When considering the all-time great films that have made use of the exquisite cinematic potential of horror, there must now be a place for the explosive experience that is writer-director Ti West’s riveting and raucous X. With wild abandon, it is a film that carves out a place amongst not just the best horror from A24, but of the glorious genre writ large. It is a meticulous and patient work that also packs a wicked sense of humor that never lets you go once it has you in its grasp. Even as it wears many of its horror influences on its sleeve, West weaves his own thrilling and terrifying tale of a 1979 Texas porn shoot gone oh so very wrong.

We know this explicit production takes a turn for the worse as the film opens on the chaotic and bloody aftermath where bodies are strewn everywhere at a remote farm. The police are at a loss, pacing around the scene in cowboy boots and trying to avoid stepping in the pools of blood. It is an otherwise peaceful setting save for this carnage and the film keeps much of the viscera initially hidden, ensuring that there is still an abundance of tension to be found in seeing all the pieces come back together. Our story then properly begins 24 hours before the violence with Mia Goth’s magnetic Maxine alone in a dressing room. A dreamer with a bit of a cocaine habit, she has big plans for herself that she reflects on in the first of several mirror scenes. Goth is already a standout horror performer, having been a memorable presence in Suspiria and High Life, though it is X that now cements her as an icon of the genre.

This moment is interrupted by Martin Henderson’s cocksure Wayne who bursts into the room, proceeds to dial up the smarm in a smooch with Maxine, and informs her everyone else is waiting to get on the road. In just this opening scene, you learn so much about both of them and their relationship with each other. It is only the beginning of how West builds complete and complex portraits of people with an efficiency that speaks to both his craft as a writer as well as the assured performance of each actor. This extends to the entire porn production posse which is made up of a wonderful cast of quirky characters. There is the suave male talent Jackson (Kid Cudi) who, in addition to being a veteran, is also particularly known for his talents in the bedroom (at least in his own mind). Alongside him is his girlfriend as well as co-performer Bobby-Lynee (Brittany Snow) who packs an unending amount of irreverent snark. There is the awkward director RJ (Owen Campbell) who wants to make a serious art film in line with the French New Wave. Assisting him with the boom mic is his unassuming and cross-wearing girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) who gets the nickname “church mouse.”

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Image via A24

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This ragtag group of smut connoisseurs is taking a bit of a road trip as they are hoping to make their own porn film. Some, like Maxine, believe it will bring them fame and make them like Linda Carter. Others, like Wayne, see it as a chance to make some money by tapping into an otherwise yet-untapped market where people can watch porn at home. As they all hop in a van that is appropriately and humorously emblazoned with “Plowing Service” on the side, the clearest reference point is to the early tone of the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. In fact, even as West’s film is very much its own thing, it is an experience that is a more worthy successor to such iconic horror than the abysmal Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel that came out exactly one month prior to X. Yes, both of these new films pack an abundance of brutality and gore, though it is in how West approaches his story that makes it such a superior work. The horror is found in the fearsome aspects of the broken people at its core, delving deep into the murderous underpinning of our world with a captivating eye. The persistent use of a rambling pastor preaching on television compliments this perfectly, revealing how the places people find solace when isolated have a more sinister undercurrent.

When our characters arrive at a remote farm, we begin to hear the repeated use of an evocative score that is a combination of haunting yet melodic chanting that is then mixed with creepy breathing. Even as the film is packed with a bunch of other fitting music, much of it happening diegetically, it is this score that really puts you on edge. The first interaction Wayne has with the property owner, an elderly man who seems to want nothing to do with them, is as ominous as it is awkward. It soon becomes clear that neither the man nor his wife has any idea whatsoever about what the group is intending on using their small boarding house for. Thus, the sex film is surreptitiously shot. In addition to creating a distinguishing color palette as well as a more narrow aspect ratio, West approaches the porn production with a playfulness that is also mixed with something more sinister. A scene where a lonesome Maxine explores the farm is intercut with the purposely cheesy dialogue of the porn that shifts from being humorous to haunting very quickly. It is one of many times West expertly intersplices seemingly incongruous visual sequences together for dramatic effect.

There are also frequent moments where the film will quickly cut to three brief glimpses of a distinct visual from another scene that then informs the other. It is a remarkably effective and unsettling element that disrupts the film’s cinematic grammar visually. Each time it happens, it puts you on edge and ratchets up the growing feeling that something is seriously wrong. What that something is will not be revealed here as the darker elements of the story are worth experiencing with as little foresight as possible. This is especially true considering how patient West is with the whole film. Of course, this won't surprise anyone who has seen his similarly dedicated and foreboding 2009 film The House of the Devil. Both films let scenes play out to an absolute breaking point, leaving you in a state of constant anticipation and curiosity about what exactly is coming next. One such moment of many to be found in X is a beautiful extended shot of a small body of water from above that finds both horror and humor in how long it goes on. When other films might cut away much too soon and undercut the terror of this moment, West lets each of these scenes play out until you are out of breath in anticipation.

This only makes the unrestrained climax of X all the more rewarding as these setups and quiet hints are paid off perfectly. Like a punchline to a joke, these moments were met with a rising up of elation that reached a roar. It is a film that kills both in its comedic sensibility and gruesome inclinations. At my screening, you could both feel the audience release all their pent-up energy and hear them exclaim in joy at these moments. It all reveals how West is completely in control, both narratively and formally, as he wrenches the maximum amount of payoff out of every single moment he can. From the way the headlights of a car change color in an extended violent outburst to a more reserved subsequent scene where a character remains asleep, everything is impeccably attuned to create maximum impact. It makes for one of the most fully realized pieces of horror cinema in recent memory that never sets a wrong foot even as its characters do nothing but. It is a dynamic, deadly work of filmmaking that achieves all its lofty ambitions and then some to become an absolute masterwork.

Rating: A+

X is in theaters now.