7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
At a secluded farmhouse in Texas, a film crew arrives to shoot an adult film. Their hosts, a reclusive elderly couple, take a special interest in their young guests. As night falls the couple's leering interest turns violent.
Starring: Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow, Mia Goth, Martin Henderson, Kid CudiHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.89:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.90:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Writer, director and co-producer Ti West is on hand on one of the supplements included on this disc mentioning how he wanted to offer a "highbrow" take on what is often a "lowbrow" genre, namely horror and/or slasher films, which might beg the question as to why West decided to make the film about some nascent entrepreneurs out to shoot a porn movie. Pornography probably won't qualify as "highbrow" for many audience members, even if, for example, it has a supposed "literary" imprimatur of someone like Gore Vidal, a la the hugely lambasted Caligula. West may frankly not have Vidal's reputation for writing prowess, but that doesn't necessarily mean he hasn't introduced a rather smart "meta" aspect to a film that, again in West's own words, wanted to not be "soft" (no porn pun intended), which is the adjective West overtly uses to describe many recent horror movies. Suffice it to say, X has a number of extremely graphic kill scenes, not to mention a couple of other bodily immolations that may not immediately lead to a character's demise, but which will still most likely cause more squeamish types to hide their eyes and hope that things move along quickly.
X is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films and A24 with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.89:1. The IMDb lists the Sony CineAlta Venice as the camera of choice, but fails to specify the resolution of the DI, which I'm assuming was 2K. This is actually rather nicely "filmic" looking piece for a digital capture, with a bit of texture and depth, especially in some of the more brightly lit outdoor material. That said, there's what I am assuming is an intentional haziness to some shots, notably some of the twilight shots around a lake on the farm. A lot of the film takes places in shrouded environments which are played for a palpable angst factor but which kind of unavoidably lead to less than fulsome detail levels at times, as can probably be made out in some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review. The supposed porn movie is pretty gritty looking, aping a 16mm or even 8mm appearance, and is kind of honey colored a lot of the time. I noticed no compression anomalies.
From the opening almost pastoral ambient environmental sounds to some of the more raucous horror elements that ultimately play into the film, X benefits from a smartly designed soundscape that is capably supported by this disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Kind of surprisingly given its 1979 timeframe, there's not a ton of source cues, though Mungo Jerry's great "In the Summertime" makes an appearance, as do a couple of other tunes. The music along with ambient environmental effects tend to deliver the most impressive surround activity, and a couple of jump scares employ good bursts of LFE. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.
A prequel called Pearl was reportedly shot at the same time as X, and from the looks of it (at the IMDb), it's already in post production, but while some may wonder about Pearl's backstory, I kind of think it's Maxine's backstory that might have been better woven into this tale. West obviously wanted to make a quasi-slasher for a more discerning (?) audience, and in some ways I think he's succeeded rather admirably, even if the film might have been a bit more forthcoming in terms of character backgrounds and interrelationships. Technical merits are solid, and at least for those with strong stomachs, X comes Recommended.
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40th Anniversary Edition
1974
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2022
2012
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2015
1971
2024
2015
1988
Collector's Edition
2021
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20th Anniversary Edition
2003
Collector's Edition
2013