October Film Freak Out Week 4

Accidentally Watching a Prequal and Sequel Before the Originating Story, and Other Viewing Tales

I’m still sick, a little dazed and confused, but I’m here for the horror, and I’m here for action!

I knew going into this week was that I really wanted to watch both X and Maxxxine, had I known Maxxxine was a sequel to X I wouldn’t have watched them in the opposite order but what’s done is done!

I also knew that I was done with sad depressing horror and really needed something to get my heart beat up.

LFG!

(Lets fucking go!)

Movie 18: MaXXXine

Maxxxine is fucking brilliant.

If a feel good horror movie exists, this is gotta be it.

Maxxxine is here and she’ll fuck you up to get what she wants.

I realised only part way through that in a video sequence we see something that looks like a scene from X, immediately pausing the video and checking the web, I came to realise that Pearl is a Prequel to X, with Maxxxine being the Sequel.

Dude, I am so hyped.

I continued watching, I didn’t want to interrupt my experience by going and watching X instead, but its definitely the next film on my list.

5/5 stars.

I can’t say much about this film without spoiling it, it’s a fantastic slasher with an emphasis on this badass babe taking NO ONE’S shit.

You want to see her win, you want to see her brutality, you eat it up.

It even has Halsey making a fun appearance as the director for the movie Maxxine has scored a role in.

The vibes were fantastic, the camera shots were fun and dynamic, and you can’t help but want her to win, regardless of what ever past she has.

A trigger warning for gore: there’s a scene where she stomps on a guys bare balls and I had to look away even though the makeup is almost deliberately bad, it was too much for me to fully witness.

Movie 19: X

X is about a group of young people who head out to an isolated farm property to shoot a porographic film together.

Only one thing is known for sure, this dirty movie becomes a horror picture show.

X is the first in a series of three movies following the same universe.

The prequel to X is Pearl, and the sequel is Maxxxine.

On its own, this is a decent film, it has good characters, characters you don’t really want to see die, and Mia Goth goes as far to play the protagonist, young Maxine Minx, as well as the antagonist, old lady Pearl.

Its quite funny to see her play both roles, and its also creepy when you realise that’s the intended effect, for these two women to be mirror images of one another.

There was a scene I didn’t fully understand, one where a young woman is locked in a cellar and finds the body of a man who does not seem to be part of the original crew?

I am unsure if this mystery corpse is something I missed in the fine print or if its just meant to show how crazy the older couple is, but I was puzzled by that one.

Otherwise, it has a good ending, and if you’ve seen Maxxine you’ll be left delighted at the origin story for her character.

Having seen Pearl, I was blown away by how they pulled the narative from the X hints and queus, like the allegator and the car in the lake, the reference to her husband being in the war not once but twice, giving us some idea of what Pearl went through after her husband returned from WW1 in the film.

I think X is much more fun when you know the context from the other films, having said that I still really enjoyed it as its own concept.

4/5 stars.

Seriously. Whose corpse is that??

Movie 20: Lovely, Dark and Deep

I really enjoyed this film from a conceptual angle, the supernatural element at play is very insidious.

Lennon is someone who has presumably been involved in wildlife preservation and ranger style activities for a considerable time, and we enter the film at the moment she becomes an official national park ranger.

The story follows her as she takes her position in the park, and begins scouting the area. Eventually a young woman becomes lost after straying from her campsite, in Lennon’s search to recover her, she and the audience are introduced to sinister forces at play in the wildlife.

The film captures surrealist imagery well, and the scenes that reveal the true nature of the park are suffocating and panic inducing.

Lennon’s life is a tragedy, so its hard not to relate to her and her journey, however the person she becomes by the end felt unsatisfying and morally questionable.

4/5 stars.

The character went through all this, and came out with a decision I just can’t be satisfied with.

But overall, great effects, great concept, great acting.

Movie 21: Girls with Balls

This French slasher was absolutely ridiculous and that was its intention from the beginning.

From a guy that only the audience sees who plays guitar and sings about the legendary volleyball group the Falcons, to a group of menacing individuals who never once say a word as they interact with and hunt down the team, this film is just pure stupid.

My mouth was agape most of the duration of this film, it was unashamedly stupid.

At one point a bad guys head gets cut off and for over 15 minutes of story he’s seen still walking around headless, stumbling around and squirting blood out his neck stump.

Trigger warning: the little dog bites the coach and he begins to strangle it, it is clearly replaced by a plastic stretchy dog dummy but the imagery is pretty disturbing even in the comedic framing.

Honestly, I could have gone without this film in my life, that being said it was entertaining enough at times, though I still found it sorta boring and agonizing at times.

3/5 stars.

At least they meant it to be silly, something tells me Grimcutty was edging on being sorta serious…

Movie 22: Renfield

This was just a good time.

It was entertaining and in some ways very slice of life, I had many good feels during this viewing with my two housemates who watched it with me.

Renfield is the servant of Dracula, and its a toxic relationship he simply must get away from, but is it too late for him to live a normal life?

I loved all the actors in this, they all did a fabulous job, its like the roles were made with everyone in mind.

Nicolas Cage is a perfect Dracula, and also manages to fit the stereotype of a modern grandiose narcissist effortlessly.

The cinematography was fun and impactful and I just can’t praise the story enough, it hit every beat, every tone, and the ending was joyful and hilarious.

5/5 stars.

The best dark comedy of the year, highly recommend.

MaXXXine and Renfield were definitely my top favourites for the week, I highly recommend both of them.

I don’t so much recommend Girls with Balls unless that’s very specifically what you want to watch…

Technically, there is another sorta week left of October, so stay tuned for one last review after this one!