MaXXXine Review: Ti West And Mia Goth Bring Sexy Satanic Sleaze Back To Hollywood Horror

The 1980s were a heyday for Hollywood horror movies thanks to a slasher boom generating a roster of icons, sexy vampires like "The Lost Boys" and "Fright Night," and movies like "The Shining" that appeal to audiences beyond the Real Sickos. But never fear, Sicko Cinema was alive and well throughout the decade, even if your average movie fan isn't familiar with Gary Sherman's "Vice Squad," Katt Shea's "Stripped to Kill," or Robert Vincent O'Neil's "Angel." These were films that were given exponentially smaller budgets and focused on communities deemed too risqué or taboo for the status quo. Deemed "trashy," "exploitative," or "low-brow," these schlock-fests [complimentary] were some of the last vestiges of explicit, fearlessly envelope-pushing cinematic storytelling. As far as I'm concerned, there's been a void ever since.

Ti West efficiently captured the gritty, naturalistic look and tone of 1970s horror flicks like "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" with "X," evoked a nightmarish golden-age hellscape a la "The Wizard of Oz" with "Pearl," but has perfected his exercise in pastiche with the lusty electric sleaze and entertainment industry satire of "MaXXXine." Mia Goth returns for her third go-around and second venture as Maxine Minx, the sole survivor of the Texas Porn Star Murders in "X" and prolific adult film star trying to make a career crossover into mainstream pictures. When she lands her first "legitimate" role in the sequel to a horror movie franchise in the making, her dreams of being a star finally feel within reach. But when the ghosts of her past, a mysterious murderer, and the meat grinder of the Hollywood studio system threaten to take it away, Maxine Minx proves that she's willing to do everything and anything to ensure the life she deserves.

The result is an erotic cataclysm of gnarly kills, an aesthetic to die for, and another powerhouse performance from Mia Goth.

1980s throwbacks have had a stranglehold on pop culture the last decade — horror especially. For every "Summer of '84" or "Lisa Frankenstein," a half-dozen anachronistic embarrassments feature thirsty, Party City wigs and mesh fingerless gloves fresh off the Spirit Halloween '80s-section rack. Blessed are we to have the creative teams Ti West assembled because "MaXXXine" is a transformative feast. Every frame is dripping with the palpable filth and neon-soaked superfluity of 1985 Hollywood but filtered through the gorgeous polish West's films always deliver. Instead of relying on '80s slasher tropes, "MaXXXine" dabbles in noir, Giallo, video nasty, crime thriller, buddy-cop comedy, religious propaganda, moral panic, and of course, skin flicks.

Moments of ultra-violence are capped with a one-liner worthy of a bumper sticker, and razor-sharp wit is unleashed against the film industry during some of the weirdest visuals put to screen. Sometimes it feels like tonal whiplash, but if you're at all familiar with the types of films West emulates here, that's precisely the point. "MaXXXine" has a love/hate relationship with Hollywood and isn't afraid to embrace both sides with perfectly manicured stiletto hands. The Universal backlot is an awe-inspiring place where dreams come true and classic movies come to be, and it also holds the potential for a Scooby Doo-esque chase scene between different sets. Director Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki) is hailed as a genius creative with an important voice that "terrifies" the industry, and she's working on the sequel to a low-budget horror movie where a Puritan girl bites into an apple and it bleeds on her face in a flashback scene.

These constant juxtapositions are perfect for the 1980s — a decade of excess and glamour that was also A Pretty Terrible Time in America, Actually!

Los Angeles itself is its own character, exploding the scale beyond the isolation of "X" and "Pearl." While the former is undoubtedly an ensemble piece with Goth playing dual roles, the latter is a vehicle for her to prove herself as a bonafide superstar. "MaXXXine" is the marriage of both films, with Goth obliterating every scene with her acting prowess, but supported by an equally compelling supporting cast that elevates all of her instincts. Giancarlo Esposito steals the show as Maxine's cutthroat agent-lawyer Teddy Knight, and Elizabeth Debicki is an absolute vision as a no-nonsense director who is beyond done with the patriarchal playground of moviemaking. I also fully expect horny teenagers on TikTok to make fancams of Moses Sumney's Leon Green, Fangoria magazine in hand. Eat your heart out, Randy Meeks.

But Goth's match is Kevin Bacon's private investigator John Labat, who is the tether of Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc in a cheap, seersucker suit. Michelle Monaghan and Bobby Cannavale are cute and clever as the LAPD, but John Labat is laugh-out-loud brilliant as the P.I. Every slimeball comment flicked over his gold teeth evokes Orson Welles' Hank Quinlan in "Touch of Evil," a low-moral mercenary but a coward at the core. He's the inverse of Maxine in almost every way, which provides a sensational shard screen. Battling a secret killer on the loose doesn't make for a very interesting story unless the film goes into full 1981 "Night School" territory (which for one kill, it does!), allowing Labat to fill the void of an antagonist we cannot wait to see Maxine take out.

But as is the case with the entire trilogy, this is Mia Goth's movie. All of the seeds planted in "X" are bearing fruit, and she's finally reached her final form. It's shocking to hear Mia Goth speak in her natural voice — a sweet, diminutive pitch that in another world would be reserved for voicing mouse fairies in English dubs of anime — and then to see the unstoppable power she brings to Maxine. She vibrantly gives herself over to this live wire, another transformative triumph. A lesser performer would be swallowed whole by the glitz and scum closing in on this world, but not Mia Goth. She is in total control of every inch of film and feels like horror's Angelyne in that she is undeniable, unstoppable, and we should all consider ourselves lucky to even catch a random sighting of the formidable talent.

It's expected that Maxine will pull some chaos that'll have audiences screaming "MOTHER!" at the screen, but her real adroitness appears in Maxine's quieter moments outside of the spotlight and the need to perform the act of the superstar. West has hinted at an idea for a midquel between "Pearl" and "X," and at this point, we should all welcome as many movies as possible with Goth in the lead role. If Freddy, Jason, and Michael, are allowed massive franchises, no rule says we can't have more of the X-factor.

Perhaps we love Maxine so much because she represents a part of us we all have, but are too cowardly to let take control. She denies the world's attempt to snuff out the flame burning deep within her and refuses to feel shame in the face of a world that wants to paint her as a problem. She's not a dreamer, she's a doer, and that's something many of us will never allow ourselves to experience. With Goth at the helm, Maxine Minx is a f***ing movie star. And don't you forget it.

/Film Review: 8.5 out of 10

"MaXXXine" opens in theaters on July 3, 2024.