Movie Review: X

Credit: X

X kind of feels like a run-of-the-mill horror movie in which the final girl gets away and has a surprise to reveal to the audience, which it kind of is, to be fair. But the ride from the beginning of the movie, which might make some older folks a bit nostalgic for the horror movies of the olden days, to the end is about what you’d expect, which sets this movie right in the comfort zone of many fans. When Maxine, her boyfriend Wayne, and their four companions, Bobby-Lynne, Jackson, Lorraine, and RJ, make their way into the countryside, intent on cashing in on the rising pornography industry by making their own film, one could easily expect stuff to start popping off without fail. This is only compounded when it’s revealed that the group has rented out a farmhouse that belongs to an elderly couple who likely have no idea who they’re letting onto their property. The story is set in a way that makes it feel like something of the 70s, which is when this tale takes place, but the filming definitely makes it feel authentic in a big way. 

Credit: X

The attempt to represent the porn industry is interesting, to be certain.

Maybe it’s not so much representing it as talking about how it was booming at one time and was still an industry that had a lot of potential for growth. Some would say that it still has that potential, but for those who are willing to go the extra mile to make it happen. In any case, this movie makes the porn industry feel as though it’s easy to get into but not so easy to excel at, as so many stars trying to take so few spots at the top would lead to a great deal of over-saturation in a short amount of time. But the manner in which the individuals in this movie are presented tends to make one feel that the adult film industry is something that many people feel drawn toward, but not everyone is bound to be good at. Bobby-Lynne feels like one of those who’d be destined to be a fan favorite, even if everything she’s doing is about as genuine as a three-dollar bill.  

The old folks are kind of spry for their ages. 

One might think that by looking at Pearl and Howard that they wouldn’t be able to move that quickly or do much of anything, let alone kill anyone. But somehow, the couple is seen to be a lot sprier than they appear, and the deception isn’t much of a surprise, but the reason for the brutality is a little intriguing. Pearl appears to have a very active desire for sex with Howard, but at one point, it’s established that he doesn’t engage in such activity that often, if at all, since he has a bad heart and, like most folks, doesn’t want to tempt fate when it comes to testing the old blood pump. But when Pearl attempts to touch Maxine, who she invites into the house when Harold is gone, things get a little weird. It doesn’t help that Pearl spies on the group while they’re making their adult movie, as she watches Maxine and Jackson having sex. Yeah, it gets a little creepy, but no worse than anything that’s been pushed to the fans in the last two to three decades. 

Credit: X

Is there really a protagonist in this movie? 

A lot of people might state that Maxine is, of course, the protagonist and the final girl since through everything she’s able to survive and keep her head long enough to be the last one standing, literally. When RJ attempts to ditch the group after throwing a hissy fit over his girlfriend, Lorraine, showing a desire to be in the movie, he’s stabbed to death by Pearl. The old woman then kills Wayne, while Howard ends Jackson’s life after tricking him into looking for his wife. Bobby-Lynne meets an overly friendly alligator that lives in the small lake that sits at the back of the property, while Lorraine finds herself locked in the basement with a hanging, rotting corpse. Maxine is the only one that manages to get away after Howard suffers a heart attack and Pearl breaks her hip after trying to blast Maxine with a shotgun. After driving over the old woman’s head, Maxine lights out, and it’s revealed before the credits roll that Maxine is the daughter of a minister, and has been on the run for a while. 

The brutality is impressive. 

The way people reacted to this movie, one might have thought it was going to contain the type of Hellraiser violence that would sicken a person’s stomach. But all in all, it was an interesting story and the kills were brutal enough to make a person wince just a bit. As for the rest of it, the story was just interesting enough to watch, but nothing to write home about.