Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

XX Blu-ray Movie Review

Distaff Terror

Reviewed by Michael Reuben June 15, 2017

The horror anthology XX bills itself as the first such compilation entirely written and directed by women, but just being a woman wasn't enough to qualify. When the project was first announced by genre specialist XYZ Films, the roster of directors included Mary Harron (American Psycho), Jennifer Lynch (Boxing Helena) and Jen and Sylvia Soska (American Mary), none of whose contributions made the final cut. The four directors whose shorts were ultimately accepted for XX range from an experienced hand (Karyn Kusama, The Invitation) to a musician making her directing debut (Annie Clark, who performs under the stage name "St. Vincent"). The directors are joined by animator Sofia Carrillo, whose creepy introduction, interstitials and conclusion recall the work of The Quay Brothers by way of Salvador Dali.

XX premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2017 and was released to theaters and video-on-demand the following month. Magnolia Home Entertainment has now issued the film on Blu-ray in a good presentation with a nice complement of extras.

It is impossible to discuss any of the four tales in XX without revealing key plot points. The press kit from Magnolia is rife with spoilers. Accordingly, I have not attempted to provide more than brief introductions. In general, all four segments share a common interest in close relations (whether family or friends) that suddenly turn toxic. Some are comedic (notably, "The Birthday Party") while others go for more traditional scares (especially "Don't Fall"). All of them are effective at establishing an unsettling atmosphere in a minimum of screen time, and all choose to explain as little as possible about the causes of the terrible things that transpire.

The Box: Susan Jacobs (Natalie Brown, The Strain) is riding on the subway during the Christmas season with her children, Jenny and Danny (Peyton Kennedy and Peter DaCunha). Danny's eyes light upon a big box wrapped in red foil in the lap of a man with a strange look about him (Michael Dyson). Being a fearless kid, Danny asks the man to show him what's in the box. The man obliges, and Danny's expression changes. (The audience never sees the contents.) From that moment onward, the lives of the Jacobs are forever changed, to the growing consternation of Susan and her husband, Robert (Jonathan Watton). "The Box" is a tensely atmospheric family drama, but just when you think director Jovanka Vuckovic will have nothing to offer the gore fans, she surprises you with a scene that is possibly the grisliest in the whole of XX.

The Birthday Party: Mary (Melanie Lynskey, HBO's Togetherness) is obsessing over every detail of a birthday party for her daughter, Lucy (Sanai Victoria), to the point where even the girl's nanny, Carla (Sheila Vand), gives Mary odd looks. Just as Mary thinks she may be getting on top of the details, a chilling and unexpected challenge presents itself. Mary's reaction is an odd mixture of panic and calculation. The arrival of a singing birthday telegram delivered by a man in a giant panda costume complicates the situation. Director Annie Clark effectively walks the line between discomfort and laughter, ultimately opting for the latter in her closing titles.

Don't Fall: A quartet of young hikers find themselves on a steep cliff overlooking a beautiful and, apparently, unexplored landscape. The destination was selected by Paul (Casey Adams), whose sister, Gretchen (Breeda Wool), is afraid of heights and whom Paul teases and torments as only a brother can. It is Jess (Angela Trimbur) who spots the ancient paintings on a rock face, apparently applied in blood and using symbols that the group's resident expert, Jay (Morgan Krantz), identifies as pre-Native American. When night falls, an ancient evil descends upon the group. Of the four segments in XX, director Roxanne Benjamin's entry is probably the most traditional, giving the familiar elements of a "creature feature" an energetic jolt with stunts creatively choreographed by Casey Adams, doing double duty as actor and stunt coordinator.

Her Only Son: Eighteen years ago, Cora (Christina Kirk), fled an unknown threat with her infant son, Andy, who is now fully grown (Kyle Allen). The pair keeps a low profile, with Cora routinely declining the romantic overtures of a handsome local mailman (Mike Doyle, the resourceful forensic tech on Law & Order: SVU). But Andy is exhibiting troubling behavior of the kind typically associated with budding psychopaths, including animal cruelty and casual abuse of school classmates. The latter causes Cora to be summoned to Andy's school, where the behavior of the authorities is even more disturbing than her son's misconduct. Writer/director Karyn Kusama effectively sustains the creepy atmosphere of this riff on a classic horror tale until the conclusion, which is abrupt and unsatisfying, almost as if Kusama couldn't figure out how her story should end.

Bookending XX, and also providing brief "intermissions" between its chapters, is Sofia Carrillo's account of the adventures of a living doll's house, complete with feet, legs, appetite and, apparently, the power to bring inanimate objects to life. Carrillo's surreal depictions aren't exactly threatening, but they're alternately fascinating and repellent, like a bad dream from which you'd rather awake but you want to see what happens next.

XX Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Each short had its own cinematographer and post-production process, and different digital cameras were used throughout, e.g., an Arri Alexa on "The Box" and a Red camera on "Don't Fall". No effort appears to have been made to harmonize or integrate the visual styles, so that the look of the film changes with each short. "The Box" and "Her Only Son" favor naturalistic palettes and appearances, while "The Birthday Party" is highly stylized in both photography and production design, and "Don't Fall" alternates between overexposed vistas in the bright sun of day and the dim lighting of the nighttime attack (the latter no doubt helps "sell" the prosthetics and stunts). The animated sequences are heavily desaturated, almost to the point of sepia-toned black-and-white.

Magnolia's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray does a good job of presenting these disparate sources, with ample detail (if the source provides it, which isn't always the case), solid blacks, brightly saturated colors where appropriate, and an absence of noise, interference or artifacts. None of these shorts was produced on a lavish budget, but the digital photography makes the most of what was available. Magnolia has mastered XX with an average bitrate of 21 Mbps, which is somewhat on the low side, especially for Magnolia releases, but the encode appears to be capable.

XX Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For a low-budget independent film, XX has remarkably effective and sophisticated sound editing. Encoded on Blu-ray in lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1, the soundtrack routinely uses rear-channel effects to create a creepy atmosphere. It starts with the opening animation, in which moths flutter around the animated dollhouse, the sound of their flapping wings dodging in and out of the surrounds. The panting of an unseen dog off-screen, or insistent telephone rings in adjacent offices, are among the effects that both create an environment and keep the viewer looking over one's shoulder. The segments all have different composers (including director Annie Clark, who scored "The Birthday Party" under her performing name of "St. Vincent"), and they all use the time-honored horror device of sudden, loud bursts of notes for shock effects. The score for "Don't Fall" by the L.A. duo known as The Gifted (Southbound) makes effective use of a dissonant orchestral crescendo reminiscent of the Beatles' "A Day in the Life". Despite all this activity, the dialogue remains intelligible and correctly localized.

XX Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Nearly all of these extras contain spoilers and should not be viewed until after watching the main feature.

• Making of The Box (1080p; 1.78:1; 14:39): This featurette also serves as a history of the entire XX project. It includes interviews with producer Tod Brown, director Jovanka Vuckovic, and most of the cast, including child actors Peyton Kennedy and Peter DaCunha.



• XX Set Visit in 360: Behind the Scenes Look at The Birthday Party (1080p; 1.78:1; 1:41): Several trivia "balloons" are superimposed over the panoramic photography.



• The Birthday Party Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery (1080p; various; 11:19).



• Don't Fall Stunts & Special FX (1080p; 1.78:1; 4:49): Safety cables and prosthetics.



• Behind the Scenes of Her Only Living Son (1080p; 1.78:1; 3:22): This is a true "behind the scenes" compilation of production footage, accompanied solely by music and with no narration.



• Interview with Directors Jovanka Vuckovic (The Box) and Karyn Kusama (Her Only Living Son) (1080p; 1.78:1; 7:37): Among other topics, the directors discuss their major influences.



• Interview with Directors Roxanne Benjamin (Don't Fall) and Annie Clarke (The Birthday Party) (1080p; 1.78:1; 5:05): Among other topics, the directors discuss the inspiration for their individual segments. They also describe their collaboration on Clarke's segment, which was co-written and produced by Benjamin.



• Interview with Director Sofia Carrillo (XX Credit Sequence / Animation Interstitials) (1080p; 1.78:1; 6:46): The animator describes the challenges of creating XX's living dollhouse.



• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2.39:1; 1:32): "Four Deadly Tales . . . Directed by Four Killer Women".



• Also from Magnolia Home Entertainment: Trailers for The Eyes of My Mother, Officer Downe and Detour, plus the usual promos for the Charity Network and AXS TV. These also play at startup.



• BD-Live: As of this writing, selecting this option produces the message "Check back later for updates".

XX Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Each tale in XX has its strengths and flaws, but anthology films are like cereal "variety packs", offering viewers the opportunity to take what they like and leave the rest. Of the four installments in this anthology, I would rank "The Box" first, followed by "The Birthday Party" as a close second. Others will no doubt rate them differently, but I suspect most will find it hard to look away from the haunting animated scenes linking the four segments. Magnolia's presentation is technically solid and recommended.