Samhain Project 2 : X

 Ti West's X is both a love letter to the 70's world of horror (particularly The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in some cases right down to the damn individual shot) and an exploration of the quick passing of youth and the humiliation and sadness of aging.  A particular scene where Brittany Snow sings Stevie Nicks' Landslide may draw a tear or two.

A prequel, Pearl, is on the screens now, as it seems Mr. West's imagination is an active and fertile machine.  So if X leaves you wanting more, just hit the theatre, or wait til the video release in a month.  Oh, yeah, and a sequel, featuring the star of the first two, Mia Goth, is also in the works.....

All the melodrama is wrapped up in a horror film, however, with plenty of scares, gore, creep factors, and even a killer alligator for spice.  Shot with New Zealand doubling for Texas, and camera gadgetry and vintage lighting to simulate 16 and 35mm film, the era it takes place in (1979) is successfully created.  Ti West, master of creating a vintage aura, takes you back in time again, like he did the early 80's in House of the Devil, with the help of the same cinematographer, mind you.

A simple set-up of a group of people attempting to shoot an adult film on an elderly couple's rural Texas property is a great set up for horror.  As Ti West is wont to do, layers of the mental and emotional are draped in.  Horror is more effective when you care about the characters, even the antagonists, and a laugh or two is generated along the way.  In X, however, there's also a core of melancholy that makes the story that much richer.

The flick has monstrous moments, so strap yourself in.  Mr. West spent the last decade or so mostly working in TV, and away from cinematic horror, so his return is with a vengeance.