Rated R

The story follows Mia Goth as the main character from X. It’s 1985, and Maxine is trying to jump from adult films into mainstream Hollywood. She lands a role in a high-profile horror film but her past – and the notorious serial killer The Night Stalker – keeps getting in her way.

Like X and PEARL, West uses his encyclopedic understanding of film style to offer a different story while playing with the same darker themes. Where X was a throwback to TEXAS CHAINSAW and PEARL a love letter to early cinema, MAXXXINE stirs together 80s urban vice dramas with a healthy dose of Satanic panic.

The cast includes a bright array of talent used in sparse doses. They all serve Maxine, and we see in her a more wily and deliberate lead. And it has just enough twists and turns to avoid falling into the cliches it pays homage to.

A solid slasher playing into fun nostalgia, MAXXXINE gets four VHS tapes out of five. I’m Kevin Carr, and that’s the way I see it.

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