Technically good, even though it's about low-key films

"X" employs horror clichés in an entertaining and harmonious way

• The director fills in "X" with a plethora of references to other films.

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The movie "X" is made in the grinhouse style, that is, in a cheap and scruffy way, to reflect the period in which these films flourished, namely the seventies.

Writer-director Ty West - who's behind the indie horror franchise - embraces many of the elements of the films at the time, such as obscenity, extreme violence, and disgusting blood scenes.

As usual, Tai doesn't jump into action;

Rather, it gives the characters space to develop, as he tends to gradually show emotions until reaching the climax, and does not go towards the exhaustion of his characters.

Despite this, no character develops into its three dimensions, but it is better than the "plastic characters" that fill most horror films.

The film's first half hour is spent on admiration for the cheap films of the 1970s, which were popular with their use of seductive themes such as indecency, blood, torture, or disgusting scenes, such as dismemberment.

And of course there's the horrifying Howard (Stephen Orr) in the background, reminding us that blood will be spilled over the course of the film's minutes.

There is no secret

The film adopts the circular structure style, meaning that it begins with a police investigation into a massacre, which we understand as a clear hint of what is going to happen, and ends with the investigation itself, and this film clearly takes its inspiration from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" of 1974.

The events start in 1979, when we see a group of six people who want to shoot a dirty movie.

Director RJ (Owen Campbell) has an ambitious artistic vision, and prefers to call his dirty film an independent film.

He says that his film has high production values, and does not focus on the commercial aspect.

Film producer Wayne (Martin Henderson) rents a tiny house from horrifying old man Howard.

The film's cast consists of talented Jackson (Scott Miscudy), Bobby Lynn (Brittany Snow), Maxine (Mia Goth), and Lauren (Jenny Ortega) in charge of the sound equipment, before she decides to get into obscenity.

The events of the "X" story extend in less than 24 hours, starting during the day and ending at night, and the police investigation the next morning.

The film crew begins work as soon as they enter the rented house, and the killings begin right after sunset.

There is no secret about the killers, there is no crime mystery, everything is clear.

Even more frightening than Howard is his wife, Pearl, and no one else is around.

Although Howard agreed to rent the house, he disliked strangers.

There isn't a single cheap or fake shot in the movie, so when West's camera focuses on a nail you know someone's going to set foot on it.

beautiful manipulation

The movie is technically good although it is about low-key films, but West knows exactly what he's doing and plays the elements beautifully and shows respect and admiration for them.

Despite his small budget - and a movie like this doesn't need a budget or stars - but he managed to paint a lot of aesthetics, as if he had a natural ability to make them.

West also fills the film with a wide range of references to other films, most notably "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th".

The use of "The Ripper" by the Blue Oyster Cult is a direct reference to John Carpenter.

And the best references are in the last scene;

West makes fun of found footage, or found movie horror movies.

The bottom line is that West employs all the cliches well and entertainingly, and puts them in perfect harmony.

The film crew does not include stars, and as we mentioned, horror does not need stars or budget.

The three girls Goth, Snow and Ortega have good movies.

Snow is new to horror, as she appeared in the musical Pitch Perfect.

As for Guth and Ortega, they are drenched in horror, and the latter is her third horror movie this year and we are in the middle of it.

It is not surprising that independent horror films finish filming in a month, as a maximum.

Of the men, the most famous of them is Miscudi, as he has appeared in many serials.

Then Campbell, he can be considered to be living in independent films, not mainstream films.

The actors are all good, they understand their characters well, they also understand the horror, and they do whatever the genre requires of them.

It's interesting that the horror of 2022 is molded by teens and twenties who love cheap scare jumps.

“X” is not made in this way, but it is a reminder that the slasher or slaughter genre, whose roots go back to the movie “Siko” 1960, produced strong films, especially in the seventies and eighties.

What West does here is to monitor the elements that flourished because of these films, and he succeeded in making "X" an important film for those who love this type of film.

To view the topic in full,

marketing plan

• Ty West filmed the film in New Zealand, but what he filmed is more than what we saw here, because he secretly filmed a second part that will serve the story as a prequel that focuses on the story of Howard's wife, Pearl.

There is no secret about it, as this is mentioned in the famous movie site IMDb, but it is a marketing plan similar to the plans of JJ Abraham in marketing his films, such as the Cloverfield series.

This is an indication that West wants to create a villain who becomes an icon in horror cinema, such as the Sawyer family in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", and Norman Bates in "Psycho".

The actors are all good, they understand their characters well, they also understand the horror and they do whatever the genre requires of them.

Despite its meager budget - and a film like this that needs no budget and no stars - the business manages to draw a lot of aesthetics.

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