Sex and horror have always been comfortable bedfellows. Many of the genre’s most enduring tropes and devices have their origins in sexual politics, psycho-sexual themes. We’re perhaps most aware of it in the make-up of the slasher movie, which conventionally casts sexuality in a morally corrupt light -the sexually active characters are always the ones to die while the virginal girl is the one to survive. X, a film by Ti West, turns this notion on its head, while also examining the aesthetics of sex and desirability in the horror genre and beyond. All as it gleefully slashes its way through several pornography professionals on a farm in the middle of nowhere.
The movie is a very dedicated throwback, set in 1979, and with both the look and a heavy dosage of the plot of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Like that film, it opens in the aftermath of the carnage, is set around a creepy farmhouse in rural Texas, and though plenty gory is far more interested in being grotesque. This film too makes use of not terribly convincing old age prosthetics to create its’ vivid characters, but they are more defined and a touch more human than the cannibal family at the centre of the former movie. In fact that is what makes them scarier. They are an elderly couple, so ancient and gaunt that they seem moments away from fading to ash. Stephen Ure plays Howard -he was one of several orc performers on The Lord of the Rings (most notably Grishnakh, who chases Merry and Pippin into Fangorn Forest), and yes I am exactly the kind of fan of those movies to recognize him. His wife Pearl is played by Mia Goth, which is curious because Goth also plays Maxine, the star of the porno that is discreetly being shot in the nearby guesthouse.
There is some paralleling between these two characters, their relationship certainly becomes a fascinating one as they represent polar opposites in their sexual agency. Maxine, who’s fairly new to the industry, feels liberated by her sex appeal. As entrenched as she is by the powers of the pornography system, there’s a certain discomfort that pervades her entire relationship with boyfriend/producer Wayne (Martin Henderson) for example, it’s something she has pride in. Pearl however is extremely resentful of her lost sex appeal which has morphed into a severe repression that has wreaked havoc on her mental state. She simultaneously desires the pleasures of sex for herself and loathes it for others, is both pitifully attracted to and repulsed by the bodies of these young people, Maxine especially. And West plays around with that dichotomy himself.
X is one of the more consciously voyeuristic horror movies I’ve seen in a while –the motif of covertly watching something sexual is repeated often, and through eerie editing and a discomforting mood, arousal itself is made horrifying. This might be the driving philosophy throughout the film as it frequently and sometimes vividly contrasts the imagery of the porno shoot with that of the dilapidated home, the bodies of these lustful twenty-somethings with that of the lust-deprived old folks. The camera will linger on their worn, haggard forms in loose, thin clothing, and West will build suspense out of this, exploiting his audiences’ fear and disgust of these monstrous exaggerations. But he ensures they remain keenly aware of the double standard, of the perhaps unfair connection between desirability and youth. Another pornstar Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) frames her own sex appeal explicitly in the terms of a ticking clock, that it’s important she show off now before her body ages out of its’ attractiveness.
There is an insidiousness to that, and it weaves into West’s fascination with that world of 70s pornography right on the cusp of the home video boom. Visually he enjoys mimicking the format, to the point even the end credits are presented in that rounded frame with glossy colour, but he depicts the larger apparatus with a notable absence of structure except that the men are in control: Wayne, the slimy producer and RJ (Owen Campbell) the director who’s convinced himself he’s making art. Wayne doesn’t have much character beyond his horny caricature painting him as a broad creep. RJ though is more telling, as his veneer of openness towards sexual expression is revealed to be a sham; that he is in fact fiercely morally judgemental where it concerns his “nice girl” girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega). Her burgeoning sexual interest dismays him and establishes him as little removed from the evangelist who keeps popping up on TV throughout the movie to decry the corruption of youth.
West’s own judgement is kept removed as he both gleefully mocks uptight fundamentalism and insinuates the exploitative nature of the porn machine. His sympathy is for people: Maxine, Lorraine, and even Pearl, which again distinguishes this film from that earlier rural Texas slasher. Of course that doesn’t stop him from gradually amassing a body count, and perhaps the reason I haven’t gone into the more overt horror elements yet is because they’re not as interesting as the commentary. There are a few good scares and impactful, visceral moments -especially the first kill. But it’s in the realm of the disturbing that West is most adept (well that and one great sequence of suspense involving an alligator): the harrowing image of a wizened hand caressing a youthful naked body or a shot of a claustrophobic hallway leading to a single screen door. A series of symbolic jump cuts are also haunting, reminiscent of something like The Exorcist. Next to that the bloodiness is almost tame, in spite of the creativity employed.
The last act is the dullest for this, feeling resigned to being a general slasher movie climax that plays out pretty much just as you’d expect without a lot of effort into tying together the overarching themes. It’s here where the film does become a mere exercise in homage. There’s something of a final twist too that re-contextualizes a couple key motivations but also introduces a character dimension that might have been more fulfilling to explore. West may yet get that chance though -apparently he made a whole prequel movie alongside this one that will be coming out soon (presumably called W).
As for X, though it could do to detach itself a little bit from the obvious reference point that limits the film as much as it distinguishes it, it is a fascinating horror flick. It draws on themes of sex and desirability as pertaining to age and time in a way that feels almost taboo -utilizing that effectively for both its’ creepiness and commentary. A freaky movie in more ways than one.
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