The new slasher movieXhas already set itself up as one of the best horror releases of the year. Having its world premiere at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival, the film initially debuted with a perfect 100% score onRotten Tomatoeswith its early reviews. Now playing in theaters everywhere, the film is still riding high with a very impressive 95% Certified Fresh rating.
Traditionally, slasher movies haven’t been embraced by critics with open arms. It seems to take a certain kind of genre film that stands out from the others for slashers to score such high ratings. Therefore, it’s always especially impressive to see violent horror flicks garnering near-perfect scores with the critics.
“Bloody. Brutal. Grungier than a big-city back alley and more guts-strewn than a slaughterhouse. This is how you like your slasher-flick horror, and trust us when we say Ti West has your back,” says Rolling Stone’s David Fear.
Entertainment Weekly’s Joshua Rothkopf notes, “Traipsing into danger is the essential playbook of horror, a path well-trodden. But the brutal, giddy-makingX, written and directed by Ti West, makes that journey somehow feel both fresh and comfortingly familiar.
“Xrips at the jugular with exuberant joy,” adds Sara Michelle Fetters of MovieFreak.com. “This is old-school exploitation horror that isn’t afraid to offend and doesn’t care if the rough edges get sanded down.”
Or as Christopher Lloyd of The Film Yap puts it: “A bracing mix of old-school gore horror and modern irony. You’ll laugh, then cringe, but never not be entertained.”
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X Already Has a Prequel in the Works
Xis written and directed byTi West, who also produced with Jacob Jaffke, Kevin Turen, and Harrison Kreiss. The film stars Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, and Scott Mescudi. It follows the cast and crew of an amateur adult film intending to shoot their next project at a remote Texan farmhouse when they find themselves under attack by its elderly owners.
West came intoXwith plans to spawn a new franchise extending beyond one single film. The filmmaker toldIndieWirethat a prequel toX, titledPearl, has already been shot. West also plans to turnXinto a trilogy with the goal of bringing a third film to audiences afterPearlis released.
“I’m trying to build a world out of all this, like people do these days,” West said. “You can’t make a slasher movie without a bunch of sequels.”
He added, “I came out of quarantine and I was like, ‘We’re already building all of this stuff, it’s COVID and we’re on the one place on Earth where it’s safe to make a movie. We have the whole crew fromAvatar 2who’s on break. We should make two movies. The miracle of A24 was that they thought this was actually a good idea.”
Xis now playing in theaters following its world premiere at SXSW where it was very well-received by critics and audiences.
