Notable Cast: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow, Kid
Cudi, Martin Henderson, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, James Gaylyn
Over the last few years, the slasher has started to make
another comeback. I’ve mentioned it a few times in recent reviews, including
our coverage of Scream (2022) just a couple of months ago, but it’s a
fascinating time for the slasher to be rearing its gory and gimmicky head.
Perhaps it’s the reactive way that things swing after a handful of years of
slow burn, artsy horror that has dominated the landscape, but nonetheless, here
we are once again as slashers regain momentum.
Of that reactionary stance, perhaps it makes sense that A24
would leap in on it as they continue to be one of the big studios leading the
horror charge in theaters, but a slasher seems like it could be outside of
their overall style as a studio. Compound that by having writer and director Ti
West helm the film X for the studio and it seems like it could be a
massive misfire in concept out of the gate.
Yet, X, the film that brings Ti West and A24 together
for the first time, is a wild and offbeat success. It rocks a see-saw teetering
balance between the director’s notable slow-burn style and the more
entertaining titillations of the genre. It also adds in just enough of that
artistic flavor of the studio to snatch the horror fans with an “elevated”
taste. It’s strangely effective at what it does and it makes X one of
the more effective throwback horror flicks in recent memory.