Greetings, and welcome back to October Horror Fest! We are ONE DAY AWAY, dear readers, and I am so excited to finally reach the final chapter with you all. Although we are on the ticking clock, I’m happy to say that I have NO PLANS to stop now (me even getting this article out is already better than last year), and the Halloween Finale WILL be here for you all. Seriously, though, thank you so much for sticking with me these past three years. Today, I watched one of the BEST horror movies of recent years, a psychological thriller that struck such a cord (made by A24 so it has to be good) that it spanned out an entire franchise with iconic characters. ALSO, it exemplifies Rule #1 of Horror Fest better than I ever could. Get ready my friends, and start counting down the clock. Without further ado, sit back, relax, turn off the lights, grab some Candy and Popcorn, and let’s review…
X (2022)
Our tale begins in good old 1979! We’re in Rural Texas (the Houston area), as we see police officers arriving on a farm. The farm is desolate, but there’s one major thing that prevents this from being the American dream. There are bodies. Everywhere. We hear a preacher on the T.V. talks about God and Satan, and says that his daughter was taken by the Devil. The televangelist continues to talk on the T.V., as the officers enter the farmhouse. They walk downstairs, and see something HORRYFYING, although we aren’t able to see what they are so scared of. We begin to do a fade cut (something I LOVE about this film is that it is literally shot like a 1970s movie. It gives me HUGE Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibes and that is something I ADORE) to a title card. “Twenty-four hours earlier”…
Our ACTUAL tale begins back in Houston, with a team of people (they become our main cast), who are venturing to rural Texas to film an X-Rated movie (Rule #1 of Horror Fest). (History lesson actually! Since it’s the eve of the end, let’s go through how rule #1 (if you do the deed, you are most likely going to die) came to be. Our GOAT Randy, in Scream, actually had his rule #1 as the exact same. I decided to adopt several rules of horror movies into Horror Fest, and continued expanding the list past Randy’s three major rules). We meet Maxine, a girl who is aspiring to be a STAR and is told that she has the X-factor. Both X-Rated and X-Factor contribute to the titling of this movie! Maxine is on the way to shoot a “film” with her producer fiance Wayne, Bobby-Lynne (a fellow actress), Jackson (the main “male actor” of the film, who was is a Marine and the boyfriend of Bobby-Lynne, RJ (the director), and his timid girlfriend Lorraine (played by Jenna Ortega because she is in EVERYTHING apparently). After a very 70s road trip, the group arrives at the home of Howard, who was a world war one AND two veteran. His wife Pearl is also there, and they are a very elderly (and also creepy) couple. A really cool fact, Mia Goth actually plays Maxine AND Pearl, and plays the younger version of Pearl in this movie’s prequel, of course, named Pearl. (It also has a sequel called MaXXXine!)
The group find themselves in the guest house, which was rented for the shoot. Howard enters in after the group, and flat out tells them that he basically hates them all, and what they stand for. Our VERY 70s man Wayne tells off Howard, but excuses his behavior. He is obviously keeping the true intentions of the group being at the house a secret. The main bulk of the movie begins with Bobby-Lynne and Jackson acting out a scene in the film, where RJ is VERY serious about the quality of the film, and not about the “scenes” in particular. While this happens, Maxine goes for a swim in a lake, and in a moment that had my heart DROPPING into my stomach, PEARL watches from the brush, and after Maxine gets out (she had a gator behind her and didn’t even notice it), Pearl invites her into the farmhouse. Pearl is VERY fixated on Maxine, as apparently, she was very similar to how Pearl was in her youth, wanting to be a star and looking VERY similar (Mia Goth does play them both). After Howard gets back home, however, Pearl rushes Maxine out of the house, saying that it will be “their little secret” (this, understandably, freaks Maxine out). Maxine then RUNS to the guest house, and later that night, films a scene in the barn with Jackson, where Pearl WATCHES, imagining herself in Maxine’s spot (the makers of this movie mastered the art of uncomfortability). While this entire thing is happening, Pearl is trying to get Howard to go to bed with her, but he turns her down every single time, saying that his heart can’t handle it (he is old, so there may be a heart attack).
Back at the guest house, Lorraine has a conversation with the cast, saying that she wants to PARTICIPATE in the shoot, much to the horror of RJ. However, Lorraine does what she wants, and a RJ with a HUGE mixture of bad emotions cries to himself in the shower. His disgust and sadness being SO extreme, he leaves the shower, dresses, and grabs his keys, going to abandon the entire group in the dead of night. However, as he gets in his car and drives (Don’t Fear the Reaper is playing in the background the entire time and it is an AMAZING scene), PEARL APPEARS. She tries to seduce RJ, only to be met with pretty obvious confusion. He takes Pearl off of him, but Pearl won’t take this. She PULLS OUT A KNIFE, and stabs RJ in the neck. He drops to the floor, blood spilling everywhere, as she continues to stab him, the headlights of the car being splashed in red and causing the entire shot to become red. Don’t Fear the Reaper enters its guitar solo, as Pearl DECAPITATES RJ. She then gets up, as the music shifts into a 1950s soft dancing song. Pearl begins to eerily dance in front of the corpse, trying to become the “star” she believes she was always destined to be. After this, a worried Lorraine recruits Wayne to go search for RJ. The pair split off, with Wayne going to the barn, and Lorraine going to the farmhouse. In the barn, Wayne looks around, calling out for RJ and “churchmose” (his nickname for Lorraine). However, once he gets in, he steps on a HUGE nail, falling to the ground. He removes it, but the injury does not look pretty. He crawls to the door, where he sees three holes in the door. In a scene that I was NOT ready for but I knew was coming because of the cinematography, he looks through the holes, until suddenly, they are blacked out. A PITCHFORK, wielded by Pearl, comes flying through the holes in the door, STABBING Wayne through the eyes with a pitchfork, and killing him, his bloodied face falling to the floor. (YEAH).
Things are NOT going much better for good old churchmouse, though. Howard is able to lure Lorraine into the farmhouse after saying that Pearl has gone missing, and he requests her help. Suddenly, though, Howard asks Lorraine to go down into the basement (DO NOT DO IT) to find a flashlight, and of course, she does. However, when she finds the flashlight and tries to get back upstairs, the door is LOCKED. She goes back downstairs, and finds a DEAD BODY (a man, completely naked), chained from the ceiling and hanging down. Jenna Ortega gives one of the greatest ten seconds of acting I have ever seen, as her face completely shifts from confusion, to fear, to horror, as she lets out a TRUE final girl scream. After this, Howard goes to the guesthouse, turning up the televangelist’s volume on the T.V. to block out Lorraine’s screams. Getting to the guesthouse, Howard asks Jackson to help him scout the perimeter of the property to find Pearl. Our man Jackson, though, is prepared. He willingly helps out “pops” (that’s what he calls Howard), but he is ready. Jackson says “once a marine, always a marine”, as the men split off. Jackson, though, finds something that he was not supposed to. Submerged on the banks of the lake, Jackson finds a CAR. Our man begins to worry, as I begin to worry myself at home completely safe on my couch (I knew it was bad news).
Jackson finds Howard’s abandoned flashlight in the water, and Jackson gets out and starts to walk back (I knew it was a trap at this point). Just as he walks back, though, HOWARD APPEARS. He says “once a marine, always a marine”, and SHOOTS JACKSON IN THE CHEST with his shotgun. (This is a shame, because I actually really liked Jackson, especially in this section of the movie). As this is happening, though, we get the most uncomfortable scene in the entire movie, at least for me (I’m being so serious I was struggling not to just skip this part entirely). We see an asleep Maxine, as Pearl appears in her room, undresses, and climbs into bed with Maxine, caressing her, causing blood to go all over Maxine’s body (I wish I was joking I really do. There were two movies that REALLY got me this year, and they were Paranormal Activity, and this one. God). (I have NO idea how Mia Goth was able to pull off two characters being in the same place at the same time, but she somehow did). Maxine then wakes up, and sees Pearl staring at her, and lets out a TRUE final girl scream, shaking the house, and causing Bobby-Lynne to wake up. She comes rushing to the still screaming Maxine, as Pearl just WALKS OUT of the room and out of the guesthouse entirely. (THANK GOD WE ARE PAST THAT).
Back in the house, we see Lorraine actually find a hatchet in the basement and make a PERFECT Here’s Johnny hole in the door. However, it does NOT go the same way as it does in the Shining. Howard appears, HORIFICALLY breaking Lorraine’s fingers by hitting them with a blunt object over and over again. Lorraine recoils back into the basement, sobbing hysterically. Back with the other of the elderly murderous couple, Pearl stands on the lake’s edge, seeming to be in shock or horror. Bobby-Lynne appears, actually showing her kind side and offering to help Pearl out. Bobby-Lynne says she was almost a nurse, but when she says this, Pearl begins insulting her. Bobby-Lynne obviously begins to walk away, only to be PUSHED INTO THE LAKE by Pearl. As she tries to swim ashore, the gator from before appears, absolutely annihilating Bobby-Lynne in a bloody death roll, her hair disappearing into the depths below (this was also a sad one). Pearl and Howard head back to the guest house, where they look for Maxine, but find the place deserted. They sit on the bed, and Pearl expresses her frustration, just wanting what she wants and to finally become a “star”. Howard says she is one, and they begin to get down to business RIGHT THERE, with Pearl promising Howard’s heart can handle it. (I was really really hoping for a Jason Voorhees double kill through the mattress here, but alas). We pan underneath the bed, to see a TERRIFIED Maxine. She is hiding under the mattress, and is able to crawl away. (WOOO!)
Our girl BOLTS to the van, only to find the tires popped. However, she is able to get in, and gets into the glove compartment, grabbing Wayne’s revolver. She BOLTS into the farmhouse, and frees Lorraine. Lorraine, however, is completely horrified. She SCREAMS at Maxine, saying it’s all her fault. (I felt really bad for her, but at the same time, CALM. DOWN.) However, poor churchmouse doesn’t follow Randy’s rules, and splits up, slamming the front door open and running outside. BUT, the literal SECOND she gets outside, she is blown away by Howard’s shotgun, blood splattering EVERYWHERE. Maxine hides behind a wall, as Howard and Pearl begin to move the body into the house. BUT WAIT! As the couple moves the body, Lorraine’s bloodied and disfigured body TWITCHES (I honestly can’t tell if she was alive or dead when this twitch happened, or if it implied that she survived the initial gunshot. This gets no further explanation, and that, to me, is HORRIFIC. Also, the jumpscare of the twitch got me really bad). Howard falls backwards, and due to the fright, has a HEART ATTACK, and dies.
Immediately after this, Maxine rushes into the room with the revolver, demanding to know where Howard’s keys to his truck are. The shocked Pearl tells her where they are, and she grabs them, preparing to shoot at Pearl. As the televangelist continues to talk, Maxine mirrors his words, saying the iconic quote, “I will not accept a life I do not deserve!”. Maxine says to Pearl that she WILL be a star, and the entire world will know her name. She FIRES, but there’s a problem. The gun isn’t loaded. Pearl stands up and SHOOTS at Maxine with Howard’s shotgun, but our girl DODGES IT, and Pearl goes FLYING out of the door due to the recoil, breaking her hip. Maxine gets into the truck, as Pearl spews insults at her, saying she isn’t special, and they’ll take everything from her, just like they did to Pearl (the mirroring between Maxine and Pearl is a crucial part to the prequel and the original film X, and it is very important. It even goes down to Mia Goth playing both characters). However, Maxine doesn’t listen, putting the truck into reverse, AND CRUSHING PEARL’S HEAD. She says “it’ll be our little secret”, in response to Pearl’s insults about her not being pure and not being special. She runs over her head AGAIN just for good measure, and in a scene that reminded me SO much of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Maxine drives into the sunset, making sure to do some drugs while driving.
We cut BACK to the beginning of the film, with the televangelist dropping a BOMBSHELL. He says, just like the beginning, that his own daughter has been taken by sin, and he shows a picture of MAXINE. He begins to pray with his congregation for Maxine to be freed from sin and delivered back to the church and to the Lord (LOTS of religious imagery in this movie, even Howard’s truck has a crucifix hanging from the mirror). We see all the bodies on the farm once again, now knowing what happened there. The police actually find RJ’s camera, and an officer asks the sheriff what he thinks is on the camera. The sheriff says his guess, and in AN INCREDIBLE ending line that became an instant classic, he says the camera probably contains footage of “one goddamn ******-up horror picture”…
THERE WE HAVE IT! Guys, I LOVED this movie, and even though it made me SO uncomfortable at some very obvious moments, it had an amazing story, and I am so happy I got to share it with you all. I am proud to say that with the publishing of this article, we have BEATEN the Day 30 curse from last year, and the Halloween Finale WILL be posted later tonight. I’m so grateful for you all, and don’t touch that dial, because it is almost time for our final movie of October Horror Fest. I hope you all enjoyed it, and truly, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. And, for one of the final times, always remember this, dear readers. To be a STAR, you have to make sacrifices. You NEED… to have the “X” Factor…