MaXXXine

MaXXXine Minx is an adult film star, but she wants to take the next step in her career and is aiming for the lead role in an upcoming horror film. But succeeding in a Hollywood filled with madmen, serial killers and violence won't be easy. Especially when her past comes to mind. Ti West has conceived the final installment of his trilogy as a great homage to the 80s and the brainy thrillers and horror films of that era, and has uncompromisingly subordinated everything to it. Anyone expecting a traditional thriller with light genre games is in for a bummer. MaXXXine isn't afraid to be a wild, ridiculous and bizarre B-movie. And it certainly doesn't try to be cute. But it's undoubtedly interesting not just to fans of what West is paying homage to here. (07/09/2024)

MaXXXine is the weakest part of Ti West’s horror trilogy, but as a tribute to the dirty, bloody slasher B-movies of the 1980s, it is a truly delicious treat in terms of its audio-visual aspect. The film skilfully plays with the period stylisation (VHS rental shop, practical gore effects) and the dream-factory setting (the plot is set in Hollywood and Universal’s film sets), as well as with numerous references to other horror movies and quotes of motifs and clichés corresponding to the genre. However, the script lacks the sophistication of the second part of the trilogy and is qualitatively more like those goofy old horror trash flicks to which it spectacularly pays homage. (07/06/2024)

"In this business, until you're known as a monster, you're not a star." From the very first scene, with the gate to the studio hell and the thrown cigarette butt on the star Theda Bara’s spot on the Walk of Fame, it’s clear what kind of cult Ti West worships here. I don’t begrudge him the trashiness of the content, but rather the deviation from his usual storytelling pace, which might have worked better with Mulholland Drive vibes in terms of atmosphere, and also the sloppy finale with the cultists, where the pastiche dangerously started to verge on parody. But it’s pointless to lament over it when we’ve ended up in Pleasuredome and she’s got Bette Davis eyes. Would you like a slice of bacon? (08/15/2024)

Ti West has concluded his loose Texas-Hollywood trilogy for us, and there's a bit of a pattern to it now. With X, West dazzled us with a very accomplished retro visual style, although the simple script wasn't exactly anything to write home about. Then came Pearl, a rather admirable horror character study and the highlight (or anomaly) of the entire trilogy, and by extension the director's entire catalogue. With MaXXXine, West has rather returned to the beginning again, that is, to the triumph of form over content. On paper, it feels a little unfinished, unpolished, perhaps the director has become a bit tired as an auteur. It's still great fun, has great visuals, and the setting in the mid-80s looks totally believable. Ti West has never been a strong screenwriter, but he likes film, he likes filmmaking, and he also likes to quote from genre classics. A slight disappointment after the great Pearl, but a fine unpretentious movie nonetheless. [KVIFF 2024] (07/06/2024)

Ti West once again convincingly fetishizes the horror subgenre of yesteryear, unfortunately this time I have a bit of a problem with it, because this particular slice of horror (80s trash set in the streets of a big city) is not one of my favorites. I guess subjectively I would have much preferred if MaXXXine had a more prominent role for the giallo elements that it is partly based on. I can tolerate a sleazy thriller with a charmingly demented satanic panic twist, but it won't become my favourite. And even though it's pleasantly refreshing in specific moments, uncompromising and, for all its stupidity, nicely contrived, the various motifs fit together meaningfully. (07/16/2024)