Ti West’s ‘X’ Slashes Away With Gory Tribute to Grindhouse and ‘70s Porn

Alci Rengifo

Nostalgia keeps taking curious turns. Arthouse studios are now trying to make their own updates of the kind of movies that decades ago would be dismissed as trash. The latest case is “X,” a new horror ride from A24 that wants to stay within the studio’s high-quality, indie cinema standards, while celebrating cheap, debauched B-movies that teens would go watch at dives in the ‘80s. It goes further and winks at the old pre-VHS, pre-internet porn industry along the way. Yet enough of it works to be precisely a gory, howling entertainment for those who like their movies to come dipped in viscera. It also tries to be funny and sometimes succeeds.

Director Ti West is a genre director who basks in the past. His previous films, like “The House of the Devil” and “The Sacrament,” could have easily been released the year “X” takes place, 1979. Down a rural Texas highway, in a van, of course, ride a group of porn filmmakers. Wayne (Martin Henderson) is the executive producer. His girlfriend, Maxine (Mia Goth) lives in dreams of stardom. Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) is a burlesque dancer whose boyfriend, Jackson (Kid Cudi), is the film’s big stud. On the technical side, RJ (Owen Campbell) “directs” while girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) operates the boom mic. Their destination is a rundown farm owned by Howard (Stephen Ure), an elderly veteran renting out space. He is totally unaware that his guests are planning to use the house and barn for their shoot, titled “The Farmer’s Daughter.” Once the gang gets settled in they get to work. But things are liable to get deadly once Howard becomes aware of who he is hosting and his frustrated wife, Pearl, starts creeping around.

“X” wears its influences so openly it could almost be termed a tribute movie. The introduction of the eerie farm environment is lifted straight from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” while the porn actors aspiring to be famous have the spirit of “Boogie Nights.” Cinematographer Eliot Rockett successfully captures the texture of grindhouse, either shooting on film or convincingly adding grain during post-production. On that same level, West’s idea has a trashy charm in how it celebrates the spirit of movie geekiness. The screenplay has a lot of in-jokes, such as characters liking the plot of “Psycho.” RJ is that standard dreamer in every porn story who is convinced he can make genuine cinema, citing the French New Wave as an influence on his camera choices. The small film crew could be any gung-ho student film shoot or indie operation. If you have ever worked on a micro-budget project, then you don’t need porn experience to understand the fun and hassle of riding around, lugging equipment in a van. The farm locale is fittingly grimy and unnerving. A television inside Howard and Pearl’s house endlessly plays footage of a preacher condemning sinners. 

Despite the subject matter West never pushes the sex too far. It’s the horror movie violence that is truly graphic, which is probably part of the joke. “X” becomes the kind of merciless fest where someone doesn’t get stabbed in the neck. Their attacker keeps going until the head comes off. Stylistically, this is also where the movie runs into some odd contradictions. While West wants to do his own take on a slasher B-movie, he’s also trying hard to elevate it. It’s as if A24 can’t just purposefully make trash with trash, they need the content polished to justify opening at spots like Laemmle. This is the studio behind “Midsommar” after all. For every hilariously grainy moment where the crew shoots a porn scene, we get more elegant overhead shots of Maxine floating naked in a lake, just barely evading a gator. Lorraine openly ponders questions of love and commitment when it comes to Wayne having no issues with his girlfriend having sex with Jackson on film. When she gets curious about doing a scene, auteur RJ suffers an emotional meltdown. Bobby-Lynne also croons a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” for an emotional split-screen moment where we see the loneliness of Pearl (who is played by a surprise cast member).

The third act of “X” delivers as a pure slasher experience. It helps that the cast is so strong. They know this is not the kind of material you play as if you’re in on the joke. Jenna Ortega and Mia Goth are particularly good at their roles as clueless, terrified young victims. Brittany Snow brings a Marilyn Monroe meets gritty city survivor to her role. Rapper Kid Cudi’s comedic timing is perfect as the porn actor and Vietnam veteran Jackson, who naturally has to apply his Marine skills when the terror drops. West nearly finds a rather moving emotional justification for the elderly couple going berserk in Pearl, who yearns for physical satisfaction. Howard just can’t deliver anymore. It doesn’t necessarily explain the ensuing bloodbath, but at least effort is put into finding some rationale to the madness. West has already announced a prequel centered on Pearl. Maybe audiences walking into “X” won’t care too much about such details once doors lock, bones break, eyeballs get stabbed and blood splatters all over some headlights. They will get their horror expectations met but with the added touch of rendering tribute to the classics inspiring the mayhem.

“X” releases March 18 in theaters nationwide.