 70s saw genre film go off into the stratosphere with Jaws and Star Wars, two films that would’ve been viewed as trash had they not broken the glass ceiling into Legitimate Film.

Next up was the surprise release of the prequel, ‘Pearl‘ that told the story of the beginnings of film, of silent movie stars starting to become household names. The beginning of the idea of stardom in the early 20s that gave us folks like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, roving tramps that left their mark on history at large. ‘Pearl‘ was of course also about the dangers of chasing stardom, and the sacrifices that must be made in the pursuit of greatness.

And now we have ‘MaXXXine‘ following the story of Maxine Minx, the lead role of ‘X‘ portrayed by the standard bearer of the trilogy yet again by Mia Goth. We’re in the 80s now and home video is the new hot thing, bringing with it a new love of the genre films that made it to the stratosphere, as well as the hot new craze of horror, and the idea that horror movies could potentially be taken as seriously as awards classics. Even those not directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Willaim Friedkin did after all score a director nomination for his work on ‘The Exorcist‘. (He should have won and the only reason he lost is because The Academy was, is, and always has been full of absolute cowards.)

And that stuff, the stuff about the changing landscape of film, is what works in ‘MaXXXine‘. The movie sticks with the outline for the first two acts, and does it stylishly and effortlessly; from the pre roll credits at the beginning of the film, to up and coming director Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki) giving Maxine a long monologue about how their new horror film is going to change the way people see horror films. This is why this franchise works, why film fanatics like Martin Scorcese swear up and down by the dedication to the craft that West and Goth have put in here. ‘Pearl‘ in particular does this in such an excellent way, and is a highlight for Goth’s style of acting.

Along the way we do get a plethora of fun that we’d expect in any horror film, cameos by bigger than average stars who are doomed to be chopped up into small bits, tension from an unknown individual stalking our heroine, and jump scares that startle the most stalwart of us are to be found lurking around every corner. One of the most sickening sequences is a slight red herring towards the beginning of the movie, where a guy that was working Hollywood Boulevard dressed up as Buster Keaton comes at Maxine with a knife. Maxine pulls a gun on him and has him strip, get on his knees, and suck the barrel of her handgun. Then she brutally crushes his testicles into the pavement with her heel. If you’re looking for a less subtle way of showing what the new era of horror will do to classic films I don’t know if I could think of one. A brilliant stroke of gross out horror writing from West held aloft by an immaculate delivery by Goth, everything this franchise brings to the table.

It’s unfortunate then that the film fails to stick the landing. Towards the third act it feels like West didn’t know how to wrap things up and a plot point that felt like set dressing is shoved in as an incredibly important beat in the story. It turns out the serial killer that’s been stalking Maxine is none other than her priestly father, who has been fully enveloped by the Satanic Panic of the time and been killing her stripper friends to keep them pure in the eyes of God. It makes sense that Satanic Panic would play a part in a movie about horror films in the 80s, but it felt like it ignored what made this franchise interesting to begin with. We’ve seen before the idea of the ‘Evil Priest” waging a war on Satanism through violence. I expected a more interesting reveal from West and found the third act to be a little too campy, even for a slasher horror picture.

While it certainly doesn’t pull everything off in the end, there’s enough in ‘MaXXXine‘ to sink your teeth into. But if you’re new to the series I certainly wouldn’t begin with it, as both previous entries are superior in just about every way.

3.5/5