I still hate it when you have these reboot sequels that have the exact same film as the original. Blumhouse’s new Halloween film that’s a follow up to John Carpenter’s original is also called “Halloween”. Or how the Jordan Peele produced sequel to “Candyman” is also just called “Candyman”. But at least they had more than one letter in their title? All I know is that anyone looking for a review of this movie is going to have some trouble finding what they’re looking for. As you can tell this is a little more casual than most of my other posts but let me still try and give some insight.

This little flick comes from film studio A24. They’re the ones that are behind films like Spring Breakers, Ex Machina & The Witch. Basically films that embrace their weirdness but also turn out pretty good. And while this film has a little bit of weird, I can’t say it’s on the same level as the ones I mentioned. Without getting into spoilers, it’s about a group of people who set out to make a porn movie. There are a few actors, the producer, the director & the director’s girlfriend who does sound. They stay at this guest house owned by this elderly couple. The old man doesn’t know they are doing it so they try and do it in secret. But it turns out it’s the couple that has a secret and then the scares happen.

In case you were wondering, the “X” of this film refers to the X factor that makes someone a star. And that’s the main deal with the main actress of this film who believes she will become a star. But honestly, I don’t think she is that great. This is a movie with Jenna Ortega and yet their biggest name is more of a supporting character. She starts off as the shy girl they call Church Mouse. She kinda has a story of sorts but not really. But screw it, I’m using her character poster as the featured image of this review. Because she was the only one I cared about. It’s not because the protagonists of this film are horrible people. They might have a couple of moments that make them look like assholes. But they’re okay people. Which unfortunately means they just leave an okay impression.

And the scares are kind of hit and miss. A couple of jump scares that are obviously and just annoying. However there are a few moments that are pretty decent. The first kill that happens includes some audio of the song “Don’t Fear The Reaper” so I might be a little biased when it came to that scene. But I liked it. Looking on it now however, I think this film went in the wrong direction with it’s execution. I feel like this could have been a movie that should have been a horror comedy. Something of a satire. It has the potential for that. And while there are a few moments of dark comedy and chuckles, it’s hard to tell if those were on purpose or not. Or maybe they could have dropped the horror angle altogether and make it an insightful movie about the different views of sex & love between generations and various backgrounds. Again, it does have that material. A24 doesn’t always do Horror, they could have gone this route.

But nope, this is what we got. And it’s fine honestly. Nothing really obviously wrong with it. Some scene transitions that are weird is the biggest offense. At least I can appreciate this is something based off a new idea instead of being another sequel or reboot or remake or whatever. Nothing inherently wrong with any of those, but with so many of those being made right now, this is a little refreshing. If your a little curious about it, there’s no harm in checking it out.