Of Hollywood and Puritans: MaxXxine (2024)

MaxXxine (2024)

Rating: ***

Starring: Charley Rowan McCain, Simon Prast, Mia Goth

First, in 2022, director Ti West threw us back in time to the 1970s to experience X, a barn massacre through the lens of porn culture and Southern fried proto-slashers ala Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Eaten Alive (1976). And then, just a few months later, he had us seeing and feeling the tragedy that is that movie's leading villainess in her own origin story ala prequel title, Pearl, a grim yet loving nod to old 1910s Hollywood technicolor and psycho-drama. Now, West has returned to act as our tour guide across Mid-80s Regan era Tinseltown, following the footsteps of an uprising starlet with a dark, shadowy past: Maxine fucking Minx!

It's been six years since Maxine (Mia Goth) survived her brush with death after a porn shoot in rural Texas turned into a massacre and she's now working as an underground porn celebrity. But Miss Minx wants more in her life; the glamour of Hollywood, her feet on the red carpet and her name on The Walk of Fame. She wants to be a star. A real Hollywood star. And she's willing to climb her way into mainstream fame by any means necessary, that including starring in a woman-directed sequel to a controversial horror title, The Puritan. (Which is so bad, there are already Christian zealots with picking signs outside the studio, expressing their displeasure of the production!)

Fortunately for Maxine, she got the role! Unfortunately for her, her past refuses to stay buried: a shifty private investigator (Kevin Bacon) begins to stalk and pester her about her involvement in the porn shoot massacre, threatening to expose this dirty little secret should she refuse to follow the orders of an enigmatic benefactor. Little does he know, Maxine, who spends a few spare times at night beating the balls out of creeps, as well as scoring some connections to the shadier side of the acting business through her agent, is more than ready to get her hands dirty to make sure that part of her life remains six feet under.

Would this be enough, however, to stop a shadowy figure who's not only following Maxine's rise to stardom, but is murdering those she have grown close to lately? Perhaps there's more to the arrival of the investigator than expected. Someone out there wants her to know they're watching. Waiting. Judging whether to punish her for accepting a life she doesn't deserve... 

Comparing this with X (2022) and Pearl (2022), MaxXxine (2024) strays the furthest away from being a horror flick and is more of a crime thriller with horror elements, practically a neo-giallo painted in late-80s nostalgia. Much of the plot here is centered on Maxine's struggle to reach the limelight of Hollywood and the murder investigation she finds herself tangled in, with the former being the more intriguing deal of the movie as it opened an opportunity for the titular character to be explored further, to see how she would deal with the challenges standing in her way to become Hollywood's next big thing. It's a neat set-up and it has its moments of interest, most involving Kevin Bacon's creep of a character being beaten black, blue and red all over, but the effect feels cheapened by the direction's lack of depth and dimension, something that could've been corrected if only the characters, Maxine included, were more defined and developed to raise the stakes higher, making this should-be thrilling mystery, well, thrilling! But instead, the casts are reduced to one-note names caught in a bizarre stalk-and-stab situation, most of who are pushed aside with how much the story focused on Maxine's rise to stardom. All the while Maxine herself remains stagnant as a personality in her pursuit for success, leaving us with a journey that's too straight of a line to be anything more exciting.  

It's not until the third act where the horror shtick rears its ugly head in full gear after popping in and out throughout the film in small servings. This, in turn, means we only get a handful of slasher-friendly scenes, the closest to looking and feeling genuinely straight out of a bodycounter flick being a savage knife murder at a video store. Curiously enough, the kill count does go double digits eventually, but this is through a macabre police shootout at the story's conclusion, again putting MaxXxine (2024) further away from being a fright flick and aligned closer with horror-flavored cop thrillers ala Manhunter (1986) or Body Double (1984).

Despite all of these shortcomings, though, MaxXxine (2024) is far from unwatchable. It's lacking, sure, but it's entertaining if you're not really looking for a movie that dives deep into its own story and is more on the deal of giving us a messed-up misadventure tainted with blood and intrigue just for the sake of it. It's beautifully shot as a nostalgic piece, impressively recreating a good dose of late-80s vibe and aesthetic from the music to make-up, from its set-pieces to the bouncing-rocking soundtrack. (Love me a good Kim Carnes song!) The mystery itself is also a fun little trip from the little connive it generated as to who exactly is out to get Maxine. The reveal is sort of underwhelming, I'll admit, but the madness that follows has just that much crazy going for it that it works, not to mention it does tie up Maxine's Hollywood saga quite nicely if anything. (Plus it leads to an awesome head decimation, that has to count for something) And, of course, Mia Goth being quite the spunky, hard-hitting doll as she nails her role magnificently! Maxine may be underdeveloped, but at least she's a fun watch thanks to Goth's performance.

Not quite the showstopper I expected for Ti West's 'X' trilogy to end on but, small mercies, MaxXxine (2024) could have been worse. Way worse. It might be missing the gore-soaked, haunting creepiness of X (2022), or the soul-crushing heartbreak of Pearl (2022), as a shlocky cop thriller-slash-murder adventure, this one is serviceable enough on a B-grade scale. 

Bodycount:

2 females murdered offscreen, bodies later found in a lake

1 male slaughtered with a hunting knife

1 male handcuffed inside a car, crushed to death in a hydraulic compactor

1 female found dismembered

2 males seen shot dead

1 male shot

1 female shot

1 female shot

1 male shot

1 male shot, stabbed in the nose with switchblade

1 male shot

1 male shot

1 male found shot dead

1 male shot, bled to death

1 female found stabbed in the eye with a crucifix, falls down a hill

1 male had his head shot and decimated with a shotgun

Total: 18

Bad Night At The Fat Bottom Bistro: Last Straw (2024)

Last Straw (2024)

Rating: ***

Starring: Jessica Belkin, Taylor Kowalski, Jeremy Sisto

Recently discovering that she's pregnant, waitress Nancy (Jessica Belkin) will see her day go for the worse when her dad, the owner of the diner she works at, puts her in charge of that evening’s late shift while he enjoys a pleasant date with his lover, putting a damper on Nancy's party plans for that night. Combining this with a nauseating wave of pregnancy hormones, as well as a rowdy gaggle of teen punks showing up and throwing roadkill all over the place, Nancy is simply having none of it and the small diner staff and patrons can tell.

After a long day of snapping at mouthy customers, cooks and former love interests, Nancy settles in for an even longer late evening dealing with the diner all in her lonesome. This, as you can see, is a terrible arrangement for the young gal as the four punks from earlier, seeking revenge for having them kicked out and disrespected, decided to get even by terrorizing her. 

Or, at least that's what it seems.

For the first act of Last Straw (2024), it plays out like a slasher siege flick ala You're Next (2011) or even Tobe Hooper's Gas Station slasher segment from the movie Body Bags (1993), with the hoodlums all masked up and keeping themselves mute while they sneak around to prowl and hunt their prey, even scoring a bonus body when the local sheriff picked the wrong place to personally investigate a disturbance. Heck, they might have added another for the count when Nancy's co-worker shows up to apologize for making things awkward earlier that shift, but just when the gal got a chance to escape and set things right by ending these punks, the film throws a curveball at us.

This is when Last Straw (2024) switches from siege horror to crime thriller, shifting its perspective to another character and shows us what happened in between a work-related verbal lashing and the night the punks came out to play. Without spoiling much, it's bad decisions upon bad decisions, fueled by misery and hate, adding a little more depth to the horrors that happened so far and will continue that evening, giving the villains a couple more dimensions in their character and a bit of sympathy despite the horrible things they'll end up doing. It leads to everyone here being flawed, but it is this flaw that makes their bloody predicament an intriguing watch, especially once the story kicks back up again with a massacre to boot.

The kills are nothing too spectacular in the creative sense, but remains tragic and brutal within the tone of the plot, even more so once after the reveal was made. The greater focus here is on tone and suspense as the story and bloodshed escalate to the point where we're not even sure who will be walking out of this mess alive, all in all a workable effort that did keep me on the edge of my seat, captivated on what the outcome will be. 

If there is any real drawback here, it'll be the main character, Nancy; I guess the movie was aiming to write her off as 'irritable' due to her baby-bearing situation and teen angst, but she's more irritating, testy and harsh here than needed to be, always with a scowl on her face and a sharp tongue cutting down people who irks her, even if said people were only trying to help. They did try fixing this by throwing in a sentimental flashback of her discussing with a friend about her woes and troubles as a teenage girl living a life so similar to a family member who passed away, but the damage was done and this is like putting a tiny band-aid over a bloody stump where a leg used to be. This, mind you, doesn't mean Jessica Belkin did a horrible job portraying her character, it's just that she nailed it too well that it's kinda laborious rooting for Nancy all the way, at least for me.

Still, Last Straw (2024) is a commendable effort; I like the twist and shift. I like the grounded tone. I like the fact that the villains were fleshed out a bit more. It just needs some good script polish and, perhaps, dial back the lead girl's pessimism and testiness a bit. Unconventional but bold, I say give it a try!

Bodycount:

1 male beaten to death with a meat tenderizer

1 male repeatedly stabbed with a hunting knife, bled to death

1 male strangled to death

2 males murdered offscreen

1 male dunked into a deep fryer, brained with a metal tray

1 male dies from knife wounds

1 male seen bled to death from a stabbed gut

1 male knifed in the neck

Total: 9