X (March 2022)

 

X

(March 2022)

“That's right. The deviants are already amongst us, waiting for our sons and daughters. So heed dire warnings and repent before it is too late.”

Less than 24 hours in rural Texas in 1979 turns out to be enough time to build up to a disturbing and horrendous bloodbath in Ti West’s thunderous Iguana return with X.

As intimated by its title, X follows the cast and (minimal) crew of the, ahem, “adult” film, The Farmer’s Daughters, as they shoot on the sly at an isolated Texas farm.

Dreams of wealth and fame all come crashing down though, because this is “one G*ddamn f*cked up horror picture” from Ti West, after all…

“We shouldn’t disturb him. It would only make him angry. You wouldn’t like Daddy when he’s angry.”

West has been messing about on the TV front for the past few years (stray episodes of The Exorcist and Wayward Pines among his small screen work), so his return to silver screen horror is most welcome.

The fact that X comes not just with a soon-to-follow prequel (Pearl) but also a planned sequel, makes things all the more (heh) X-citing, even though this does look like the beginnings of the dreaded “F” word.

(Uurrmm… franchise?)

Still, West does remind us, “You can’t make a slasher movie without a bunch of sequels.”

And the fact is, X does position itself as a slasher, albeit one with other things on its mind aside from gory kills.

Prominently, it takes cues from cinema (and cinematic movements) at large to inform its narrative approach.

X is also juuuust self-aware enough so that West can occasionally remind us that there’s some grindhouse fun to be had here as well.

“Everybody likes sex. It’s a gas. We’re just not afraid to admit it. Queer, straight, black, white… It’s all disco.”

While there is an actual drug that’s showcased in X, the addiction that ultimately proves to be the most dangerous here is our very human attachment to youth (with the promise of ever-elusive fame coming in a close second).

Most of the film’s characters (played by familiar genre faces like Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, and Brittany Snow) still have their youth and are quite brazen about that; a couple of other characters don’t, and it’s the friction between those two groups that sets off X’s slasher powder keg.

So, come in for readily on-display “f*cked up horror,” but stay for all the substance beneath the bloody celluloid skin that West manages to explore here.

“Porn ain’t only gonna be for perverts no more.”

“Awww… Toast to the perverts. They’ve been payin’ our bills for years.”

“Hear, hear. To the perverts.”

Parting Shot:

Previous Ti West Iguana appearances may be found here and here, while mentions of TV’s The Exorcist may be found here and here.

(X OS’ courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com & twitter.com.)

SEVERANCE Season 1 (February 2022)

 

SEVERANCE Season 1

(February 2022)

“The numbers were scary…”

Severance* takes the idea of work/life balance to its chilling extreme, as we bear witness to the denizens of Lumon Industries’ “severed floor,” where the employees have elected to undergo a surgical process that effectively separates the work persona (who only becomes active and awake at work) from who the individual actually is in their home life.
Work memories are not accessible when the person is out of the office, and the work persona has no idea what their home life is like (are they married? Do they have kids?).
It’s the kind of scenario that a corporation will absolutely love (no pesky personal problems to interfere with productivity; industrial espionage… what’s that?) but isn’t necessarily beneficial to the employee.
As we see over Severance’s nine-episode season, hopefully only the first of many more…
 
“I trusted you, and you abused that trust.
“Your inefficiency and free range chicken roaming is ultimately your responsibility.
“Escort him… to the Break Room.”
 
It’s odd, going over the quotes I’ve gathered here.
You read them and some are so patently absurd that the overall effect is whimsy.
And while, yes, the absurdist office humor is indeed off-the-wall, it is also, in practice, disturbing.
There are shades of Twin Peaks here, not just in a visual sense, but in the way that the crackpot, occasionally non sequitur humor serves to mask the cold, inhuman horror that lies beneath the cheery, quirky facades.
 
A worker may suffer injurious pain or ghastly dehumanization, and no workspace is without its perils. But whatever your task, dear worker, see that you perform it with love. Endow in each swing of your axe or swipe of your pen the sum of your affections, that through me they may be purified and returned. No higher purpose may be found than this. Nor any higher love.
 
So join us at Lumon, where no one quite knows what it is they’re actually doing (even in the office!).
Spend the work days with a truly excellent cast that includes Patricia Arquette, John Turturro, and Christopher Walken!
Thrill to passages of The You You Are, by the one and only Dr. Ricken (Michael Chernus)!
And watch out for the MDE!
 
Our job is to taste free air. Your so-called “Boss” may own the clock that taunts you from the wall, but my friends, the hour is yours.
 
Severance: A damning indictment of corporate culture, with all its perks and incentivizations and sudden terminations.
It’s a world where the terms “Break Room” and “overtime” are positively chilling to hear.
 
“Let’s burn this place to the ground.”
 
* Brought to us by an excellent team headed up by creator Dan Erickson, and Ben Stiller (yes, that Ben Stiller), who directed 2/3 of the season.
 
(Severance key art courtesy of impawards.com.)