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As I sat watching Ti West’s X on the big screen in 2022, I knew I was experiencing something special. A gritty, hard-hitting motion picture, it would go on to rank #1 on my list of the year’s Top 10 horror films.
Having just seen it again, I can’t shake the feeling I may have shortchanged it that first time around. X is, far and away, the best movie of the 2020’s. Period. All genres. On top of that, it’s the first film of the decade to crack my 250 Favorite Movies list.
Yes, X is that good.
The year is 1979. Night club owner Wayne (Martin Henderson) aspires to make a name for himself in the porn industry, and convinces both his stripper girlfriend Maxine (Mia Goth) and talented employee Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) to star in his first X-rated film. With Jackson (Kid Cudi) as the male lead, and film student RJ (Owen Campbell) and RJ’s girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) handling the technical side of things, Wayne predicts they’re all going to make a boatload of money.
Packing everyone and everything into a van, the troupe makes its way to rural Texas, where Wayne has rented a guest house situated on the property of elderly farmer Howard (Stephen Ure), who lives alone with his wife Pearl (also played by Mia Goth).
Once they’ve settled in, Wayne and the others get down to business, shooting one sex scene after another, all the while hoping Howard won’t figure out what they’re up to in his guest house.
But Howard isn’t the one they need to worry about, as Maxine discovers when Pearl takes a liking to her. Pearl may seem like a frail old woman, but the obsession driving her, which is not unlike the one pushing Maxine to excel in the adult entertainment industry, makes Pearl more dangerous than anyone could have imagined
Exploring themes of sexuality, desire, and a burning passion to be the best, X is also a loving tribute to the horror movies of the 1970s, films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (West duplicates several shots from Tobe Hooper’s masterpiece, including the darkened silhouette of Wayne standing in the doorway of Howard’s farmhouse, asking if anyone is home); Hooper’s 1976 follow-up Eaten Alive (a pond on Howard’s property is home to an enormous alligator); and John Carpenter’s Halloween (it’s no coincidence that, during the scene when X first takes on the characteristic of a slasher film, Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” fills the soundtrack).
Along with these nods to the past, X matches the down-and-dirty look of both a ‘70s grindhouse flick and a porno from the same era. West never backs down from his subject matter, filling the screen with graphic nudity and, eventually, graphic violence, making. X the perfect first entry in what would become an intriguing trilogy (followed by the prequel Pearl, also 2022, and the 2024 sequel MaXXXine).
The film tackles both fame and sexual desire by way of the passions driving Pearl and Maxine, each played wonderfully by Mia Goth. Having not read or seen anything about the movie prior to my initial viewing, I didn’t even know until afterwards that Goth also played the elderly Pearl (she disappears behind excellent make-up)! Her performance as these two pivotal characters, each as ambitious as the other, will blow you away.
Maxine is determined to become a star, even if it takes appearing in pornos to get her there. Pearl, who we discover also once had dreams of making it big in show business, now longs for the vitality of youth, the sexual intensity that Maxine so expertly conveys in front of the camera (Pearl was secretly peering through the window when Maxine shot her first sex scene). Pearl becomes fixated on Maxine, a preoccupation that at first struck me as a sexual attraction. But on second watch, I see that Pearl coveted Maxine’s good looks, her vitality, her charisma. Much like Elizabeth Bathory, the 16th century Hungarian noblewoman and convicted serial killer rumored to have bathed in the blood of virgins to retain her youth, Pearl wanted to draw from Maxine’s life essence, to make her more desirable to both Howard and several members of Wayne’s crew. Her dreams of stardom may have faded over time, yet she still longs to be the center of attention, and It’s when Pearl fails at seduction (save one very memorable bedroom scene with Howard) that she becomes dangerous.
The parallels drawn between Maxine and Pearl, as well as its various homages to horror classics and the occasional jab at the adult film industry (RJ, who says he wants to make an ‘artistic’ porn flick, has no problem shooting one sex scene after another until his girlfriend Lorraine decides she also wants to be in the movie), transform X into what I consider the best film of the admittedly young decade, and a movie that, over time, could very well prove to be one of the greatest ever made. Rating: 10 out of 10
J.R. Bookwalter turned out 1993’s Ozone for only $3,500. That, in and of itself, is not what is impressive. I mean, it is impressive, but what makes the movie a true wonder is that, despite its meager budget, Ozone is so damn good!
Detectives Eddie Boone (James Black) and Mike Weitz (Tom Hoover) are on a nighttime stake-out, hoping to catch drug dealer Richter (Bill Morrison) in the act. When things go south, Eddie and Mike give chase. Eddie eventually catches up with Richter, who, during the melee, injects the detective with a new narcotic called “ozone”.
As Eddie soon discovers, Ozone has some severe side effects, turning a good many addicts into mindless zombies. Eddie continues his investigation into the trafficking of Ozone, even as he begins to change, both physically and mentally, leaving him to wonder if the drug’s effects will eventually wear off, or if they are permanent.
Ozone is, first and foremost, a body horror film, and it’s an outstanding body horror film. From the exploding head that kicks off the movie to the many transformations to follow, the make-up and effects are beyond impressive. In one of the film’s best scenes, Eddie meets Justine (Lori Scarlett), who is addicted to ozone. During their brief encounter, the two undergo a metamorphosis that completely alters their appearance, resulting in a scene that is as gross as it is amazing.
Bookwalter also made the interesting choice of having each Ozone addict experience different side effects to the drug; not everyone becomes a zombie. During his investigation, Eddie encounters a bloodthirsty mob of Ozone addicts that force him to fight a cage match against a much bigger opponent; and later goes toe-to-toe with a trio of cannibals that corner him in a darkened alley. Keeping the effects of the drug random not only made for a more interesting film, but kept things moving at a brisk pace (the film’s 81-minute runtime feels half that long).
With performances better than you’d find in most low-budget direct-to-video productions (James Black does an amazing job in the lead role) and special effects that are shockingly good, Bookwalter managed to take $3,500 and turn out a movie as entertaining as any $200 million Hollywood production. Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Released in 2018, Hell Fest is a modern take on the slasher subgenre. What’s more, it’s an amazing slasher, introducing to the world a masked killer every bit as terrifying as Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees.
College student Natalie (Amy Forsyth) returns home to visit her best friend Brooke (Reign Edwards), and is surprised to discover that Brooke is now roommates with Natalie’s former adversary, the overbearing Taylor (Bex Taylor-Klaus). Annoyed at first, Natalie chills out when Brooke informs her that not only are the three of them going to Hell Fest, a legendary traveling horror attraction, later that night, but the VIP tickets for the event were secured by none other than Gavin (Roby Attal), who has the hots for Natalie.
Along with Brooke’s boyfriend Quinn (Christian James) and Taylor’s beau Asher (Matt Mercurio), the trio and Gavin head to Hell Fest, hoping it will live up to its reputation as the greatest horror attraction of all-time.
But the six will get more than they bargained for when a real-life serial killer (Stephen Conroy), donning a mask that makes him look like just another park employee, sets his sights on Natalie. And this particular killer never stops until he’s finished the job.
One of the best things about Hell Fest is its setting. Laid out like an amusement park, Hell Fest boasts dozens of rides and mazes to get the pulse pounding. Many of the attractions are damn creepy, as are the actors working them (the haunted school was especially eerie).
More than this, Hell Fest proves the perfect setting for a slasher film because the killer can take someone out and patrons will assume it’s all part of the show! Bloodied carcasses become just another prop. We get a sense of this early on, when Taylor and Brooke tell Natalie about a tragedy from a few years earlier in Orange Grove, when a girl was stabbed to death at a haunted attraction, then strung up, hanging there for days until her body started to stink (the movie’s opening scene features this very murder, the victim portrayed by Cynthea Mercado).
The actors playing the friends / potential targets of Hell Fest have great chemistry together. We really care about all of these characters, and while we accept not everyone can make it out alive, we root for them anyway. Most impressive of all, though, is Stephen Conroy as the killer. Hidden behind a mask the entire time, he moves methodically, never running or even walking at a fast pace. Like Michael Myers in Halloween or Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th sequels, the killer in Hell Fest doesn’t need to rush around. He knows he will catch up with his targets eventually, making those moments when he does all the more intense (a scene with Natalie in a rest room had me on the edge of my seat).
There is also a great reveal at the end of Hell Fest, a final scene so strong it will have you wishing a sequel, perhaps even an entire franchise, was in the works. As of this writing, that doesn’t look to be the case, and that’s a real shame.
A solid horror film and a terrific entry in the slasher subgenre, Hell Fest is sure to become an October staple for genre fans, and will stay one for many years to come. Rating: 9 out of 10
October 31, 2004. Islamabad, Pakistan. U.S. troops are engaged in a firefight with Islamic forces. The Americans are heavily outnumbered, and those left alive at the end of the skirmish are taken prisoner.
Two are executed, while a third is tortured by having the skin peeled from his face. Now badly deformed, this soldier vows revenge.
Shot mostly hand-held, this opening features some genuine excitement. Still, it’s not exactly how you’d expect a movie titled Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! to kick off, is it?
Jump ahead to a modern-day Halloween night. The all-girl rock band Kill, Pussy, Kill has just finished a gig, and are on their way to an even bigger venue when they stop for gas. While there, one of the band’s members, Misty (Kelly McCart), disappears without a trace.
Searching for their friend, the rest of the group, aka Amber (Sara Malakul Lane), Cat (Lauren Parkinson), Natalia (Nicole Starling), Bridgette (Kelly Lynn Reiter), and their manager Roger (Tristan Ott), are approached by the station attendant Dale (Richard Greico), who claims he was asleep in back and has no idea of Misty’s whereabouts. To add to their problems, Roger’s van suddenly won’t start.
Informing the distressed musicians that his uncle has a van they can borrow while theirs is being repaired, Dale drives the group a few miles down the road, then gases them, rendering them all unconscious.
When they come to, Roger and the girls find themselves locked in a basement, where they are informed by an ominous voice (over a loudspeaker) that they are going to be tested. Those lucky enough to survive the test will gain their freedom.
Of course, not everyone will survive, as they discover when their first test is revealed: move to the next room and locate a hidden gun. The person who finds the gun must then kill one of the others!
Borrowing heavily from Saw, Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! has its share of violent scenes, some of which are effective (like when the gun is found by one of the girls), and some that are spoiled by wonky CGI (especially bad are the various explosions littered throughout). The film also introduces us to the Mastermind of this “game” (played by Jed Rowen but voiced by Dave Mustaine) and a few members of his “family”, including Bertha (played by producer Kelly Erin Decker) and an elderly little person in a child’s dress (Zahra Susan Ingersoll), a trio that gives the film something of a Texas Chain Saw Massacre vibe as well.
Considering Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! is a low-budget affair, the acting is fairly good, especially the girls in the band, who struggle with the decisions they are forced to make while under the control of the Mastermind.
Also turning up to help the girls is DJ Speed (Demetrius Stear) and his buddies (Tim Casper and David Oakes). DJ Speed is a former bandmate who was tossed out of the group earlier that night for forcing himself on Misty. He’s pulled into the chaos when he stops at the same gas station and notices Roger’s van off to the side. Though late to the “party”, the scenes with DJ Speed are fairly intense, and prove to be some of the film’s best.
Alas, Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! loses its way a few times, notably in the scenes involving the Mastermind’s family and how they handle the trick-or-treaters who knock on their door throughout the evening (they are literally in the middle of nowhere. Who in their right mind would walk several miles for a single piece of candy?). Intended to be funny (they aren’t), these scenes add nothing to the film. I also didn’t buy the Mastermind’s motivation for putting strangers through such a terrible ordeal, claiming it’s to help them appreciate their freedom (an even more egregious rip-off of Saw, and not a convincing one).
In addition, the music that plays throughout Halloween Pussy Trap, Kill! Kill! isn’t memorable, and even the band’s trip through the torture chamber eventually wears thin.
It’s hard not to feel some affection for Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill!. Writer / director Jared Cohn is clearly a fan of the horror genre, and he and his cast did their part to make it an entertaining homage to several classics that came before it. Unfortunately, the results are mixed, and while I’m not unhappy that I saw it, I doubt I’ll be adding Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! to my October watchlist anytime soon. Rating: 5.5 out of 10
Best friends Sergio (Carlos Santos) and Brad (J.C. Villarreal) are throwing a wild party at the house they share with bad-tempered roommate Chuck (Tony Cavalero), who has been a real drag since he sobered up. Strapping a GoPro camera to a helmet, a drunken Sergio stumbles from room to room, capturing the insanity of a party that is spiraling out of control.
Ready to crash before the party ends, Sergio makes his way upstairs, only to hear sexual moans coming from behind a closed door. Chastising the lovers, he throws the door open.
There is nobody in the bed.
Suddenly, he hears the moans again, this time in the closet. Again, Sergio opens the door. Again, there is nobody to be found. Confused, he steps out into the hallway, where he has a frightening encounter with what could only be the ghost of a woman.
These opening moments of 2013’s Ghost Team One get the movie off to a chilling start. But as its story plays out, the scares give way to laughs, and while it is neither the funniest nor most frightening horror / comedy ever made, if is still an entertaining watch.
Initially reluctant to admit their house might be haunted, both Sergio and Brad have a change of heart when the gorgeous Fernanda (Fernanda Romero) shows a keen interest in the paranormal, and offers to help the two investigate these strange occurrences. Sergio, who is single, is immediately smitten with Fernanda. Brad is attracted to her as well, despite the fact he’s been dating Becky (Meghan Falcone) on and off for a while now.
As their probe into the house’s ghostly history intensifies, Sergio and Brad begin competing with one another to win Fernanda’s heart, never realizing that the spectral entity sharing room and board with them is becoming increasingly more dangerous.
With its emphasis on comedy over horror, Ghost Team One does have its share of funny scenes, most of which center on the leads’ attempts to win the affections of Fernanda, who is herself too busy obsessing on the supernatural to even notice. Also getting a few laughs is Tony Cavalero as Chuck, who is always confronting his roommates over what he sees as their lack of respect for the house they share (when we first meet Chuck, it’s the night after the party, and he’s screaming at Sergio and Brad after discovering someone took a shit in their kitchen sink).
Ghost Team One also boasts a couple of effective jumps scares, but horror is definitely not the film’s strength. And while the ghost does seem ominous at times (it turns out the angry spirit is that of a Filipino prostitute who once resided there), the film’s final 10 minutes, which feature a very unusual “possession”, are just silly enough to undermine the entity’s effectiveness.
I am definitely not a fan of how Ghost Team One ended, but it didn’t ruin all that came before, and with decent performances from the main cast and a handful of funny sequences, I ultimately had a good time with it. Rating: 6 out of 10
Director Gregory Hoblit’s Untraceable delivers its message of internet desensitization a bit heavy-handedly, but as a thriller, it’s one hell of a tense ride!
FBI agent Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) and her partner Griffin Down (Colin Hanks) have teamed with detective Eric Box (Billy Burke) of the Portland police department to track down a serial killer, one who live-streams his murders over the internet. In fact, the more visitors the killer’s website (killwithme.com) receives, the faster his victims perish, often in the most brutal ways imaginable.
An expert in cybercrime, Marsh does what she can to pinpoint the killer’s whereabouts, only to be frustrated at every turn. And now that the investigators have put themselves in this psychopath’s crosshairs, it may only be a matter of time before one of them becomes his next victim.
Diane Lane is superb as Agent Marsh, a dedicated investigator juggling her professional responsibilities with being a single mom (her daughter Annie is played by Perla Haney-Jardine), while Hanks, Burke, and Mary Beth Hurt (as Marsh’s mother, Stella) are solid is support.
It’s the story of an internet killer, though, and the manner in which his victims are slaughtered, where Untraceable truly distinguishes itself. Using everything from heat lamps to sulfuric acid, the killer leaves it up to his audience as to how quickly his “subjects” die. The more viral the video goes, the faster the death. And these killings are vicious! The subjects do not die quickly; even late in the film, when the viewership numbers jump exponentially by the second, these poor souls suffer for what seems like an eternity, making each fresh kill tougher to watch than the last.
Director Hoblit and screenwriters Robert Fyvolent, Mark Brinker, and Allison Burnett also throw us for a loop at one point. The killer’s identity remains a well-kept secret until just before the movie’s halfway mark, at which point we the audience finally see his face. Yet his motives, his exact whereabouts, even his identity remain a mystery. It is as if the filmmakers were toying with us in much the same way the killer toys with the police and the FBI. In most thrillers, an early glimpse of the villain functions as an “a-ha” moment, an exposé that answers a few questions we might have had up to that point. In Untraceable, we see his face. That’s all we get, and just like before this slight reveal, we’re relying on Agent Marsh to fill in the rest of the blanks.
As mentioned, Untraceable is not subtle about what it’s trying to teach us. The internet has made the world a much smaller place, granting anyone and everyone access to grisly real-life images and shocking news videos from around the world. With mayhem and murder a simple Google search away, we have become passive observers, taking in real-life violence as if it were nothing more than a TV show, with no concern whatsoever for the people whose lives have been forever changed.
Yet while Untraceable may deliver its message with all the delicacy of a sledgehammer, this does not detract at all from the film’s overall effectiveness. A taut police procedural and a first-class thriller, Untraceable will have you nervously biting your nails from start to finish. Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Several months ago - September 27th 2024 to be exact - we lost the incomparable Maggie Smith. One of the all-time great actresses of stage and screen, Ms. Smith died in London at the age of 89. The very day she passed, as my way of commemorating her long and distinguished career, I watched (for the first time) the movie that netted Dame Maggie her very first Academy Award, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
And she was phenomenal in it!
It’s the early 1930s, and Jean Brodie (Smith) is a teacher at the Marcia Bline School for Girls in Edinburgh, Scotland. Though her assigned subject is history, Jean Brodie often discusses art and poetry with her students, which puts her at odds with stuffy headmistress Miss Mackay (Celia Johnson). A free spirit, Jane also has an active love life, and is avoiding the amorous advances of married art teacher Teddy Lloyd (Robert Stephens), with whom she recently had an affair, to instead forge a relationship with the dull but kindly music teacher, Gordon Lowther (Gordon Jackson).
More than anything, though, Jean Brodie is dedicated to her pupils, four of whom: Sandy (Pamela Franklin), Jenny (Diane Grayson), Monica (Shirley Steedman), and newest student Mary McGregor (Jane Carr), have formed a group known around the school as the “Brodie Girls”. Taking them on weekend field trips and tours of the city, Jean Brodie is especially fond of her Brodie Girls, and believes she is preparing them for very bright futures.
But when Jean, who is no stranger to controversy, crosses a line by extolling the virtues of fascism to her students, it may spell the end of her academic career.
Everything about Ronald Neame’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, from the costumes, sets, and locations to the music (“Jean”, written and performed by Rod McKeun, won that year’s Golden Globe for Best Original Song), impressed the hell out of me.
Across the board, the performances are solid. Robert Stephens, who at the time was married to Maggie Smith, is cocky as the oversexed Teddy Lloyd, yet has genuine feelings for Jean Brodie, to the point that he believes she may be the only woman he has ever loved. Also good are Gordon Jackson as Jean’s other romantic entanglement, a man who is dependable yet not near her league, and Celia Jackson as the uptight headmistress whose attitude towards Jane may be driven as much by envy as a genuine distaste for the outspoken teacher’s methods.
The finest of the supporting turns, however, is delivered by Pamela Franklin as Sandy, the most gifted of the “Brodie Girls”. At the start, Sandy and the others idolize Jean Brodie, and want to spend as much time with her as possible. But as the girls mature, (the film’s events span several years), Sandy takes special notice of the failings of Jean Brodie, some genuinely observed, others brought on by Sandy’s own jealousy (she, too, has an affair with Teddy Lloyd). Playing a character whose age ranges from 12 to 17 over the course of the movie, Miss Franklin perfectly conveys the wide-eyed innocence of youth as well as a budding, independent young woman.
At the center of it all, though, is Maggie Smith as Jean Brodie. Talking at times as if she were a character in an Oscar Wilde play (especially in her opening scenes, addressing her class on the first day back at school), Jean Brodie is a force of nature in this movie. She is outgoing, energetic, dedicated, and flamboyant, and we see almost immediately why both men and her students are drawn to her. Jean is fiercely independent, refusing to adhere to a curriculum so that she can broaden the horizons of her pupils, and a scene in which she stands up to Miss Mackay, who is demanding that Jean resign, is one of the film’s high points.
But as The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie reveals, Jean is far from perfect, and it’s a credit to Maggie Smith that, even in those scenes in which her character is crossing a line, or allowing her own selfish plans to get in the way of what’s best for her girls, she does not hold back. Perhaps most controversial, for both the story and the film’s potential audience, is Jean’s insistence that Fascism is the wave of the future, and should be embraced. On holiday, Jean spends her free time in Italy, and expresses admiration for “Il Duce”, Bentio Mussolini. Even when her support for Franco’s efforts in Spain results in a tragedy that rocks the Brodie girls, Jean does not waver. From start to finish of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the title character oozes charisma, and has a magnetic personality. Our opinions of her may change over the course of the film, but Jane herself does not change.
My favorite Maggie Smith performance is in Robert Altman’s Gosford Park, where she plays the witty but snobbish Aunt Constance. Part of an amazing ensemble, Smith still managed to steal every scene, and though she didn’t play the most likable character in Gosford Park, I couldn’t help but admire her. The same can be said of her Jean in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Whether we love her or detest her, Jean Brodie is the film’s most fascinating individual, and we are as drawn to her as the film’s characters.
And the late, great Maggie Smith is the reason why. Rating: 9 out of 10
