← Back to Reviews
in
Well.
That was a helluva thing.
Good for Ti West, finally really bringing it all together and making not only a very good Horror movie but a pretty good movie, period. This is a very talented filmmaker.
I have read a lot of praise for this film, including The New York Times really going to bat for it, so my expectations were pretty high, yet I also knew very little about the plot, and I will keep it that way here as it surprised me in at least a few ways and I think that was part of what made it work so well. And the film should get credit for that because the ways in which it surprises are intentional.
A small group of people leave a dumpy strip club in Houston, Texas to go film the next great porno movie, hoping to either make high art, strike it rich, or get famous. They arrive at a small farm where they have rented a house on the property to make their film, without telling the owners what they're doing.
The owners, an elderly couple consisting of a reclusive wife and gruff, shotgun-wielding husband, live across the property in the house from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so probably everything's ok. And it is, for a while. They make their porno movie and they appear to be making it well with star turns from Brittany Snow...
... and ambitious Mia Goth, who is "special" and has that X-factor, a nice play on the title of the film. Things are going swimmingly and everyone is having quite a time and the movie they're making may actually be brushing up against art after all but the movie we're watching certainly is. A wonderful scene where the male star, played with great ease by Kid Cudi, and Snow perform Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" for the others acts as a kind of tipping point for the film and is really a wonderful moment, as good as in any Horror movie, and frankly a lot of others, I've seen in a while. Having already been chock full of wonderful shots, snappy dialogue, sharp performances, and patience, the film now even has a little bit of heart that feels genuine and earned.
Of course, this is right before everything goes to shit.
And I mean for the characters. For the audience, the payoff begins and it really doesn't end until the credits roll. The movie begins to deliver on the promises it has made and, for the first time I've seen at least, Ti West brings home the bacon. While there is no question this film is stewed to tenderness in homage to grind house-level Horror, and actually skin-flicks too, of the 1970s, it comes with its own story that feels like it may have been taken direct from a 70s grind-house film but is as elevated as the very best of those and many films of a more respected ilk. And it is also tense, and weird, and uncomfortable, and bloody as hell.
This was a real pleasure for me as I am a huge fan of grind house films and I consider The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to be a masterpiece, not of Horror (though yes of Horror), but of film, period. And so many films have tried to re-capture that lightning in a bottle and actually some films from the 70s at least got what it was they were trying to capture. But the newer generations that were given permission to exist probably by Rob Zombie's House Of 1,000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects have always missed the mark and often widely. But I think Zombie will like this one. In some ways, it is the version of Ho1kC I think a lot of people wish existed (though I personally enjoy the off-the-chain bat-shit craziness of Zombie's vision, despite it's all-over-the-place-narrative).
In fact, though, any filmmaker worth their salt should like this. It is a well-made film from script to final cut. The story really works and pushes the audience a good bit. The editing is especially strong as the cuts between scenes and different shots that exist within the same scene are stylized yet extremely effective, while the movie is also allowed to breathe as well as build tension. The performances, by all participants, really, but particularly by Mia Goth, are excellent. But man, the photography is just aces.
I must have said to myself a dozen times, "Man, that's a great shot." And unlike a lot of more amateurish films by people with good eyes, the shots all have purpose. While many are nice to behold, they all have function and service to the moment, to the character, to the story, over and over again.
Ultimately, I had only one quibble with the film and that was with the homage. While, for the most part West navigates this very well, and this is something so many Horror directors have tried and have been too heavy handed with, to eye-rolling effect, he manages it pretty deftly even when shots are taken almost exactly from TCM, The Last House On The Left, Friday The 13th, and even an obvious allusion to Tobe Hooper's Eaten Alive. Hell, even the use of "Don't Fear The Reaper", which really feels like it has been done to death, just seems to fit perfectly here. But once or twice the homage was a little too on the nose and it became distracting. This was never truer than in a moment The New York Times had pointed out as unnecessary, taken from The Shining. I had no idea what the reference would be since I'd read as little as I could about the film beyond their article and I had forgotten about it completely, but when it comes it is like a hammer between the eyes and it really took me out of the moment. Such is the chance you take when you deal in homage, I guess.
Overall, my take on the film is this: Whether or not West has made a new Horror classic I really can't say, I will have to ruminate on it and some time will have to pass, but this is one of the most well-made Horror films I've seen in a long time and is a good film regardless. The last film I think gave me a feeling like this was It Follows and this is a better film all around even if that movie was perhaps more original. Oddly, this film, steeped as it is in the past, somehow feels very fresh. And while the setup may be classic 70s grindhouse, West, who wrote the film, manages to come up with a narrative that feels like we haven't seen it before even if the whole point of the movie is for us to feel like we have.
I feel like there is some hesitancy to properly acknowledge this film, despite some pretty legitimate institutions doing so, so I won't hesitate. West has made what is easily the best film of his career and a movie that should be a real treat for any fan of 70s Horror, grindhouse, exploitation, and honestly for people who just like to see a really well-executed film.
Well.
That was a helluva thing.
Good for Ti West, finally really bringing it all together and making not only a very good Horror movie but a pretty good movie, period. This is a very talented filmmaker.
I have read a lot of praise for this film, including The New York Times really going to bat for it, so my expectations were pretty high, yet I also knew very little about the plot, and I will keep it that way here as it surprised me in at least a few ways and I think that was part of what made it work so well. And the film should get credit for that because the ways in which it surprises are intentional.
A small group of people leave a dumpy strip club in Houston, Texas to go film the next great porno movie, hoping to either make high art, strike it rich, or get famous. They arrive at a small farm where they have rented a house on the property to make their film, without telling the owners what they're doing.
The owners, an elderly couple consisting of a reclusive wife and gruff, shotgun-wielding husband, live across the property in the house from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so probably everything's ok. And it is, for a while. They make their porno movie and they appear to be making it well with star turns from Brittany Snow...
... and ambitious Mia Goth, who is "special" and has that X-factor, a nice play on the title of the film. Things are going swimmingly and everyone is having quite a time and the movie they're making may actually be brushing up against art after all but the movie we're watching certainly is. A wonderful scene where the male star, played with great ease by Kid Cudi, and Snow perform Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" for the others acts as a kind of tipping point for the film and is really a wonderful moment, as good as in any Horror movie, and frankly a lot of others, I've seen in a while. Having already been chock full of wonderful shots, snappy dialogue, sharp performances, and patience, the film now even has a little bit of heart that feels genuine and earned.
Of course, this is right before everything goes to shit.
And I mean for the characters. For the audience, the payoff begins and it really doesn't end until the credits roll. The movie begins to deliver on the promises it has made and, for the first time I've seen at least, Ti West brings home the bacon. While there is no question this film is stewed to tenderness in homage to grind house-level Horror, and actually skin-flicks too, of the 1970s, it comes with its own story that feels like it may have been taken direct from a 70s grind-house film but is as elevated as the very best of those and many films of a more respected ilk. And it is also tense, and weird, and uncomfortable, and bloody as hell.
This was a real pleasure for me as I am a huge fan of grind house films and I consider The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to be a masterpiece, not of Horror (though yes of Horror), but of film, period. And so many films have tried to re-capture that lightning in a bottle and actually some films from the 70s at least got what it was they were trying to capture. But the newer generations that were given permission to exist probably by Rob Zombie's House Of 1,000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects have always missed the mark and often widely. But I think Zombie will like this one. In some ways, it is the version of Ho1kC I think a lot of people wish existed (though I personally enjoy the off-the-chain bat-shit craziness of Zombie's vision, despite it's all-over-the-place-narrative).
In fact, though, any filmmaker worth their salt should like this. It is a well-made film from script to final cut. The story really works and pushes the audience a good bit. The editing is especially strong as the cuts between scenes and different shots that exist within the same scene are stylized yet extremely effective, while the movie is also allowed to breathe as well as build tension. The performances, by all participants, really, but particularly by Mia Goth, are excellent. But man, the photography is just aces.
I must have said to myself a dozen times, "Man, that's a great shot." And unlike a lot of more amateurish films by people with good eyes, the shots all have purpose. While many are nice to behold, they all have function and service to the moment, to the character, to the story, over and over again.
Ultimately, I had only one quibble with the film and that was with the homage. While, for the most part West navigates this very well, and this is something so many Horror directors have tried and have been too heavy handed with, to eye-rolling effect, he manages it pretty deftly even when shots are taken almost exactly from TCM, The Last House On The Left, Friday The 13th, and even an obvious allusion to Tobe Hooper's Eaten Alive. Hell, even the use of "Don't Fear The Reaper", which really feels like it has been done to death, just seems to fit perfectly here. But once or twice the homage was a little too on the nose and it became distracting. This was never truer than in a moment The New York Times had pointed out as unnecessary, taken from The Shining. I had no idea what the reference would be since I'd read as little as I could about the film beyond their article and I had forgotten about it completely, but when it comes it is like a hammer between the eyes and it really took me out of the moment. Such is the chance you take when you deal in homage, I guess.
Overall, my take on the film is this: Whether or not West has made a new Horror classic I really can't say, I will have to ruminate on it and some time will have to pass, but this is one of the most well-made Horror films I've seen in a long time and is a good film regardless. The last film I think gave me a feeling like this was It Follows and this is a better film all around even if that movie was perhaps more original. Oddly, this film, steeped as it is in the past, somehow feels very fresh. And while the setup may be classic 70s grindhouse, West, who wrote the film, manages to come up with a narrative that feels like we haven't seen it before even if the whole point of the movie is for us to feel like we have.
I feel like there is some hesitancy to properly acknowledge this film, despite some pretty legitimate institutions doing so, so I won't hesitate. West has made what is easily the best film of his career and a movie that should be a real treat for any fan of 70s Horror, grindhouse, exploitation, and honestly for people who just like to see a really well-executed film.