"MaXXXine" Review: A Wax Museum of 70s & 80s Horror/Thriller Classics (With Spoilers)

Spoilers

As the highly anticipated sequel to the acclaimed horror films X and Pearl, MaXXXine has generated a lot of excitement among audiences. Director Ti West and actress Mia Goth team up once again, shifting their focus from 1950s and 1970s Texas to 1980s Los Angeles, exploring themes of the porn industry, exploitation films, and serial killers. Even before its release, the film has captured the interest of many fans.

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However, MaXXXine ultimately falls short of expectations. Mia Goth, who served as the film’s producer, did not participate in the screenplay as she did with Pearl, resulting in a weaker story penned solely by Ti West, lacking substantive expression. The film thus becomes a showcase of bloody spectacles, with the interludes between violent scenes uneven in quality, making the pacing feel unbalanced. The only consistent draw for viewers is the myriad of cinematic references and tributes to classic films. Still, this alone is insufficient to elevate MaXXXine to the contemporary classic that audiences hoped for.

The story of MaXXXine takes place in 1985, the golden age of disco music, slasher films, and VHS, a time of economic revival in America, the peak of hedonism, and on the eve of the HIV crisis sweeping the nation. Against this backdrop, the tale of a porn actress trying to break into mainstream cinema and facing deadly consequences is an intriguing premise. It has the potential to highlight the cultural conflicts of 1980s America, resonating with the current cultural divides in the country.

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However, instead of delving into deeper thematic expressions, Ti West prefers to make surface-level homages to the classic films of that era. Setting MaXXXine in a film studio provides ample opportunity for inside jokes that only industry insiders and dedicated cinephiles would understand, making the tributes feel more organic. And he clearly enjoys playing with these elements.

MaXXXine directly references many actors and films. For example, it mentions actors who transitioned from horror films to A-list careers: Brooke Shields (Alice, Sweet Alice), Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween), and John Travolta (Carrie), as well as a rare case of porn actor moving to serious films (Marilyn Chambers, a famous 1970s porn star who later starred in David Cronenberg's early film Rabid). Psycho gets another heartfelt nod from Ti West, who is an ardent fan, and the legendary British horror film company Hammer Studio is humorously referenced in the film-within-a-film segments of MaXXXine.

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In terms of style and plot, MaXXXine draws from two controversial films from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The black-gloved serial killer and his brutal yet efficient killing methods clearly harken back to the Italian Giallo genre, epitomized by directors like Dario Argento. It also has real-life allusion to the 1980s serial killer Richard Ramirez. However, stylistically, MaXXXine borrows heavily from the 1980 thriller Cruising. The same disguises, murder methods, and violent aesthetics are recreated with metallic editing, cinematography, and action design, reviving a nightmare for the whole generation.

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Cruising (1980)

The core plot of MaXXXine is inspired by another film that received mixed reviews upon release: Paul Schrader’s Hardcore. In that film, a devout Calvinist businessman from Michigan embarks on a mission to rescue his daughter, who has been sold into the porn industry, from the clutches of Los Angeles' evildoers. In MaXXXine, the serial killer who murders those around Maxine is ultimately revealed to be her biological father — a devout preacher who traveled from his hometown to Los Angeles to save Maxine’s soul, though his methods for saving his daughter may seem unorthodox to others.

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Hardcore (1979)

Besides these films, MaXXXine indirectly references a series of classic horror movies. The horror film-within-the-film “Puritan II” that Maxine is set to star in clearly mimics the style of 1970s religious horror classics like The Exorcist and The Omen, while the ending of its predecessor “Puritan I” pays homage to the British folk horror classic The Wicker Man.

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The combination of the porn industry and thriller plot in MaXXXine directly evokes memories of Brian De Palma’s Body Double, although Mia Goth’s Maxine is less like Melanie Griffith’s character and more akin to Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg) in Boogie Nights.

The overall metallic texture of MaXXXine, and the death scene of Kevin Bacon’s private detective in a junkyard, remind us of John Carpenter’s 1980s classic Christine.

While Carpenter dealt with the relationship between machines and bodies, Ti West rapidly takes this relationship to its extreme in his film.

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Christine (1983)
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MaXXXine (2024)

Kevin Bacon is no stranger to slasher films. His breakout role was in 1980’s Friday the 13th, where he also had a memorable death scene (search “Kevin Bacon + Friday the 13th” on YouTube to see it). His gruesome death in MaXXXine adds another accolade to his horror film hall of fame record.

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These intriguing details might not change your overall judgment of MaXXXine’s quality, but if you’re a devoted horror fan, they will keep you engaged and entertained throughout the viewing experience, and also providing you with plenty of laughter with your friends.

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Ken's Movie Malaise
Great article! For me, the main reason I was disappointed with him was that it didn't scare me at all, the plasma and stumps were a bit fake, hahaha
17:17 22 August, 2024
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