Film review: ‘MAXXXINE’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’

The uneven paranoia thriller pastiche, Maxxxine is the third instalment in the X series which began with gothic horror films X and Pearl.  This instalment, which takes us into the mid 80’s LA, is a homage of sorts to the era’s infamous video nasties.

As in X and Pearl, Mia Goth stars, this time as porn actress Maxine Minx.  Despite apparently making a tidy living in porn – she drives around in a Mercedes convertible – she’s desperate to become a star in legitimate movies and sees slasher films as the next step up from skin flicks.  Just as she scores her big break in a sequel to a ‘scream queen’ movie called The Puritan, she begins receiving strange messages from a mysterious fiend who may be responsible for the murders of her best friends and might also be the infamous LA serial killer, the Night Stalker.

Writer/Director Ti West does an ok job of immersing us in the lurid world of 80s LA with its sleaze metal, strip clubs and VHS horror and porno movie industries but he could have amped this up to create a more pungent atmosphere.  He attempts some Tarantino-esque pop culture satire and exposé of Hollywood’s dark underbelly but it feels a bit obvious and superficial.

A bigger problem is that the story just doesn’t fire.  There isn’t a palpable sense of threat to Maxxxine, who seems completely nonchalant most of the time and occasionally, a brutal and dislikable character herself. Also, the central mystery of Maxine’s identity and her links to the characters of the previous films aren’t explored in an interesting way and will be largely meaningless to anyone who hasn’t seen those films.

This movie features a few big names in supporting roles including Kevin Bacon as a ridiculously over-the-top Cajun detective who’s meant to be menacing but is astonishingly incompetent.  Aussie Elizabeth Dubicki plays the director of The Puritan and while she brings some class and sophistication to Maxxxine, her character doesn’t really go anywhere. Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan also appear in underwritten roles as cops investigating the serial killings.  Gus Fring himself, Giancarlo Esposito is a welcome presence as Maxine’s strangely coiffured agent, Teddy Knight esq and the film needed alot more of him.

In keeping with the other two films in the X series, this movie contains a few gruesome and gory deaths but they’re so over-the-top they end up more comical than horrifying. Gorehounds, trash movie obsessives and 80’s nostalgia freaks will probably anoint this film with some sort of cult status but it left this reviewer flat.

Nick’s rating: **1/2

Genre: Horror/ comedy

Classification: MA15+.

Director(s): Ti West.

Release date: 11th July 2024.

Running time: 104 mins.

Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

 

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