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A fresh spin on the classic slasher formula, X marks the spot where Ti West gets resoundingly back to his horror roots. Read critic reviews

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X isn't every horror fan's idea of a good time, but it's often unique and never boring. Read audience reviews

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In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the cast find themselves fighting for their lives.

Genre: Horror, Mystery & thriller

Original Language: English

Director: Ti West

Producer: Jacob Jaffke , Kevin Turen , Harrison Kreiss

Writer: Ti West

Release Date (Theaters): Mar 18, 2022 wide

Release Date (Streaming): Apr 14, 2022

Box Office (Gross USA): $11.6M

Runtime: 1h 45m

Distributor: A24

Production Co: A24, MAD SOLAR, BRON Creative

Cast & Crew

Jenna Ortega

Martin Henderson

Brittany Snow

Bobby-Lynne

Owen Campbell

Stephen Ure

Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi

Geoff Dolan

Screenwriter

Jacob Jaffke

Kevin Turen

Harrison Kreiss

Sam Levinson

Executive Producer

Ashley Levinson

Dennis Cummings

Karina Manashil

Eliot Rockett

Cinematographer

David Kashevaroff

Film Editor

Tyler Bates

Original Music

Chelsea Wolfe

Tom Hammock

Production Design

Thomas Salpietro

Set Decoration

Malgosia Turzanska

Costume Designer

Rebecca Dealy

Jessica Kelly

News & Interviews for X

Weekend Box Office Results: The Batman Reaches $300 Million

Jenna Ortega’s Five Favorite Horror Films

Critic Reviews for X

Audience reviews for x.

Ultimately it may be more interesting in its non-horror moments (The opening shot, the deliberate commentary on exploitation vs empowerment, the recurring religious imagery) but I also think the violence's inevitability makes sense as we all know what is coming.

Horror is likely the most forgiving genre out there for being derivative. Just about every modern horror movie wears its many influences, even the recent trend of elevated horror movies that are trying to say Big Things with equal amounts of arty style and bloodshed. There's only so many monsters that can chase so many teenagers. Ti West (House of the Devil) is a director I haven't fully enjoyed, though I would say X is his most accomplished film to date for me. It's clearly going for a Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibe and docu-drama aesthetic. It's set in 1979 and we follow a ragtag film crew trying to make "a good dirty movie." They've rented a guest house in the middle of nowhere Texas as their film site because who knows. The octogenarian couple who owns the farm property doesn't seem to approve of these young folk, and the old lady ends up becoming the slasher killer that mows down the randy young adults. Turns out the old lady has her own urges that the old husband is no longer physically able to satisfy, so she seeks out solace one way or another with the newcomers, whether that be through her sexual satisfaction or through violence. To West's credit, he has given more attention to his characters. These people are not going to be confused with three-dimensional figures but there's enough character shading that made me more interested in spending time with them and a little more rueful that most of them will probably die horribly soon enough (Chekhov's alligator). The slow burn is not wasted time or dawdling, and there are some very well-executed squirm-worthy moments of discomfort. I don't think X quite works on that elevated horror level of late; it's mostly a slasher movie with a dollop more complexity and style. The real reason to appreciate X is from the dual performances from actress Mia Goth (Suspiria), the first as a stripper-turned-ingenue that sees pornography as a path of possible self-actualization, but she's also secretly the killer old lady under piles and piles of makeup. Her wild performances, including scenes where she is facing off against herself, makes the movie far more interesting. Goth goes for broke. I don't think the X is as fun as it thinks it is, nor is it as thoughtful as it thinks it is, and I don't know if I care about a prequel that was shot back-to-back that illuminates the killer old lady's younger life. Is this character really that interesting to warrant her own movie? As a horror movie, it's disturbing and bloody and surprising in equal measure even as it doesn't do much with re-configuring the many conventions of its genre. Nate's Grade: C+

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'X' Review: Ti West's Horror Masterwork Leaves You Breathless In Both Terror and Ecstasy

Packing both horror and humor, X is pure cinematic perfection from its patient set-up all the way to its explosive climax.

When considering the all-time great films that have made use of the exquisite cinematic potential of horror, there must now be a place for the explosive experience that is writer-director Ti West ’s riveting and raucous X . With wild abandon, it is a film that carves out a place amongst not just the best horror from A24 , but of the glorious genre writ large. It is a meticulous and patient work that also packs a wicked sense of humor that never lets you go once it has you in its grasp. Even as it wears many of its horror influences on its sleeve, West weaves his own thrilling and terrifying tale of a 1979 Texas porn shoot gone oh so very wrong.

We know this explicit production takes a turn for the worse as the film opens on the chaotic and bloody aftermath where bodies are strewn everywhere at a remote farm. The police are at a loss, pacing around the scene in cowboy boots and trying to avoid stepping in the pools of blood. It is an otherwise peaceful setting save for this carnage and the film keeps much of the viscera initially hidden, ensuring that there is still an abundance of tension to be found in seeing all the pieces come back together. Our story then properly begins 24 hours before the violence with Mia Goth ’s magnetic Maxine alone in a dressing room. A dreamer with a bit of a cocaine habit, she has big plans for herself that she reflects on in the first of several mirror scenes. Goth is already a standout horror performer, having been a memorable presence in Suspiria and High Life , though it is X that now cements her as an icon of the genre.

This moment is interrupted by Martin Henderson ’s cocksure Wayne who bursts into the room, proceeds to dial up the smarm in a smooch with Maxine, and informs her everyone else is waiting to get on the road. In just this opening scene, you learn so much about both of them and their relationship with each other. It is only the beginning of how West builds complete and complex portraits of people with an efficiency that speaks to both his craft as a writer as well as the assured performance of each actor. This extends to the entire porn production posse which is made up of a wonderful cast of quirky characters. There is the suave male talent Jackson ( Kid Cudi ) who, in addition to being a veteran, is also particularly known for his talents in the bedroom (at least in his own mind). Alongside him is his girlfriend as well as co-performer Bobby-Lynee ( Brittany Snow ) who packs an unending amount of irreverent snark. There is the awkward director RJ ( Owen Campbell ) who wants to make a serious art film in line with the French New Wave. Assisting him with the boom mic is his unassuming and cross-wearing girlfriend Lorraine ( Jenna Ortega ) who gets the nickname “church mouse.”

RELATED: ‘X’: Ti West Reveals He Shot a Prequel Film with Mia Goth In Tandem with the Original

This ragtag group of smut connoisseurs is taking a bit of a road trip as they are hoping to make their own porn film. Some, like Maxine, believe it will bring them fame and make them like Linda Carter . Others, like Wayne, see it as a chance to make some money by tapping into an otherwise yet-untapped market where people can watch porn at home. As they all hop in a van that is appropriately and humorously emblazoned with “Plowing Service” on the side, the clearest reference point is to the early tone of the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre . In fact, even as West’s film is very much its own thing, it is an experience that is a more worthy successor to such iconic horror than the abysmal Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel that came out exactly one month prior to X . Yes, both of these new films pack an abundance of brutality and gore, though it is in how West approaches his story that makes it such a superior work. The horror is found in the fearsome aspects of the broken people at its core, delving deep into the murderous underpinning of our world with a captivating eye. The persistent use of a rambling pastor preaching on television compliments this perfectly, revealing how the places people find solace when isolated have a more sinister undercurrent.

When our characters arrive at a remote farm, we begin to hear the repeated use of an evocative score that is a combination of haunting yet melodic chanting that is then mixed with creepy breathing. Even as the film is packed with a bunch of other fitting music, much of it happening diegetically, it is this score that really puts you on edge. The first interaction Wayne has with the property owner, an elderly man who seems to want nothing to do with them, is as ominous as it is awkward. It soon becomes clear that neither the man nor his wife has any idea whatsoever about what the group is intending on using their small boarding house for. Thus, the sex film is surreptitiously shot. In addition to creating a distinguishing color palette as well as a more narrow aspect ratio, West approaches the porn production with a playfulness that is also mixed with something more sinister. A scene where a lonesome Maxine explores the farm is intercut with the purposely cheesy dialogue of the porn that shifts from being humorous to haunting very quickly. It is one of many times West expertly intersplices seemingly incongruous visual sequences together for dramatic effect.

There are also frequent moments where the film will quickly cut to three brief glimpses of a distinct visual from another scene that then informs the other. It is a remarkably effective and unsettling element that disrupts the film’s cinematic grammar visually. Each time it happens, it puts you on edge and ratchets up the growing feeling that something is seriously wrong. What that something is will not be revealed here as the darker elements of the story are worth experiencing with as little foresight as possible. This is especially true considering how patient West is with the whole film. Of course, this won't surprise anyone who has seen his similarly dedicated and foreboding 2009 film The House of the Devil . Both films let scenes play out to an absolute breaking point, leaving you in a state of constant anticipation and curiosity about what exactly is coming next. One such moment of many to be found in X is a beautiful extended shot of a small body of water from above that finds both horror and humor in how long it goes on. When other films might cut away much too soon and undercut the terror of this moment, West lets each of these scenes play out until you are out of breath in anticipation.

This only makes the unrestrained climax of X all the more rewarding as these setups and quiet hints are paid off perfectly. Like a punchline to a joke, these moments were met with a rising up of elation that reached a roar. It is a film that kills both in its comedic sensibility and gruesome inclinations. At my screening, you could both feel the audience release all their pent-up energy and hear them exclaim in joy at these moments. It all reveals how West is completely in control, both narratively and formally, as he wrenches the maximum amount of payoff out of every single moment he can. From the way the headlights of a car change color in an extended violent outburst to a more reserved subsequent scene where a character remains asleep, everything is impeccably attuned to create maximum impact. It makes for one of the most fully realized pieces of horror cinema in recent memory that never sets a wrong foot even as its characters do nothing but. It is a dynamic, deadly work of filmmaking that achieves all its lofty ambitions and then some to become an absolute masterwork.

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X review: Mia Goth, Kid Cudi, and Jenna Ortega stumble into expertly wrought backwoods terror

Director Ti West knows the red meat horror fans want, and serves it up with panache.

Senior Editor, Movies

Traipsing into danger is the essential playbook of horror, a path well-trodden. But the brutal, giddy-making X , written and directed by Ti West, makes that journey somehow feel both fresh and comfortingly familiar. That dichotomy is at the heart of West's style, honed over years of indie horror filmmaking (and lately, an impressive amount of episodic TV). His features come clad in impeccable retro stylings: The House of the Devil from 2009 was the feathered-hair, Fixx-soundtracked '80s babysitter thriller you didn't know you needed.

But that fondness for details arrives with a sly sense of interrogation. You wouldn't call it "elevated horror" — God forbid — so much as exfoliated. West loves a good splattery kill and an off-putting stare, and if the house in the middle of the rural wilderness ain't broke, he isn't going to fix it.

West also clearly has a fondness for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , Tobe Hooper's revolutionary 1974 landmark, a film that X , set only five years later, explicitly echoes to an uncanny degree — and also revises. (Pay no attention to that official sequel that came and went a few weeks ago.) You can feel it in X 's oppressive sense of fly-buzzed heat, or observe it in the movie's perfectly re-created lean-to gas station (no sizzling barbecue this time) or the way a zoom lens follows a van creeping up to a spooky farmhouse.

In the van are six porn makers — porn stars is definitely pushing it. Maxine ( Mia Goth ), Bobby-Lynne ( Brittany Snow ), and Jackson (Scott Mescudi, a.k.a Kid Cudi ) are the onscreen talent; all three of the actors nail that sweaty Boogie Nights desperation. Wayne ( Martin Henderson ), their ringleader praying for a Debbie Does Dallas he can call his own, has dollar signs in his eyes. His cinematographer, R.J. (Owen Campbell), meanwhile, has convinced himself he's making an art film. As for R.J.'s girlfriend, Lorraine (former Disney kid Jenna Ortega), holding the boom pole? She's a little undecided about what side of the lens she wants to be on.

Even though they're headed out of Houston to get some privacy to make their magnum opus, The Farmer's Daughters , we already know that they're not alone. Yet before blood is spilled — and West does savor his slow build — there's another dynamic at play: a shifting power struggle about seeing and being seen, and occasionally just as brutal. The sexual battle tactics are refreshing given what usually passes for horror, and when X does burst into violence, they somehow continue, with icky scenes that pit longing against envy and destruction.

Revealing the identities of the killers would be unsporting (let's hint that those recent full-body transformations of Jared Leto and Colin Farrell are becoming a thing). For its whole running time, X has ideas on its mind. Like the doubled-edged title itself, both an evocation of the grungy rating this movie might have received in 1979 and something more suggestive ("You've got that X factor," Wayne says of Maxine's allure), it indicates a film that feels unpinned, ominous, and potentially unforgettable. Grade: A-

The Slasher Film X Is a Modern Classic

The movie evokes the grind-house energy of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre while also pulling off thoroughly modern cinematic tricks.

Mia Goth shushing someone in the film "X"

A month ago, another installment in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series was released, an attempt to modernize the horror franchise while still harkening back to its gritty 1970s roots. It was a creative failure, too reliant on digitally enhanced gore and thudding callbacks. The task of matching an all-time classic seemed impossible. But a new horror film proves that challenge was hardly insurmountable: Ti West’s X is a lurid slasher based in rural ’70s Texas that brings plenty of invention to a tried-and-true setting.

X blends old and new, rather than just proffering empty references. The film evokes the grind-house energy of the original Texas Chainsaw while also pulling off complicated cinematic tricks that wouldn’t have been possible 50 years ago. West is a director with a deep understanding of period aesthetics—his breakthrough 2009 work, The House of the Devil , was a precise homage to the VHS video nasties of the ’80s; it looked like a once-banned movie that had just been unearthed. X could be another tribute, and even hints at the nasties genre with a teasing prologue in which a local sheriff comes upon a crime scene littered with mysterious film canisters.

A sherriff walking from his patrol car to a bloody tarp on the road

West’s latest is titled after the now-defunct rating once given to the most shocking movies; fittingly, the canisters contain a few spicy reels of pornography. X follows a semiprofessional film crew that journeys to a small town to make a skin flick, renting a house on the land of two elderly farmers. Eventually, their shenanigans attract their hosts’ attention, the dynamic turns sour, and characters start to die, but X takes a surprisingly long time to move into slasher territory. West carefully builds out the relationships between each worker on the shoot while incorporating detailed backstory for the creepy older couple, meaning the monstrousness that unfolds later has real narrative purpose.

Read: The most purely enjoyable horror movie made in years

X is spearheaded by a pair of performances by the same actor, Mia Goth, who plays Maxine, one of the stars of the porno, and (buried under pounds of excellent makeup) Pearl, the reclusive older woman who takes an interest in the scandalous goings-on. The dual showcase is a remarkable one for Goth, who previously stood out in supporting roles in Emma , High Life , and A Cure for Wellness . Maxine is headstrong and assured of her future stardom. Pearl is a wispy ghost of a woman, reminiscing on her youthful beauty. West could have easily presented the character as pathetic, or stirred up by an inscrutable demonic fervor, but he instead lets the audience get to know Pearl and her ornery husband, Howard, before the two start chasing the youngsters around the farm.

The other unlucky guests are played by Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Scott Mescudi, and Brittany Snow, each of whom gets to have fun with characters who are vague without being mere cannon fodder. West is genuinely interested in analyzing the clash that takes over the farm, not just between old and young but between the repressed and the liberated; the carnage the couple carry out is motivated by their own confused feelings about sex. In the slashers of yore, an eye-roll-inducing motif was that sexually active characters would be picked off before the heroic virgins. Here, West makes that unspoken rule explicit, and so casts Howard and Pearl’s pent-up fury as all the more unsettling.

Outshining those thematic underpinnings, though, is West’s pure craft; he designs each scare sequence with consummate care, and refrains from using cheap jumps or overwhelming music to push up the tension. X has one of the best “character explores a dark cellar” scenes that I’ve ever seen—a standard of the genre, fine-tuned to perfection here. The set is simple—just two ramshackle homes and a field between them—and the budget seems fairly small, but the richness of West’s script and the depth of his characterization make everything feel expansive. The horror genre has, of late, been hijacked by purportedly “elevated” takes that avoid the simplicity of something like a slasher. X provides a map for how to do the classics right while still taking the formula somewhere original.

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Ti West’s X aims its slasher-movie homage straight at classic horror fanatics

Mia Goth stars in a dual role in a movie that pays tribute to Texas Chain Saw Massacre, in its own striking way

A woman with a bloodied hand sobs in Ti West’s X

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This review of Ti West’s X originally came from the 2022 media expo SXSW. It has been updated for the film’s digital release.

The House of the Devil director Ti West never left horror. It’s been nearly a decade since his last horror movie, The Sacrament , but he’s stayed busy in horror TV, directing episodes of Scream: The TV Series , The Exorcist , Them , and more. He returns to his big-screen roots with X , a deliciously gory, delightfully funny homage to 1970s indie filmmaking that lures viewers into a false sense of security with a fun hangout movie, then unleashes all hell on the screen. By the time the credits roll, it makes sense that A24 would confirm this as the distribution house’s first horror franchise .

In 1979, strip-club owner Wayne (Martin Henderson) decides to gather a group of friends, employees, and a couple of idealistic filmmaking-enthusiast tagalongs to shoot a porn film that will make them all famous . There’s Wayne’s girlfriend Maxine (Mia Goth), Bobby-Lane (Brittany Snow), and Jackson (Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi), who will star in the film. Of course, this won’t be just any old porn film. As writer, director, editor, and cinematographer R.J. (Owen Campbell) explains, he’s here to prove that it’s “possible to make a good dirty movie.” He’s ready to employ avant-garde techniques and everything, and he’s brought along his girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) as boom-mic operator. Of course, given that this is a ragtag production, corners are cut — most notably, the cast and crew are staying at a remote farmhouse owned by an elderly couple who are supposedly unaware of what they’re planning to do. Soon enough, bodies start dropping.

Though the premise of a porn shoot turning into a horror show could easily result in a schlocky parody, Ti West has more in mind. The adult-film angle serves two purposes — it puts a meta spin on the practically mandatory nudity and adult content of R-rated slasher films, and it uses the adult industry to speak about indie filmmaking at large. The first half of the film is a love letter to independent filmmaking, to the satisfactions of grabbing a group of like-minded friends and a camera, and heading to a remote location to make movies. At the Q&A following the film’s SXSW premiere, Ti West spoke about the similarities between horror and porn in the 1970s — specifically, the desire to break free from studio systems and make a name for yourself, with nothing in hand but a good idea.

The doomed crew of X walks through tall grass, film equipment in hand

Given that this is a horror film about a group of young people in Texas, there are clear homages to Tobe Hooper’s original 1974 movie The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , especially in the beginning, where West is following a group of friends having a good time, unaware of the carnage waiting for them. West carefully waits to unveil the carnage, choosing to focus on character work and setting a creepy mood through long takes and ominous cutaways. (The A24 way!) The story isn’t all gloom and doom — West is clearly having a ball making this an enjoyable comedy, too. Double entendres and crude jokes fill the first half of the film, like the team’s van reading “Plowing Services.” Even when the killings begin, most of them have a lighthearted tone.

This is in no small part due to the cast, especially Brittany Snow, whose turn as a wannabe porn star makes for a hilarious return to horror for the actress. Meanwhile, Mescudi does an impressive job as the guy full of bravado and confidence, a veteran who fears nothing, even when he should. Still, this is Mia Goth’s movie: She pulls double duty as both the lead character and as house owner Pearl, subject of a planned spinoff prequel. Goth infuses both characters with a burning desire to obtain fame, and a deep fear of losing it. Even when buried under tons of makeup, her performance shines through.

As funny as X gets at times, however, it’s just as effective at providing scares as it is at provoking laughs. Once the kills begin, West unleashes heavy gore and entertaining death scenes, enhanced by effective, novel editing that West and his co-editor David Kashevaroff use to enhance the scares, or create new ones. From smash cuts and juxtapositions to cutting away from a kill to an unrelated scene to screen wipes and split-screens, X makes for an unpredictable experience.

Sadly, as great as the makeup is, it follows the recent unfortunate trope of villainizing the elderly, implying that aging naturally turns people into vicious villains . Get ready for gratuitous scenes of naked elderly people, designed to suggest that aging is gross and scary.

Tired stereotypes aside, though, West delivers a crowd-pleasing return to horror that’s a love letter to the genre without becoming a parody. This is no Texas Chain Saw Massacre rip-off , but it is still the best Texas Chain Saw Massacre film of the year. Ti West is back — may he not leave us again anytime soon.

X is now widely available for rental or purchase on Amazon , Vudu , and other digital platforms. The prequel, Pearl , is coming to theaters Sept. 16.

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Screen Rant

X review: ti west's gory, layered slasher flick subverts expectations.

Smart, well-paced, intentional, and fraught with fascinating themes and character arcs, X is a worthwhile slasher film that is aided by a great cast.

Writer-director Ti West’s X is a horror movie that draws on the influences of 1970s slasher flicks while simultaneously exploring sex at different ages and perspectives. The result is a well-paced, slow-burn horror film that is confident in driving forward its momentum before going all out in its finale. There are elements of the narrative that could have been deepened, but X works on so many levels that it’s easy to dismiss them. Smart, well-paced, intentional, and fraught with fascinating themes and character arcs, X is a worthwhile slasher film that is aided by a great cast.

Set in 1979, the film opens with a couple of police officers arriving on the scene of an old farm in Texas. They are disgusted by what they see and it’s clear that viewers are in for quite a ride before the film backtracks to 24 hours earlier to reveal exactly what happened. Burlesque owner Wayne (Martin Henderson) has his sights on making adult films and recruits girlfriend Maxine (Mia Goth), an aspiring actress who wants to make it big in Hollywood, to star in the porn film The Farmer’s Daughter . Joining them on this filmmaking journey are Maxine's co-stars Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow), Jackson (Kid Cudi), the director RJ (Owen Campbell) — who doesn’t want to make a porno, but a great film — and Lorraine (Jenna Ortega), RJ’s girlfriend who is quiet and seemingly disapproving. They start filming not long after arriving at a farm home Wayne rented from Howard (Stephen Ure) and his wife Pearl, a creepy couple living in the farm's main home who lurk in the shadows.

Related: 10 Best Horror Movies That Aren't Scary, According To Reddit

X is perhaps most interesting when exploring Pearl, her reactions to porn and sex in general, and the deep yearning she still has for it. Much of her frustration stems from her wanting to be touched and her husband being hesitant to have sex with her because he could have a heart attack and die from the exertion. This creates a distance between them, but something awakens in Pearl at the arrival of the youthful bunch. Her fascination with Maxine, in particular, reawakens her lust; at the same time, Pearl’s judgement of Maxine, despite the fact she reminds her of herself, is steeped in her disdain of the younger’s youth and appearance. This dynamic makes for quite a few juicy interactions that are laden with unbridled desire, a desperate need, and an understanding on the part of the audience for Pearl’s actions, as well as Maxine's.

What makes X stand out is in the way it subverts expectations. The old couple's motives aren't exactly cut and dry, and the film delves into women's sex lives and desires without shaming them for it. Sex is a motivator throughout, as is the curiosity to explore it. In many horror movies , having sex — be it for the first time or in general — leaves one open to becoming a victim of the killer on the prowl. But X flips that on its head in unexpected ways that work for the story being told and winds up being fairly sex-positive in doing so. Besides the unexpected takes on sex, the horror film also thoughtfully touches upon age, as well as who gets to be desired and feel desirable in the eyes of society as a result.

The gore itself is plentiful and cinematographer Eliot Rockett films death scenes from different angles that amplify each moment without lingering too long on anything that is deemed unnecessary. A scene that sees one of the characters discovering another’s dead body has the right amount of shock and terror before the camera pans away to focus on the former’s attempted escape. The first kill is accompanied by "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult and it seems especially fitting for the scene, making it all the more creepy and intense.

X isn't afraid to lean into the patient, yet suspenseful energy that makes slasher films so intriguing to watch and it doesn't completely sacrifice its plot to do so. While X could have dug a bit deeper into certain aspects of the story, the film’s twists, layered themes, and intriguing character dynamics blend together to make it one of the best horror films of the year so far.

Next: Deep Water Review: Affleck & De Armas Fail To Liven Passionless Erotic Thriller

X is playing in theaters as of Friday, March 18. The film is 105 minutes long and is rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use, and language.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Grindhouse-style exploration of aging, sex, and gore.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Movie's themes aren't exactly streamlined, but it

Even though main characters are all likable and ge

Of the six main characters, three are women (one L

Intense, graphic violence designed to shock. Lots

Several sex scenes, with characters sharing partne

Several uses of "f--k," plus "t-ts," "c--k," "ass,

Old 1970s Coca-Cola cooler displayed. Wonder Bread

Main character snorts cocaine in at least three sc

Positive Messages

Movie's themes aren't exactly streamlined, but it touches on faith-based repression vs. sexual freedom, and sexual freedom vs. emotional commitment. But main themes concern age and desire: Despite a life of faith, the older couple still feel desire, but the younger people are revolted by them. Draws no conclusions on these themes but leaves viewers with something to talk about.

Positive Role Models

Even though main characters are all likable and generally positive, their life choices are iffy, and all but one pay a high price. The survivor is somewhat self-involved and doesn't suffer consequences for problematic choices.

Diverse Representations

Of the six main characters, three are women (one Latina) and one is a Black man. One woman seems to be the driving force of the movie, becoming the only survivor. A Black sheriff appears in just two scenes but has two of the movie's best lines.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Intense, graphic violence designed to shock. Lots and lots of blood, spurting, spraying, gurgling, oozing. Bloody, gory crime scene. Extremely gory slaughtered cow, hit by truck: Slabs of flesh hang from the truck and are shoveled from the road. Van wheels smoosh through cow guts. Character stabbed repeatedly in throat until flesh torn; lots of spurting blood. Head smashed with wheel of truck. Corpse with torn-up face. Rifle shown, characters shot. Handgun shown. Character torn up, eaten by alligator. Man breaks woman's fingers. Character steps on protruding nail. Naked male corpse hanging from wall. Character has heart attack.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Several sex scenes, with characters sharing partners (performed for an adult movie). Bare breasts and bottoms, plus thrusting, moaning, etc. Penis seen in silhouette. A character wipes ejaculate from her thigh with a towel. Man naked except for tiny underwear. Passionate, slurpy kissing. Sex-related dialogue. Dialogue about adult movies; Debbie Does Dallas is mentioned. A skinny-dipping woman is shown fully naked in an extreme long shot. A character touches another character's hand to his penis ("feel how hard my c--k is!"). Penis seen on male corpse.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Several uses of "f--k," plus "t-ts," "c--k," "ass," "d--k," "bitch," "son of a bitch," "hell," "whore," "pecker," "smut," "oh my God," and "God save me."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Old 1970s Coca-Cola cooler displayed. Wonder Bread shown and mentioned.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Main character snorts cocaine in at least three scenes. Smoking. Characters drink beer with dinner.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that X is a horror movie set in 1979 about people making an adult film in a remote farmhouse who end up being stalked by the elderly couple that owns the place. Ultra-gory and explicit, it's also funny, clever, and effective, touching on themes of sexuality, repression, and aging in unique ways. There are multiple instances of partial nudity (breasts, bottoms, slightly obscured penis), a fully naked skinny-dipping woman seen in a long shot, and several sex scenes, with thrusting, moaning, and more. Violence is very graphic, with lots of blood (spurting, spraying, gurgling, oozing), bloody carnage, gruesome murders, torn flesh, broken bones, eyes stabbed, etc., as well as guns and shooting. Strong language includes "f--k," "t-ts," "c--k," "ass," "d--k," "bitch," and more. A main character uses cocaine without consequences, and there's social drinking and smoking. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

Parents say (9)
Kids say (28)

Based on 9 parent reviews

Rated 18 (strong bloody violence, sex).

MAIN CONTENT ISSUES - There are several scenes of strong bloody violence, sometimes featuring gory injury detail. These include a man being stabbed in the neck multiple times, a man being stabbed through the eye, a man being shot in the chest, a woman having her fingers battered with the butt of a shotgun, a woman being shot in the face with gory aftermath detail, and a woman having her head crushed by a vehicle causing a big spurt of blood and gore. Some of these sequences are quite sustained, and linger on injury detail. There are also multiple prolonged sex scenes, featuring heavy thrusting and sexual moaning, explicit sexual dialogue and references, as well as graphic breast and buttock nudity. One moment also shows a woman wiping some semen from her hip. These sexual scenes primarily take place in the context of the characters filming a pornographic film, although no actual penetration is shown and the sex is only simulated. | OTHER ISSUES - There is strong threat and suspense throughout, including a sustained sequence of sexualized threat where a woman is inappropriately touched and caressed by another woman whilst sleeping. There are also some scenes of drug use where a woman snorts cocaine. Multiple uses of strong language ("f*ck"), as well as milder terms ("c*ck", "b*tch", "wh*re", "p*ssy", "d*ck", "sh*t", etc). | Rated "18" - Suitable only for persons aged 18 years and over. Contains content recommended for viewing by adults only.

What's the Story?

In X, it's 1979 in Houston, Texas. Wayne ( Martin Henderson ), who runs a burlesque club, climbs into a van with two of his sex workers, his girlfriend Maxine ( Mia Goth ), and Bobby-Lynne ( Brittany Snow ). Also along for the ride are Bobby-Lynne's boyfriend, sex worker Jackson ( Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi ), filmmaker RJ (Owen Campbell), and sound recordist/RJ's girlfriend Lorraine ( Jenna Ortega ). Their destination is a remote house on a ranch owned by an odd older couple. There, the team hopes to film an adult-oriented movie, The Farmer's Daughters , and make a fortune in the burgeoning home video market. The shoot begins well, but then one of the home's owners starts to exhibit extra-creepy vibes, leering at the youngsters. Over dinner and beers, Lorraine decides to be in the movie as well. A distraught RJ storms off into the night, thus setting off a shocking cycle of violence and gore.

Is It Any Good?

More than just a stylish grindhouse throwback, this gorefest explores sex and violence in fresh ways. It takes into account the oft-ignored subject of aging bodies and balances things with moments of wry humor. It's no surprise that the confident direction is the work of Ti West , whose The House of the Devil , which has a similar throwback style, has already become a horror classic and whose other genre works deserve the same fate. The look and feel of X comes from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre textbook, and West understands it inside and out -- not only its shock and gore, but also its sense of place and unexpected comic touches. But he uses it to create his own thing, rather than a slavish copy.

For example, in many traditional horror movies, sex is equated with death -- but in X , sex is treated as natural and freeing. Even though the actors are creating "smut," they seem in control of their bodies ... that is, until the attacks start coming. Those are fueled partly by faith-based righteousness and partly by jealousy of youth and beauty. It's a deadly combination, and certainly West could have gone deeper with it, but instead he focuses on sheer sensation. Some shots, like the click of a basement light switch, a casual swim in a pond (accompanied by a hungry gator), and a protruding nail, create giddy squeals that are practically old-fashioned. The combination of shock, titillation, and laughs may seem a bit messy, but that may be precisely what X is really all about.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about X 's violence . How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?

How is sex depicted? In the story, how is filmed sex different from "real" sex?

How are drugs depicted? Are they glamorized? Are there consequences? Why is that important?

Is the movie scary? What's the appeal of horror movies ? Why do people sometimes like to be scared?

How does the movie touch upon themes of repression and liberation? Of aging and desire?

Movie Details

In theaters : March 18, 2022
On DVD or streaming : April 14, 2022
Cast : Mia Goth , Jenna Ortega , Brittany Snow
Director : Ti West
Inclusion Information : Female actors, Latino actors
Studio : A24
Genre : Horror
Run time : 105 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : strong bloody violence and gore, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use, and language
Last updated : February 27, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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X review: A horror movie about what really horrifies us

X , from arthouse distributor A24, is a slasher movie about what really horrifies us. Writer/director Ti West ( The House of the Devil ) is too intelligent and thoughtful a filmmaker to believe that conventional boogeymen top our list of fears. He knows that a youth-obsessed society is far more terrified not only of growing old, but of confronting the fact that the elderly may still possess some very inconvenient desires.

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The movie is set in 1979 Texas and stars Mia Goth as Maxine, an aspiring young porn performer who travels with her older producer boyfriend (Martin Henderson) to a remote farm outside Houston to shoot an adult film. Along for the ride are two other performers (Kid Cudi and Brittany Snow), as well as the director and soundperson (Owen Campbell and Jenna Ortega), the latter of whom quickly decides that her best talents lie in front of the camera, not behind it. The ambition of all involved to make cinema out of porn echoes the similar aspirations of the adult film industry folks in Boogie Nights . And that is only the first of many, many references to other films in X .

True to form, the farm is isolated and creepy, and the group’s first interaction with the ancient proprietor (Stephen Ure), Howard, comes at the business end of a shotgun. Howard makes it clear that he disapproves of any youthful shenanigans on his property (and that’s well before he realizes what they are actually up to). He claims he wants to protect his elderly wife, Pearl, from any shocks. But just who needs protection — and from whom — quickly grows complicated.

Everything, in other words, screams for the group to get the hell out of there. But X wouldn’t be in the tradition of slasher films like Friday the 13 th or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (the film pays homage to both) if the characters had sense enough to not walk into situations that clearly spell their downfall. And yet, these aren’t the typical dumb, helpless twentysomethings common to the genre. On the contrary, they are capable and intelligent. But West wants to show that despite their physical superiority over the, ahem, monsters on the loose, the visitors are nevertheless doomed by their ignorance and inexperience, underestimating the threats on the farm until it’s too late. It never even occurs to them to consider what some people might still want — or be capable of.

West has worked in horror for a long time and he is in full command of both the genre tropes and his craft. His camera is fluid but not showy, and he finds the right muted colors and textures to convey the grain of ’70s film stock without making the movie look like a carefully curated Instagram account. He has said that he wanted to make a more “highbrow” slasher pic, and it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t succeeded.

The movie opens with, then later repeats, a shot from inside a barn that invokes Charles Laughton’s Night of the Hunter, in which Robert Mitchum terrorizes a family on a farm. There are also at least one verbal and two visual references to Psycho . West follows an early scene in which a character mentions the French New Wave by staging a grizzly homage to the famous traffic accident sequence in Jean-Luc Godard’s Weekend . A shot of Maxine running away from the farmhouse is straight out of Terrence Malick’s ’70s classic, Days of Heaven . Cinephiles and breathless film students will surely spot many more references over repeated screenings.

Thankfully, the allusions are carefully integrated and resonate thematically with the films they invoke. West has made cinema that engages in intelligent dialogue with other cinema — a far cry from the glaring in-universe references in, say, Star Wars and Marvel movies that perform fan service but typically have no grander purpose.

X earns its place among A24’s best

Given all that, is the movie too highbrow for its genre? Does West’s insistence on interrogating the relationship between cinema and youthful beauty compromise some of the suspense? Maybe a little bit. The middle act could be tighter. And the final “twist” bludgeons the viewer with its irony. It’s an unnecessary reveal that is too on the nose compared to the subtlety of what’s come before it.

Overall, though, X is a movie that works well even for those who haven’t had a few semesters of film studies. The cast is charismatic. There are moments of visual wit, such as when the film cuts from a passionate kiss to a cow chewing cud. And the final third of the picture delivers all the gore and shocks demanded of the genre. Still, in the tradition of A24 arthouse horror such as Hereditary , Midsommar , and The Witch , the movie puts ideas in the foreground as much as it does bloodshed. West knows that slasher and porn films are less about violence and sex, respectively, and more about the shock and titillation of social transgression. With X , he has made a movie in which the most unsettling moments compel the viewer to question what society really considers taboo and why.

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Coming off a big win in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semifinal, Fiorentina return to Serie A action for a matchup against Juventus at Allianz Stadium today. Juve's poor run of form has dropped them to third in Serie A, and if they don't want to lose their Champions League spot for next season, they'll need to be careful here against a Fiorentina side that is clearly riding high.

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With such a huge variety of streaming services to chose from, it's easy to get overwhelmed. There are options focused on prestige TV, or movies, or original series, and just about any other type of TV you can name. But if you love reality TV and shows focused on cooking or home improvement, then the service you might be most interested in is Discovery Plus. The service has had a rocky history recently and last year it raised its prices, but you can still get a free seven-day trial of the service to decide if you want to fork out for a regular subscription. Is there a Discovery Plus free trial?

There is a Discovery Plus free trial, and if things like a Disney Plus free trial and a Peacock TV free trial are of interest to you, it’s worth pouncing on. The Discovery Plus free trial does consist of signing up for the paid service, at which point you’re given seven days of free access to the entire Discovery Plus library of content. You have the full seven days to enjoy all of the Discovery Plus content you like, and you can cancel with no financial commitment within those seven days. If you don’t cancel within those seven days, your credit card will be billed $4.99 per month or $8.99 per month, depending on which Discovery Plus tier you choose at signup.

If you've ever shopped on Amazon -- and these days, who hasn't? -- then you've likely heard about the option for an Amazon Prime membership. This subscription is mostly touted as a way to save on shipping costs when purchasing from Amazon, but it also comes bundled with some other handy features including access to Amazon's streaming service, Amazon Prime Video. You'll find a range of movies and shows to watch, but if you're not sure whether you need yet another streaming service, there is an option for a free trial to see if you like the service before paying for it. Is there an Amazon Prime Video free trial? There is indeed an Amazon Prime Video free trial, but it's tied into the Prime free trial, which lasts for a month and may or may not be available to you. To see if you're eligible, you'll need to and check. The general rule is that the Prime free trial (and by extension, an Amazon Prime Video free trial) is available to Amazon accounts that have either never signed up for a Prime trial or have not had Prime -- either a trial or paid membership -- any time in the last 12 months.

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X review – Bump’n’grindhouse from horror director Ti West

The film-maker’s latest, about a porn shoot gone wrong, is a playful gore-fest

T he year is 1979 and a foxy gang of actors from Houston, Texas, are pounding down the highway in a truck plastered with the name “Plowing Service”. The latest film from horror director Ti West ( The House of the Devil ), about a porn movie shoot gone wrong, is ripe with playful winks and nudges.

Producer Wayne (Martin Henderson) casts his younger girlfriend, the coke-snorting Maxine (Mia Goth), in “The Farmer’s Daughter” alongside Bobby-Lynne (a witty Brittany Snow) and former marine Jackson (Scott Mescudi, AKA Kid Cudi). Director RJ (Owen Campbell) aspires to make “a good dirty movie”, but to his sound recordist girlfriend, Lorraine (Jenna Ortega), “it’s smut”. Their activities titillate the older couple next door. West has great fun teasing the audience ahead of the gory climax. Even more provocative is the real “money shot”, which sees the elderly lovers getting their kicks.

X is released in US and UK cinemas on 18 March

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Maxine is the first to tour the grounds and notices that things are off. She doesn’t relay that to the group, but they probably wouldn’t have listened anyway. Meanwhile, Howard and Pearl are in a loveless marriage and want intimacy, but he can’t because of the husband’s heart problems. When Pearl witnesses the group shooting in all their naked glory, this ignites a sexual rage in her that she chooses to take out on the young group. Let the game begin!

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The idea that lack of sexual connection could cause one to become a murderer is interesting but isn’t expounded upon here. Pearl sees Maxine as a “special woman,” but the reason why isn’t revealed until the last scene. There are too many loose ends to count, but the redeeming cast is what keeps X afloat. Each actor brings their own quirks to the table. They are good-looking, dynamic and having a good time.

I give West credit for having a vision and sticking to his influences. He knows what he wants to do and how to execute it unapologetically. X is surface-level entertainment — focused more on having fun than telling a good story — but still a satisfying piece of indie horror filmmaking that’s worth taking a chance on. Don’t expect anything like his previous film, The Innkeepers, but don’t think too hard while watching X . Just enjoy the ride.

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Senior citizens terrorize sexed-up 20-somethings in the silly retro slasher flick 'X'

Old folks go ‘boo’ in borderline offensive horror film about amateur adult filmmakers (and we use the term adult loosely).

The cheesy aesthetic of late-1970s and early-1980s filmmaking — harnessed, to hugely popular appeal, if not great artistic effect, in “ Stranger Things ” — is front and center in “X,” a sexy meta-slasher flick that uses the look and feel of both the era’s horror movies and its adult films to dress up what is essentially an otherwise commonplace saga of the bloodied-but-unbowed Final Girl (in B-movie parlance, the last surviving member of a group, victimized by a killer, to confront the murderer).

Written and directed by Ti West (“Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever”), the 1979-set ″X” follows the unfortunate fates of the cast and crew of an ultra low-budget adult film called “The Farmer’s Daughter.” Set on a rural Texas farm and following the predictable contours of many a dirty joke centering on the stock character — make that caricature — of a sexually rapacious young woman and a lucky male traveler, the film-within-a-film is a series of nudges and winks hinting at bygone tropes and stereotypes. Some are more offensive than others: An afroed Scott Mescudi, a.k.a. Kid Cudi, plays the sexually prolific traveler, who gets to make on-camera whoopee with not only his blond girlfriend (Brittany Snow), but the girlfriend (Mia Goth) of the film’s producer (Martin Henderson) and the girlfriend (Jenna Ortega) of its director (Owen Campbell). Campbell, whose character is a aspiring cinéaste who references the French New Wave, gets the nudgiest, winkiest dialogue. “It’s possible to make a good dirty movie,” he says to his sweetheart, Lorraine, who initially disapproves of all this hardcore carnality — until she, for implausible reasons, decides to join in.

It certainly is possible to make such a movie, but I’m not sure “X” is the most compelling argument.

Still, it has certain je ne sais quoi, if graphic nudity, self-referential humor and serial murder — neck stabbing, eye gouging, alligator munching and shotgun blasting — are your thing. The victims, as in many movies of this ilk, are young people who enjoy sex. And the villains are the elderly proprietor of the remote farm where the crew has set up shop (Stephen Ure) and his equally elderly wife. Oddly, they’re the villains not because they don’t enjoy sex, but because they do. The wife, Pearl, who looks likes she’s about 150 but still enjoys a roll in the hay, is resentful that her superannuated husband is unable to perform because of a weak heart, so she takes out her sexual frustration on the kids. The fact that she’s played by Goth, doing double duty in fairly convincing if cartoonish old-age makeup, is troubling. It suggests that senior citizens are inherently scary or something to laugh at — and ones who are randy are scarier, and more laughable, still.

Perhaps to this film’s young target demographic — arguably, people who weren’t even born yet in the year in which it’s set — there is nothing more terrifying than an old lady who still feels sexual desire. To anyone old enough to have lived through 1979 — and to harbor no nostalgia for the inartfulness of DIY porn and VHS slasher movies, “X” is less of a treat.

On the other hand, who knew that a stupid movie — part bloodbath, part skin flick — would offer the viewer not only so much to think about, but so much to look forward to? A prequel has already been shot, starring Goth as the younger Pearl.

R. At area theaters. Contains bloody violence and gore, strong sexual material, graphic nudity, drug use and crude language. 105 minutes.

‘X’ Movie Review – Ti West Goes Full-Throttle on Savagely Funny and Intense Throwback Horror

Bloody Disgusting’s X movie review is spoiler free.

It’s been almost an entire decade since writer/director Ti West ‘s last horror feature, The Sacrament . Far too long. Luckily, West ensures that the wait has been worth it with A24’s X , an homage to the gritty indie horror of the ’70s but with savage style and a deranged sense of humor that’s pure Ti West. A deceptively simple setup gives way to a go-for-broke horror-comedy that leaves you breathless, both from laughter and nail-biting tension.

Set in 1979 Texas, X opens to the aftermath of a bloodbath, to the befuddlement of local officials. Cut to 24 hours earlier, where a group of aspiring adult filmmakers load up in a van and drive from Houston out to the boonies to shoot. Producer Wayne ( The Ring’s Martin Henderson ) attempts to cut every corner for their limited budget, first by securing a young cinephile to direct, RJ ( Owen Campbell ), who’s brought girlfriend Lorraine ( Jenna Ortega ) to assist and handle the boom mic. Wayne’s enlisted his girlfriend Maxine ( Mia Goth ), Bobby-Lynne ( Brittany Snow ), and Jackson ( Scott Mescudi ) to star. Then he’s rented a boarding house on the cheap from the reclusive, elder Howard ( Stephen Ure ), who warns them to stay out of his wife’s sight.

The porn production quickly devolves into a fucked up horror picture when things spiral out of control.

Ti West's 'X' Highlights Horror Films Premiering at SXSW's 2022 Film Festival!

West has many surprises in store for X , but the first straight out of the gate is just how wickedly funny it is. From the little details like “Plowing Service” emblazoned across Wayne’s van to the consistent tongue-in-cheek euphemisms befitting of the adult film production, X has a delightfully wicked sense of humor. Snow and Mescudi stand out for their line delivery and comedic timing; their character gags and one-liners land with perfection.

The second significant shock in store is how fiercely the filmmaker matches the comedy with the horror. While it’s no surprise that West knows how to build tension, he brings it to a whole new level here. West, who co-edits with David Kashevaroff , finds ingenious and innovative ways to create edge-of-your-seat suspense through editing. Spliced scenes don’t just create visual interest; they deliver potent scares. Overhead shots instill unease, a masterclass of terror and foreshadowing with gratifyingly intense payoffs later. West’s intoxicating blend of style and scare-crafting creates a visceral horror experience.

That doesn’t even begin to cover the gore of it all. X is a crowd-pleasing doozy when it comes to brutal bloodletting and kills. Some deaths leave you queasy, and some will leave you cackling with glee. All of it is immensely satisfying.

X is West firing on all cylinders. The commitment to the period is top-level, capturing the aesthetic and vibe without ever coming close to feeling pastiche. It’s all the more impressive considering just how much humor gets injected, which could’ve pushed this into spoof territory quickly in other hands. The editing is a masterclass, a marvel of how West structures this wild tale to maximize the tension or offer reprieve through an onslaught of terror.

Then there’s the cast. The lean, straightforward narrative gets straight to the goods and never wastes time on heavy exposition. It’s all in the little details and the talented cast making these characters feel lived-in with a shared history. We root for this wacky, free-spirited bunch because they’re so charming and genuine. Naturally, it lends well to the horror’s impact.

The setting and period make for easy comparisons to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , and West uses that to lull viewers before pulling the rug out from under them. They share similar DNA and pure grit, but it’s a narratively different beast that demonstrates why West should be given full reign to go full throttle on deranged, savage, and intense horror-comedies more often. It’s a blast.

X releases in theaters on March 18, 2022.

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

Stay Home, Watch Horror: Five Underseen Slasher Gems to Stream This Week

Charles Martin Smith TRICK OR TREAT on SCREAMBOX

Horror trends ebb and flow, but slashers never truly go out of style.

Take the recently debuted trailer for the upcoming A24 horror movie MaXXXine , for example. There’s something oddly comforting about the slasher subgenre, beholden to its rules and its commitment to racking up an impressive body count, that we just can’t get enough of. So, this week’s streaming picks belong to one of the most beloved subgenres of horror.

Only this time, because the slasher subgenre is vast and endless with no shortage of hidden gems, we’re highlighting five underseen slashers you may not have watched yet.

Here’s where you can stream them this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

Death Spa – AMC+, Plex, Shudder, Tubi, Vudu

Also known as Witch Bitch in Europe, this wacky ‘80s slasher movie takes aim at the decade’s fitness craze in the most entertaining way. Michael Evans (William Bumiller) owns and runs a high-tech health club, but it soon becomes plagued by a series of freak accidents and bizarre deaths. It turns out his deceased wife holds a massive grudge and has taken to possessing the facility and gym equipment to torment Michael from beyond the grave. A ghost that kills out of jealousy through gym equipment is every bit as silly and as entertaining as it sounds.

Dr. Giggles – freevee, Plex, the Roku Channel, Shout TV, Tubi

There’s an urban legend feel to writer/director Manny Coto’s slasher comedy. The plot introduces Larry Drake ( Dark Night of the Scarecrow , Darkman ) as the eponymous character, a murderous madman who escapes from a mental institution and fixates on a teen with a heart condition. It’s the type of slasher that isn’t afraid to let its characters get silly, as evidenced by Dr. Giggles’ penchant for deranged giggle fits when committing murder. It’s matched by fun kills with some great gore. The real reason to check out this zany ’90s slasher, though, is star Larry Drake. The horror stalwart ensures his manic killer stands out among the crowded pantheon of slashers.

Evil Dead Trap – AMC+, Fandor, freevee, Night Flight , Plex, Prime Video, SCREAMBOX, Shudder

This Japanese giallo-style slasher is for fans that love over-the-top plot reveals and an extra helping of sleazy gore and inventive, gruesome kills. The plot follows a late-night talk show host, Nami (Miyuki Ono), and her crew as they investigate the origins of a snuff film shot at a nearby facility. The atmospheric setup eventually goes off the rails most unpredictably, but director Toshiharu Ikeda wastes no time acclimating viewers with a gnarly burst of ocular trauma straightaway. It signals precisely the type of bloody madness in store. That the killer employs elaborate traps to commit murder means that someone beat Saw to the punch by over a decade. Fans of Malignant will want to check this one out.

Grave Robbers – AMC+, Shudder

Filmmaker Rubén Galindo Jr. delivered a trio of solid horror movies in the ’80s worth checking out. The first was the supernatural Halloween gem Cemetery of Terror , followed by Nightmare on Elm Street riff Don’t Panic . Galindo Jr.’s third horror feature, Grave Robbers , offers a Satanic slasher with an imposing Jason Voorhees-like killer. Teens embarking on a camping getaway wind up unleashing the spirit of an evil Inquisition executioner when they come upon his recently robbed tomb. It begins a supernatural induced bloodbath. Grave Robbers closes out Galindo Jr.’s ’80s horror trilogy with a bang, delivering plenty of fun kills and a wild plot to usher in the Antichrist.

Trick or Treat – SCREAMBOX

The pinnacle of heavy metal horror, Trick or Treat , is finally available on streaming. Considering it’s halfway-to-Halloween month, that makes now the perfect time to watch. Following the death of his heavy metal idol, a bullied teenage boy inadvertently discovers a way to resurrect the rocker. After hearing the news of his hero’s death, Eddie Weinbauer (Marc Price) finds himself in possession of a one-of-a-kind item, the final recording of Sammi Curr (Tony Fields). When Eddie plays the record backward, unwittingly unleashing his idol’s demonic side. Sammi Curr delivers retribution upon Eddie’s bullies in his unholy bid for heavy metal dominion. With an earworm score and Halloween heavy metal mayhem, throw up some devil horns and enjoy the ride.

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Considering that sequels to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre are still being cranked out, writer-director Ti West ( The House Of The Devil , The Innkeepers ) shows guts in reframing many images from Tobe Hooper ’s 1974 classic early in X . Quite a few of his nods are deliberate misdirections and this has more on its mind than power-tool homage. He also evokes other major horrors — especially Psycho and Hooper’s Chain Saw follow-up, Death Trap , aka Eaten Alive — to build background dread while the main characters think they’re in a comical, down-home Boogie Nights .

The 1970s was an era when young filmmakers who might have made horror films thought there was mileage in arty dirty movies, and older producers were distracted from young flesh by the prospect of big box office. X has fun with the seamy milieu, showcasing bright performances from Brittany Snow and Mia Goth as would-be sex stars, Jenna Ortega as a porn-curious sound recordist (the real sound design, by Graham Reznick, is excellent), and Martin Henderson as a cowboy-hatted Larry Flynt wannabe.

When natural and unnatural desires are awakened on the porno shoot and an aged American-gothic farm couple get involved, the horrors go into overdrive, as X races through its second half with eye-opening (and -piercing) shocks and surprises — funny, horrific, and just plain weird. Many who attempt retro horror fall into the trap of simply imitating their favourite films, but Tobe Hooper, George Romero and Brian De Palma were as hung up on French New Wave, Bergman and underground cinema as Hitchcock and Hammer, and West judiciously stirs in these influences. He uses disorienting editing tricks to ratchet tension, but also holds long, cool shots of folks relaxing in nature, unaware of looming threats — a lake scene with Goth and a gator is liable to be much-cited.

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X (United States, 2022)

X is a fun movie – a throwback to the Grindhouse pictures of the 1970s and the slasher genre of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. With a tongue-in-cheek, devil-may-care approach, writer/director Ti West embraces many of the tropes that have since fallen into disfavor (copious T&A, for example) and splashes them all over the screen. The caveat, of course, is that a love of gory horror is a prerequisite for enjoying X .

West, as is his wont, doesn’t jump right into the action. Favoring a slow-burn to a burnout, he spends some time with the characters and, although none develops the full three dimensions, they have better rounded personalities than the plastic targets who populate most slasher films. Roughly the first half of the movie is an homage to ‘70s soft core/exploitation pictures, although there’s always creepy Howard (Stephen Ure) hanging around in the background to remind us that things are eventually going to get bloody. (There’s also a wraparound structure that opens the movie with police investigating what looks like a slaughterhouse massacre, so we know there’s going to be a substantial body count.)

The premise is simple enough – in 1979, a group of six adults have come to an out-of-the-way corner of Texas to make a porn movie. The director, RJ (Owen Campbell), has artistic aspirations. He prefers to call his picture an “independent film” and he’s focused more on the integrity of the production than its commercial prospects. The dollar signs are the purview of executive producer Wayne (Martin Henderson), who has arranged his merry band to rent a guest house from the geriatric, somewhat frightening Howard. RJ’s cast includes the well-endowed Jackson (Scott Mescudi), whose afro is as impressive as what he’s packing in his trousers; the free-spirited Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow), who’s up for anything; and Wayne’s squeeze, Maxine (Mia Goth). Also along on the trip is RJ’s girlfriend, Lorraine (Jenny Ortega), who handles the sound equipment before deciding that she’d like a taste of what the other women are having.

The movie is funny – intentionally and in the right ways. West plays with tropes while at the same time honoring them. Despite having very little budget, he’s able to recreate the 1979 aesthetic with such aptitude that one can be forgiven thinking he found the movie rather than making it. (He takes a pointed jab at the “found footage” genre.) There are a lot of references, Easter Eggs, and in-jokes. The most obvious inspiration is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the Tobe Hooper 1974 original) but there’s a little Halloween and a dash of Friday the 13th to be found. (The use of Blue Oyster Cult’s “The Reaper” is a direct nod to the John Carpenter film.) West finds a way to use all of the horror/slasher cliches in such a way that they’re hip and engaging rather than tired and trite. It all comes down to tone.

In 2022, horror has become a template-based genre that is more often than not made-to-order either for teenagers or 20-somethings who adore jump-scares. X is a reminder that, while the slasher genre had some very deep valleys, some of the most effective horror emerged from it (especially in the early days before the films became little more than orgies of inventive eviscerations). With X , West seeks to recapture some of the fun, edginess, and energy of those productions while at the same time delivering a few surprises. That he succeeds makes X a must-see for those who claim an affection for this sort of film.

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Halloween (1978)
Frankenstein (1931)
Blair Witch Project, The (1999)
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)
Captivity (2007)
Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
Emma (2020)
Pearl (2022)
Infinity Pool (2023)
Suspiria (2018)
Nymphomaniac Volume II (2014)
Cure for Wellness, A (2017)
(There are no more better movies of Jenna Ortega)
Scream (2022)
Scream VI (2023)
(There are no more worst movies of Jenna Ortega)
(There are no more better movies of Brittany Snow)
Prom Night (2008)
John Tucker Must Die (2006)
Pacifier, The (2005)

‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’ Review: A Godzilla Spectacle Minus One Thing: A Reason to Exist

The clash-of-the-titans climax lifts off into the awesome zone, but until then the fifth entry in the MonsterVerse is overly busy boilerplate.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE, from left: Godzilla, Kong, 2024. © Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

Watching “ Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ,” I realized that the movie, a standard overly busy and mediocre blockbuster with a pretty awesome wow of a clash-of-the-titans climax, was demonstrating one of the essential principles of Hollywood movie culture today. Namely: All blockbuster movies are now connected!

In other words, Kong is facing a force who’s exactly like the villain in “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”!

Then there’s Godzilla. He spends the film preparing for an apocalyptic showdown by traveling from one place to the next and absorbing radiation, first from a nuclear facility, then from an undersea battle with a flower-headed monster so radioactive it’s iridescent. By the time Godzilla is done with all this, his very being has been suffused with radioactive power, to the point that he literally turns pink .

In other words, he looks like he’s having his “Barbie” moment.

The film’s central character, Dr. Ilene Andrews ( Rebecca Hall ), while she’s busy charting all this, is most invested in the fate of Jia (Kaylee Hottle), the adoptive daughter she rescued after the Iwi people of Skull Island were destroyed. As it happens, the Hollow Earth is home to another tribe of Iwi (there’s a lot going on in that basement), who Jia can communicate with telepathically. And she turns out to be a kind of chosen one, since Jia will prove the key figure in activating Mothra (now reimagined in shimmery designer gold), Godzilla’s old nemesis-turned-ally, who will be instrumental in the outcome of the final clash…

The thing that connects “Godzilla x Kong” to last year’s run of superhero films — the ones that everybody complained about — is that, just like them, the movie can make your head hurt. But not because it’s too convoluted to follow. It’s because the real convolution is: Why are we supposed to care? About any of this?

The fact that we might not makes “Godzilla x Kong” feel like one of those “Jurassic Park” sequels where everyone is huffing and puffing about the fate of the world and “relevant” issues of genetic engineering — but we’re just there for the ride, which now feels like it has a study sheet attached. I guess this is the part of the review where I’m supposed to say that Brian Tyree Henry , as the wide-eyed tech-whistleblower-turned-conspiracy-blogger Bernie Hayes, and Dan Stevens , as the snarky British veterinarian Trapper, are a riot, but it felt to me like the two actors were mostly filling space. Rebecca Hall, in a no-nonsense haircut, uses her avid severity well, and Kaylee Hottle, as Jia, has a luminous presence, but I’m sorry, every time the film summons a human dimension it feels like boilerplate.

You could say that the qualifier, the one that’s always there in a Godzilla movie, is that in the kaiju films of Japan the stories don’t matter either; they are often nonsense. But not always. The original “Godzilla,” in 1954, was schlock with a fairy-tale sci-fi gravity; that was true, as well, of the other two standouts of the early kaiju films, “Mothra” (1961) and “Destroy All Monsters” (1968). And it may turn out to be a stroke of karmic bad luck that “Godzilla x Kong” is coming out right on the heels of “Godzilla Minus One,” the movie that rocked the world of monster cinema. It had the lyrical majesty of those earlier films, as well as a story, rooted in Japan’s World War II trauma, that was actually linear and moving. It reminded you that these creatures could carry an emotional grandeur.

Kong unfreezes himself, and proves once again to be the fiercest primate around. And Godzilla outradiates his foes, even as he’s now so defined by that pink glow that it’s almost as if he’s being set up as a new kind of allegorical monster: not a metaphor for the bomb, but a metaphor for…the return of responsible nuclear energy? Stay tuned for the next eye-popping and meaningless sequel.

Reviewed at Warner Bros. Screening Room, March 27, 2024. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 115 MIN.

Production: A Warner Bros. Pictures release of a Legendary Pictures production. Producers: Mary Parent, Alex Garcia, Eric McLeod, Thomas Tull, Brian Rogers. Executive producers: Yoshimitsu Banno, Kenji Okuhira, Dan Lin, Roy Lee, Adam Wingard, Jen Conroy, Jay Ashenfelter.
Crew: Director: Adam Wingard. Screenplay: Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett, Jeremy Slater. Camera: Ben Seresin. Editor: Josh Schaeffer. Music: Tom Holkenborg, Antonio Di Iorio.
With: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen, Rachel House, Ron Smyck, Chantelle Jamieson, Greg Hatton.

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‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’ Review: Running Out of Steam

The latest in the Warner Bros. Monsterverse franchise shows signs of an anemic imagination.

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A large lizard creature and a large ape creature pounce through a rocky terrain, green crystals shining in the background.

By Alissa Wilkinson

Nothing about “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” makes sense, which is not, on the face of it, a problem. We have not settled into cushy cinema seats with our comfortingly stale popcorn to engage in discourse about metaphors and science; we are here for the stars in the title. About that title: “Godzilla x Kong” (meant to echo various other titles in other, non-Hollywood Godzilla movies) could mean Godzilla times Kong, or Godzilla crossed with Kong, or Godzilla against Kong — some permutation of titans. Whatever it is, there will be punching. We are here for the punching.

What we’re not here for is the humans, which is lucky, because they’ve been dropping like flies. Most of the characters from the last few films — including the 2021 “Godzilla vs. Kong” (also directed by Adam Wingard) — have disappeared, largely without explanation. Our main character now is Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), adoptive mother to a tween, Jia (Kaylee Hottle), a member of the Iwi tribe, who communicates with Kong directly via sign language. I particularly missed Alexander Skarsgard’s Dr. Nathan Lind, whose absence is sort of explained but not mourned, and who has been replaced, for narrative reasons, by a kooky veterinarian to the titans played by Dan Stevens. (For some reason, I assume to signal the kookiness, Stevens sports an exaggerated Australian accent.)

They’re joined once again by Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry), the conspiracy podcaster-blogger-documentarian-weirdo from the last film. For some reason, he’s convinced that nobody believes his stories about the titans, even though actual Godzilla is roaming the Earth and shown on the nightly news. (I’m more stuck on the strangely fantastical idea that he’s a popular blogger. Wouldn’t he have a Substack by now?)

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These humans are pretty boring, more anemic than they were in the last movie. They’re there purely for narrative propulsion through this story, which begins with Kong living in the Hollow Earth (exactly what it sounds like) and Godzilla up on the surface. As long as the twain never meet, we’re good — and by we, I mean humankind.

Which means, of course, they’ll meet. The scientists spot Godzilla napping in the Colosseum, then stomping his way through Europe and northern Africa, seemingly absorbing as much nuclear power as he can because he senses some confrontation coming. At the same time, something is very wrong in Kong’s world down below. And Jia is having strange dreams, too — dreams that lead to an expedition into the Hollow Earth.

What follows is an attempt to establish a whole lot of mythology for the Monsterverse franchise. (Their term, not mine.) This is a big mistake. You can tell it’s a mistake, because all of that mythology has to be revealed in tedious expositional dialogue. More important, once you know what happened in the past, you know precisely what will happen in the present, which rips any remaining suspense out of the film, leaving only the punching. (So much punching.)

Besides: Does this series need a mythology? Both Godzilla and Kong have a rich screen history to draw on — this is the 38th movie for Godzilla and the 13th for Kong, and though they haven’t shared the screen until recently, they bring all of their baggage and back story with them. It feels like a desperate attempt for the crossover franchise to justify both its existence and its continuation.

Which is not surprising. This series’ track record induces whiplash. The 2014 film “Godzilla,” a kind of reboot of the original Toho series featuring the character, was a legitimately excellent film, balancing spectacle and human pathos. But then came “Kong: Skull Island” and “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” both meant to build toward a shared universe, both of which were not just bad but real bummers. Next was “Godzilla vs. Kong” which wasn’t, technically speaking, good — but it promised confrontation and delivered it, with a late-breaking coda of unwilling and visually spectacular cooperation between massive ape and nuclear lizard. It was a blast to watch, not least because the climax happened: The two monsters finally had their long-teased meeting.

But with that zenith in the rearview mirror, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” has very little road left to cruise, and it shows. The best stretches involve Kong lumbering through the landscape, Godzilla stomping around crushing things, and of course the inevitable final confrontation, which has a few surprises up its proverbial sleeves. Kong in particular seems to have no problem communicating without human language, and those extended scenes are so fun to watch that it’s disappointing to swing back to the humans.

Certainly, humans can be a fruitful part of these monster movies. The recent Japanese film “Godzilla Minus One,” produced for a fraction of the “Godzilla x Kong” budget and recipient of the Oscar for best visual effects this year, manages to combine the creature with true pathos and a focus on the human cost of war, guilt and trauma. It’s more in line with the origin of Godzilla, too, as a metaphor for Japanese generational trauma related to the atomic bomb. In 2004, writing for The New York Times , Terrence Rafferty succinctly described the monster as embodying “a society’s desire to claim its deepest tragedies for itself, to assimilate them as elements of its historical identity.”

None of that is here. In fact, “Godzilla x Kong” is evidence the original thread has been lost entirely — a shame, in an era haunted by monsters the movies can only hint at, from climate catastrophe, destructive weaponry and geopolitical strife to power-hungry, brutal authoritarianism. There’s no reflection here at all, not even space to contemplate what might lie beyond the literal. Beyond the main cast, the humans in this movie exist only to get squashed like ants by falling debris and mangled buildings. They are expendable, but it doesn’t matter. The meaning of these films isn’t in metaphor at all. It’s in punching.

Be warned: There’s a lot of guts in “Godzilla x Kong,” guts from mammals and reptiles ripped in half, guts from sea monsters, Technicolor guts, way more than I expected. They feel appropriate, for a monster movie, and aren’t quite gross enough to merit an R rating. But as I pondered the guts, I found myself wondering one thing: When will someone have the bravery — the guts, you might say — to make a movie with Kong, and Godzilla, and various other titans and monsters, and no humans at all?

Or maybe there’s a greater question at stake: When will Hollywood have the guts to make a fun blockbuster like this that dares to acknowledge the real menacing monsters?

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Rated PG-13 for destruction, some mild profanities and so, so many guts. Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes. In theaters.

Alissa Wilkinson is a Times movie critic. She’s been writing about movies since 2005. More about Alissa Wilkinson

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'Monkey Man' X reviews: Internet calls Dev Patel film 'an absolute blast'

Dev patel's highly-anticipated film, 'monkey man', released worldwide on april 5. the action-thriller entertained viewers with its 'mind-blowing' action sequences and 'gripping' storyline..

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'Monkey Man' received positive reviews from viewers across
It marks Dev Patel's directorial debut
The film released worldwide on April 5

Dev Patel's directorial debut, 'Monkey Man', opened to positive reviews from audiences on April 5. Since its global release on Friday, the film has garnered acclaim for its intense action sequences and compelling premise.

Viewers shared their reviews on their respective X handles, describing it as 'an absolute blast'. However, a portion of the audience criticised the film for being 'a bit slow-paced'. One user also lauded Dev Patel for doing a 'wonderful job' on his directorial debut. Meanwhile, another user called the Hollywood film a 'thrill ride'.

Just got out #MonkeyMan and oh my fucking gosh! WHAT A THRILL RIDE. #DevPatel , the fucking man that you are!!! @Monkeypaw , thank you for sharing this incredible film! @JordanPeele , thank you for making, producing, and sharing this incredible film! — Patrick!ðŸæˆ (@patricklorenzo_) April 6, 2024

#MonkeyMan was a really fucking great movie, man. Holy shit did Dev Patel cook, wonderful job for his directorial debut, the action sequences, writing, cinematography, pacing, VFX/SFX, and etc. were superb, aside from the shaky cam in some fights, the movie was a 8.9/10ðŸ’ï. pic.twitter.com/RFtEEph01N — Z3RO (@Myth_Z3RO) April 6, 2024

Jus got of #MonkeyMan it was an absolute blast, a visual Visceral experience of absolute carnage and mayhem, Dave Patel, and Jordan Peele have incredible things in the future. Hope to see more work from them, and Dave needs to Direct and star in more movies — DarthYoda (@miyagi_joe) April 6, 2024

#MonkeyMan A high stakes, immersive film that doesn’t hold back. Patel showcases a great performance but also an action packed directorial debut. Definitely worth the watch. #moviereview #harryatthemovies pic.twitter.com/vSpqlyrY44 — Harry Hernandez âœè (@harryinlasvegas) April 6, 2024

Fair play, Dev. That was one helluva directorial debut, bit of Ong Bak, bit of @Timobros and a whole lot of great. #MonkeyMan — Blake Currall (@bcurrall80) April 6, 2024

Meanwhile, some users wrote that they did not find the premise impressive, rather it 'tried too hard to portray something other than what it is - a revenge flick' (sic)."

Another user wrote, "Dev Patel’s revenge story feels like a 1980s Bollywood movie plot with bad cops serving a villainous Godman. His India is unrecognisable. The camerawork is terrible. Dev proved himself as an action star but not as a director or a writer (sic)."

At the premiere of the film, Dev Patel opened up about the process of making the film and said, "I put everything into this, I shot this film in the biggest slum in India, Covid hit, and the film went down. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. And then Jordan came along in the end, he picked it up from the ground, he brushed the dust off and put it on the mantel."

'Monkey Man' is a revenge drama revolving around the life of a young man who struggles to make ends meet in an underground fight club, where he wears a gorilla mask and endures brutal beatings from renowned fighters night after night, for cash.

'Monkey Man' also features Sobhita Dhulipala , Makarand Deshpande, Sikander Kher and others. The film is produced by Jordan Peele, who came on board well after production. Published By: Anisha Rao Published On: Apr 6, 2024 ALSO READ | 'Dev Patel nailed it': Critics praise actor's directorial 'Monkey Man'

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Review

A spectacular (if hollow) clash of kings.

You’ve gotta respect when a movie knows its audience. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is effectively what would happen if you took a thread from r/Godzilla and put it up on screen: a visually stunning, sensory extravaganza that’s all crescendo and no build-up. The stakes are high – though not quite firmly established – and the entire film presents action payoff after action payoff. It’s utterly breathless – unless that breath is bellowing out a massive stream of ice or fire. Especially in IMAX, it’s a 1-hour-and-55-minute amusement park ride; I was oohing and ahhing through the entire thing, wondering what was lurking around the next corner – or, as this outlandish universe would have it, behind the electrified plasma wall. I just couldn’t take it too personally when it all didn’t quite add up.

This story is pretty clearly made with MonsterVerse novices in mind – which would be great if that were the case for anyone who’s going to see the fifth film in the series, but that person is difficult to envision. (Maybe Godzilla Minus One served as their introduction to kaiju movies, and now they want to check out The Big G’s noisier, flashier American output.) We know that not one, but both of these titular alpha titans come with decades of built-in lore, and those who will be first in line are superfans who have memorized every. single. detail. To have the human characters once again experience shock and confusion from yet another “electrical anomaly” – in a universe where seismic waves and electric currents have factored into Godzilla’s appearances since time immemorial – infantilizes the most passionate audience members and presents a missed opportunity for some more imaginative writing. Sure, going back to these basics keeps The New Empire aligned with the classic mythology, but at this point, our characters should be recognizing these signals from the get-go. There’s a chance to build here – we don’t have to play stupid and lose respect for the characters out of the gate.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Gallery

The New Empire sets up its “Godzilla above, Kong below” dynamic early, so we know that after 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong the two frenemies have come to an understanding of mutually assured destruction should they stray from their respective lanes. But, as a shock to no one, that fragile peace doesn’t last for long. Kong serves as the main monster throughout The New Empire, which immediately casts him in a more human, sensitive light that’s easy to empathize with. Showing clear signs of aging through graying fur, the leviathan is weaker and more vulnerable than ever before – at one point, he’s taken out by a toothache.

His sense of mortality is what sells a desire for familial connection, and that drives most of the plot for both monkey and man. It’s also what sees Rebecca Hall’s Dr. Ilene Andrews disappointingly go from the strong, intelligent protagonist of Godzilla vs. Kong to a mother-like figure softened by love for adopted daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle) and… an old college buddy? It doesn’t help that, though she is arguably the main human character, Ilene’s opportunities to shine suffer under the heavy weight of the Titans. Kong's emotions, and those of the other apes he seeks out, come across stronger than hers do.

What's your favorite MonsterVerse movie or show?

On top of all of that, Andrews takes a back seat to new addition Trapper – a monster veterinarian played by Dan Stevens – only serving the purpose of pushing certain plot points forward by reading them aloud from ancient ruins. There are a few feigned moments of emotion that fall flat – the question is, why even bother presenting the idea of a mother/daughter connection in a monster movie?

There’s no time for emotions! A new, more intellectually-advanced villain spurs the team of world savers to – what else? – come together to save the world. While small details are brushed under the rug, Wingard’s imagination for non-stop action and awe-inspiring visuals is at an all-time high. There are textures in Godzilla x Kong rarely seen on the big screen, with brightly oozing guts, frozen meat blasts, and glowing plasma veils.

While that’s all certainly impressive, and the worldbuilding is literally out of this world, there are far too many elements at play in The New Empire. It’s sensory overload. Wingard, an avowed fan of both title characters, has perhaps gone overboard, quickly plunking us down in a world that blends ancient wisdom, advanced technology, and primeval lands. It all looks great, but because we’re rushing through many of these environments it’s hard for any of them to make a lasting impression. Before we can even ask ourselves, “How does Brian Tyree Henry’s Bernie figure everything out so fast?” we’re on to the next location. The only depth we’re getting is that of Hollow Earth – though The New Empire goes deeper on the Titans’ subterranean home turf than either Godzilla vs. Kong or the Apple TV+ Monarch series .

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The New Empire borrows heavily, creating a mash-up of fan-favorite bits and pieces from past sci-fi hits. There’s a sprinkle of Jurassic Park in every acre of Hollow Earth, a near doppelganger for the orcs from Lord of the Rings , Game of Thrones ’ Night King in Titan form, and a straight-up Stargate . And did someone order a new volume of Guardians of the Galaxy ? I’m not just talking about the classic rock hits on the soundtrack: Trapper makes for an unlikeable leader in the snarky Chris Pratt mold. Think Star Lord with an Australian accent and more irritating.

The new villain, on the other hand, is a fierce adversary beyond compare. The Skar King is ruthless, terrifying, and grotesque, and he’s enslaved Kong’s species into doing… what, exactly, is unclear, but it’s rendered Hollow Earth into a Mordor-esque hellscape, and that alone establishes him as a threat. In addition to his sweeping reach and a gnarly whip made out of bones, Skar King’s most fearsome weapon is the control he wields not only over the ape race, but also over Shimo, an ancient creature said to be the most powerful Titan of them all.

Backup comes in the form of an evolved Godzilla, who takes on a shocking pink hue after a battle that I wish we got to see more of. Kong, fitted with a fresh beast glove, teams up with his new ride-or-die to face off in an outrageous battle with Skar King. It’s absolutely incredible to watch, taking monster-on-monster action to new heights. Is it worth slogging through the human-drama undercard leading up to this royal rumble? Sure. I could’ve done without Hall and company, but boy is it fun as hell if you don’t think about it too much.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a textbook visual thrill ride punctuated by brief moments of forced emotion and little else. Director Adam Wingard has a lot of fun with textures, colors, and camera work, and he’s adept at giving fans the over-the-top monster action that they demand via an imposing new villain. Unfortunately, there’s no time to spend on making things make sense or even matter all that much, and what few emotional punches are thrown lack the necessary wind up to connect, save for some very well done moments between Kong and his Hollow Earth kin.

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Banjô Ginga, Kazuhiro Yamaji, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Haruka Okamura, Tomoya Nakamura, Yûko Kaida, Emiri Kato, Kenshô Ono, Saori Hayami, Kento Kaku, Ken'ichirô Matsuda, Takuya Eguchi, Ayane Sakura, Atsumi Tanezaki, Shunsuke Takeuchi, Hana Sato, and Natsumi Fujiwara in Spy x Family Code: White (2023)

After receiving an order to be replaced in Operation Strix, Loid decides to help Anya win a cooking competition at Eden Academy, by making the director's favorite meal in order to prevent hi... Read all After receiving an order to be replaced in Operation Strix, Loid decides to help Anya win a cooking competition at Eden Academy, by making the director's favorite meal in order to prevent his replacement. After receiving an order to be replaced in Operation Strix, Loid decides to help Anya win a cooking competition at Eden Academy, by making the director's favorite meal in order to prevent his replacement.

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Review | ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’ is mind-numbing, monster sized fun

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Rating: 6/10

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” is the newest entry in Warner Bros.’ and Legendary’s “Monsterverse” franchise and a direct sequel to 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” directed by Adam Wingard.

Unlike some of the Japanese-produced entries of the “Godzilla” franchise by Toho, the “Monsterverse” franchise takes itself much less seriously, aiming simply to entertain the audience.

The film oversees three major storylines — Kong finding his home, Godzilla absorbing power to fight an imminent threat and the human characters going into the hollow earth to investigate an apparent distress call.

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These storylines fight over the spotlight over the first hour of the film, which causes the movie to feel extremely cluttered as it tries to piece everything together in the second half.

What this movie does better than “Godzilla vs. Kong” is it takes itself less seriously and embraces the sillier side of both characters.

The greatest thing that “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” has going for it is that it’s reminiscent of the clumsier moments of Godzilla’s Shōwa era, such as “Godzilla vs Megalon,” “Invasion of Astro Monster” and, of course, “King Kong vs. Godzilla.”

This might sound like a hindrance for the film, but in the case of this movie, it acts as more of a benefit, as the overall premise boils down to a giant lizard and monkey banding together to fight another giant lizard and monkey.

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” also benefits from the fact that it spends more time on the monsters instead of trying to force the humans’ story into the plot — at least for the most part.

While the human side of the plot is still very contrived and tackled almost out of nowhere, the movie learns to balance the screen time of both the humans and the monsters.

The film is a Kong story at heart, as the majority is spent with Kong finding others like himself. As a result of this, Godzilla feels underutilized, leaving him to appear alongside Kong in the final act of the film.

The severe lack of Godzilla almost makes you feel cheated on. In an interview with Empire, Wingard stated “The buddy-cop dysfunctional relationship dynamic is probably the best one to describe Godzilla and Kong.”

It’s a shame there wasn’t much interaction between the two monsters, as the film is at its best when the duo finally team up to stop the villains of the film, Skar King and Shimo.

The addition of the two adds a nice variety in villains, seeing as they are almost reflections of both Kong and Godzilla respectively. Skar King aims to control the surface land to gain power, while Shimo is forced to use her ice power for Skar King’s benefit.

Following the braindead dialogue in “Godzilla vs. Kong,” it could be argued that expectations were low for the quality of lines the humans would have in this film. However, the movie surpasses all of these expectations, even if it’s by a slight margin.

The dialogue between all of the human characters still has a level of cheesiness that can make the movie a struggle to listen to. However, since the tone of the film is far lighter than previous entries, the dialogue fits in.

This is mainly apparent with the character of Bernie (Brian Tyree Henry), whose quirky and eccentric nature from “Godzilla vs. Kong” gets dialed up to a whole new level, causing him to be a little annoying for many of the scenes he’s in.

Henry definitely sells the role, but the film’s writing makes him suffer from a lack of personality as he’s stuck as mainly being the “comic relief” character.

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” doesn’t break new ground in sci-fi kaiju films, but it adopts most of the charm and characteristics that older entries of both the “Godzilla” and “King Kong” franchises are occasionally known for.

However, the questionable story setup and laughably cheesy dialogue make this movie a struggle at times to sit through. When looking past these setbacks, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” is an entertaining blockbuster flick where you can just turn your brain off and have fun.

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