MaXXXine 4K Review (A24 / Lionsgate)

MaXXXine is a 2024 horror film written, produced, edited, and directed by Ti West (X, Pearl, The House of the Devil, In a Valley of Violence, Them, The Sacrament, V/H/S, The ABCs of Death, The Innkeepers, and Cabin Fever 2). It’s a follow up to 2022’s X and 2022’s Pearl. The budget was $1,000,000 and it grossed $22,060,043 worldwide at the box office. In the 1980s, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx (played by: Mia Goth from X, Pearl, Infinity Pool, Suspiria, Everest, and Emma) finally gets her chance in Hollywood at a real film directed by Elizabeth Bender (played by: Elizabeth Debicki from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, Tenet, Widows, The Crown, The Great Gatsby, and The Cloverfield Paradox) titled “The Puritan 2”. A serial killer known as The Night Stalker is killing off upcoming starlets one by one. Maxine’s past is starting to catch up on her when a shady private investigator John Labot (played by: Kevin Bacon from Friday the 13th, Mystic River, Hollow Man, Footloose, City on a Hill, Tremors, The Following, X-Men: First Class, Flatliners, and Black Mass) decides to blackmail her. She’s desperate to finally make it but now she has to worry about a psychopath taking her out or a sleazy con artist looking to ruin her career before it even starts!!!! Director Ti West has been very creative with this horror franchise. MaXXXine continues the theme of the trilogy with each entry being very different from each other. I personally enjoyed X more than Pearl so I was curious how this last film would stack up against those two. I personally think the script has a little too much going for itself with so many subplots rolled into one feature. MaXXXine is trying to move into mainstream cinema compared to her previous popular porn career. Serial killer Richard Ramirez is currently slashing a variety of victims in Los Angeles. A greedy private investigator uses MaXXXine’s infamous past from years before that went down in X. Plus it has some additional twists added to those. All of these stories are going on at the same time here. Mia Goth as MaXXXine gives her best performance in the entire trilogy in this. She is out in so many bad situations and she always finds a way out of them. It’s a very complicated role, she handles it with ease. Kevin Bacon as John Labot is fantastic as the scumbag. Bacon is always top notch when he plays a villain and MaXXXine is no different. She’s not exactly a nice character and this John Labot role makes her look like a hero compared to him. It has an excellent supporting cast that includes Elizabeth Debicki, Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Bobby Cannavale (Ant-Man franchise), Michelle Monaghan (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets), Charley Rowan McCain (NCIS), Simon Prast (X), Deborah Geffner (Exterminator 2), Chloe Farnworth (12 Hour Shift), Uli Latukefu (Alien: Covenant), Moses Sumney (The Idol), Marcus LaVoi (Den of Thieves), Larry Fessenden (We Are Still Here), Lily Collins (Priest), Taylor Kowalski (Snowfall), and Halsey (Americana). The stylish cinematography is the best in the series and it really brings you back to the 80’s. The soundtrack was a nice touch to capture that vibe. MaXXXine provides a good amount of violence, gore, and kills when it gets into slasher territory. I thought X was a little better than MaXXXine but it was a step above Pearl. I think less subplots and more developed supporting characters would have elevated the production. Regardless, MaXXXine is really entertaining and so much fun. It definitely has some strong replay value to it. It’s worth the wait and it’s a nice way to end the trilogy. RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from A24 in association with Lionsgate! This 2160p (2.39:1) transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 looks amazing on home video. MaXXXine really transports you back into the 80’s. It has slick cinematography, creative production design, and gruesome special fx that really shine here. It has a few different audio options which includes English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, and Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks on the UHD. The audio is way better than expected for MaXXXine, there’s plenty of explosive moments in this. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the exploitation is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH and Spanish subtitles. It has the 10 minute “The Belly of the Beast”. It has interviews with the cast and crew. They chat about the third film in this wild trilogy. They show their appreciation for both Ti West and Mia Goth for this whole horror franchise. They talk about all the new characters added to this chapter of the story. It has the 11 minute “XXX Marks the Spot”. It goes over the overall look for MaXXXine. It shows it’s 80’s influence and style. Repo Man and Giallos get mentioned as an inspiration for it. They chat about the shoot, locations, and genre. It has the 8 minute “Hollywood Is a Killer”. This focuses on the special, digital, and visual fx from the slasher. It has the 25 minute “Q&A with Writer-Director Ti West”. It has both the “Teaser Trailer” and “Theatrical Trailer”. It comes with a slipcover, a digital code, and a blu ray copy of the release. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!