MaXXXine 4K Review (Second Sight Films)

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 put in so many bad situations but 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 ruthless 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 Second Sight Films! 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 subtitles. It has the brand new exclusive “Audio Commentary” with Bill Ackerman and Amanda Reyes. They chat about all of the easter eggs, references, and influences for MaXXXine. Lots of different movies and directors are brought up especially Dario Argento. They talk about the cast, characters, locations, and music are discussed in full detail. They go over it’s production history. TI West almost considered going with a supernatural approach for this final movie but he obviously changed his mind. They bring up plenty of inside information and stories from the sequel. They explore a large amount of cinema that inspired MaXXXine which is really cool. It has the brand new exclusive little over 16 minute “Back to the Blank Page”. It’s an interview with director TI West. He chats about coming back to the franchise to close out this trilogy. He talks about going back to the 80’s and sleazy Los Angeles. He goes over the past haunting it’s main character. He brings up locations, scenes that didn’t make the final cut, reasons why people were cast for this sequel, and tight shooting schedule. It has the brand new exclusive almost 30 minute “Money on the Screen”. It’s an interview with producer Jacob Jaffke. He’s not shy about admitting he wasn’t a fan of the horror genre originally. It took some time to get into it and wanting to work on projects. He had all kinds of producing experience before he even graduated school. He goes over the tough spots while filming in Los Angeles. He shows appreciation for the special fx. He recognizes this trilogy made him a better producer after they were all finished. It has the brand new exclusive 21 minute “B-Movie Aesthetic”. It’s an interview with DP Eliot Rockett. He chats about getting the opportunity to work on something with a bigger budget here compared to the other ones. He mentions the Brian DePalma influence that’s all over this plus early giallos. He discusses some of the more graphic special fx moments in this and the fact that they stuck to old school practical fx for MaXXXine. He goes over some technical information and his favorite visual scenes from it. It has the brand new exclusive little over 24 minute “Curating Space”. It’s an audio interview with production designer Jason Kisvarday. He chats about the themes, tones, and overall style for the look of this sequel. He based the visual appearance from what he remembered from the 80’s while he was younger. He talks about taking the script and making sure they could do everything needed with their budget for this. He goes over the differences between being on actual location or on the set. It has the brand new exclusive almost 15 minute “The Whole World’s Gonna Know My Name”. It’s a video essay with Kat Hughes. She breaks down the price of fame. She mentions the struggles of keeping it and she even calls it a cult situation. She references several productions that relate to that subject. She goes into the X trilogy. She chats about Maxxxine and some of the other characters from this slasher. 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. They go over being surprised with all of it’s success. 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. They bring up how much Hollywood has changed over the years. 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 all of the special, digital, and visual fxs from the slasher. It shows Goth getting her head casted for a brutal scene in this. They chat about collaborations with the cast and crew for this process. It’s a cool quick inside look into behind the scenes for MaXXXine. It has the 25 minute “Q&A with Writer-Director Ti West” after a screening. The filmmaker takes various questions from the crowd and moderator. He chats about doing these 3 films in 4 years. He talks about his original pitch to A24 and Covid delayed it a little bit so that’s why it was shot in New Zealand. They were one of the only people making a film at the time. It motivated them to change up their sets for the next film right away because they already had a crew for it. So they did them back to back. He explains how he ended using St Elmo’s Fire while already referencing it in the script. He goes over his collaborations with Mia Goth on these features. It’s available everywhere in the U.K. right now including select spots in the states, CHECK IT OUT!!!!