In Retrospect: X

Still pretty friggin' good!

I feel so justified doing a little marathon this week and watching these movies again! X dude, X. That shit is mm, just right. It's certainly more eye opening and even more appreciated if you watch it after Pearl. So I guess the paralyzingly fierce breakdown smile made Howard stick around for about 60 odd years, and it is so damn interesting to see that shift with these characters go from mostly innocent young lovers torn apart by the Great War to flat out serial killer married couple, it is just wow! Despite the heavy prosthetics used for Pearl and Howard you get a lot of emotion and readable facial acting, and I still fucking stand and applaud the movie Citizen Kane style for just taking the time and humanizing them. It would have been easier done than said to just make them a creepy old murdering odd couple, but we get just a smidge of insight into their lives and relationship and it makes the film a cut above the rest in my opinion. It's shot with love and affection in that 70s style but never loses it's modern cinematography footing, there's some good shots and great use of color from time to time. I am rather curious what the overall visual flair will be for Maxxxine, cause Pearl was Wizard Of Oz as all get out, X had more than a healthy dose of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and I have no clue what the overarching homage will be but I'm excited. Hands down best scene of the movie still to this day for me is that brutal first murder, it is gruesomely practical but just the music and the lighting and the dance....whoa man. Not only did it send shivers down my spine in the bestest way possible, but there were tears welling up in my eyes and I cannot explain for the life of me why they did, I had no clue murder could be so beautiful. That's a weird sentence to say but I felt how I felt. It is goddamn art in my opinion from the neck stab to the van engine being shut off. There was a vision to this in all aspects, not to outshine or to reinvent the wheel, but to do it to the best of their ability. You wanna know what the one single friggin' thing I did NOT like about this movie was? I hated the posters and promotional images. Like really? That's all you had for the majority was a still frame of Jenna Ortega mid scream?? It sucks and I never liked it and I saw it way too often. You know an image that might catch my attention? That freaky ass silhouette of Pearl carrying a pitchfork like some wraith-like witch, that is awesome! And I'll level with you right here right now, I forgot what the ending was. I didn't know who was gonna live or die, so I was along for the ride one last time. I know, it's a little obvious but I had a lapse in mental faculties which let's be honest ain't nothing new here! Good times be had, I am never not in the mood to listen to some 70s baby making music, let's flipping do this Friday!

X

A24 strikes gold once more.

I haven't been this into and loving a modern horror film since Candyman, even I'm shocked how much I was getting into it. Texas 1979 is our setting as we follow a lowbudget porn crew traverse into a deserted area of Texas to shoot their next film when things get a bit more raw than intended. Where do I begin? Gotta be methodical about this so I don't forget anything. The production is wonderful, perfectly capturing that grain of 70s grindhouse while still keeping the colors at a natural consistency, surprise of surprises this was shot in New Zealand which fooled me throughout cause it looks like a spitting image of more rural areas of Texas. The effects, oh my God, what a gloriously gross showcase throughout done with practical magic and enough fake blood to slake any gorehounds appetite. The cast is really good, with I think the best material going to the old folks they shack up with and they are proper great in this when they start offing people. Hell I think the best scene in the whole friggin' movie is actually after the first murder, it's horrifying, it's beautiful, it felt like a gorgeous piece of cinema that I was happy to watch and admire. This is a movie that does some out there wild stuff and I adore it endlessly. It has little sprinkles of artistic and even the above mentioned avant garde scene, so it's properly directed here and knows what it is but still does things it's own way and beautifully so. I was really appreciating the dialogue at points and character moments, sort of tackling the stigmas and mindset of being an actor in a pornographic film and it handles it really well just stating they are just people, who are young and have a good time doing what they do without taking it super seriously. But I do absolutely feel the best writing stuff goes to the homeowners, the fact they're bastards all along and didn't just snap overnight, the time they spend elaborating on their past and what they were like, how they still have that passion in their hearts for each other, until the ball dropped that they were killers I really did think they were just slightly misunderstood and even thought one of the film crew would have been the killer. Now there's a twist I want to see happen! The soundtrack is glorious, with a fair bit of hey hey classic 70s lovemaking music and some staples of late 70s rock. Needless to say I need to get my hands on this soundtrack, for multiple practical reasons. I did feel like a touch of a perv when I was the only one who laughed at the Debbie Does Dallas reference, but I have fine taste what can I say? And okay bear with me, don't switch off, I'm not...I'm just saying for 1979, there should have been a lot more bush down there. Just saying. And on that bombshell it is time to end. Go see it. It is great! It's one part Boogie Nights, one part Texas Chainsaw Massacre, with a tiny sprinkle of cinematic art thrown in. 4 stars, 9/10! And another anniversary is almost upon us so I figured to look at a lesser regarded kaiju series to celebrate.