Ti West’s 2022 film captures the unpolished intensity of 1970s exploitation pictures through its Texas setting, explicit content and raw visual approach.

The 1970s grindhouse circuit thrived on low-budget features that blended sex, violence and regional American settings. X revives that formula by placing its story in 1979 rural Texas, where a small crew attempts to shoot an adult film. The narrative structure, practical effects and period details echo the directness of earlier slashers without modern polish or ironic distance.

Grindhouse Roots in Structure and Tone

Grindhouse films often opened with immediate immersion into their world rather than extended setup. X follows this pattern by introducing the elderly couple and the isolated farmhouse early. The decision to intercut the porn shoot with the violence that follows mirrors the dual appeal of sex and death that defined many drive-in double bills.

Sound design plays a key role in this revival. The score incorporates synth textures reminiscent of 1970s regional horror while allowing ambient farm noises to dominate long stretches. Dialogue remains sparse during attack sequences, forcing the audience to focus on physical movement and practical blood work. This restraint recalls the approach in films such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, where mechanical sounds carried equal weight to spoken lines.

Period Detail and Visual Texture

Production design recreates late-1970s details with precision, from the crew’s equipment to the farmhouse interiors. The 16mm footage within the story adds another layer of grain and colour shift that aligns with grindhouse aesthetics. Cinematographer Eliot Rockett employs natural light sources and limited coverage, producing compositions that feel captured rather than staged.

Costume and makeup choices further the connection. The elderly characters wear clothing that reflects everyday rural wear of the era, while the younger performers adopt styles drawn from contemporary adult magazines. These elements ground the horror in a specific cultural moment without relying on overt exposition.

Director in the Spotlight

Ti West began his feature career with The Roost in 2005, a low-budget vampire film that already displayed interest in 1970s genre conventions. Subsequent works such as Trigger Man and House of the Devil continued this pattern, favouring slow-burn tension and analogue textures over contemporary digital effects. West’s filmography includes The Sacrament, a found-footage piece inspired by real events, and the horror anthology segment in V/H/S. His approach consistently prioritises atmosphere and practical craft.

West has cited directors such as Tobe Hooper and Wes Craven as formative influences. This lineage appears in X through the emphasis on isolated locations and sudden bursts of violence. His collaboration with producers at A24 allowed greater resources while preserving the independent sensibility that marked his earlier features. The result is a film that sits between studio horror and regional exploitation without fully belonging to either category.

Actor in the Spotlight

Mia Goth delivers dual performances as the ambitious actress Maxine and the elderly Pearl. Goth trained in dance before moving into acting, appearing in films such as Nymphomaniac and Suspiria prior to X. Her work in the latter demonstrates precise physical transformation through posture, voice and movement rather than heavy prosthetics alone.

Goth’s filmography also includes High Life and The Survivalist, roles that required sustained intensity within confined settings. In X she balances the youthful determination of Maxine with the repressed fury of Pearl, creating a thematic link between desire and violence that drives the narrative. Her continued involvement in the related projects Pearl and MaXXXine extends this exploration across multiple decades of genre history.

Thematic Concerns and Cultural Placement

X examines the collision between youthful ambition and generational resentment. The elderly couple’s actions stem from a lifetime of denied pleasure, while the film crew pursues commercial success through explicit content. This tension reflects broader 1970s anxieties about changing sexual mores and the commercialisation of the counterculture.

The film avoids overt moralising. Instead it presents both perspectives through action and consequence. The practical effects sequences underscore the physical cost of these conflicts, maintaining the grindhouse tradition of showing rather than suggesting violence. Sub-genre placement falls between slasher and erotic thriller, with clear debts to earlier titles such as The Toolbox Murders and Torso.

Production Realities and Technical Execution

Filming occurred primarily on a working farm in New Zealand, chosen for its visual similarity to rural Texas. The production adhered to strict COVID protocols while constructing interior sets that matched the required period. Practical effects supervisor Josh Russell handled the majority of gore work on set, avoiding heavy post-production digital intervention.

Editing by Ti West and David Kashevaroff maintains a deliberate pace that accelerates only during key confrontations. This rhythm allows tension to build through repetition of daily routines on the farm before releasing it in short, brutal bursts. The approach mirrors the economical storytelling common in 1970s regional productions operating under tight schedules and limited resources.

Legacy and Ongoing Influence

X has prompted renewed interest in lesser-known 1970s titles among newer audiences. Its success demonstrates that grindhouse aesthetics retain commercial viability when paired with contemporary production values and strong performances. The film sits alongside recent works such as Thanksgiving and In a Violent Nature in a broader movement to revisit slasher traditions without parody.

Future horror filmmakers continue to reference its blend of period recreation and explicit content. The decision to expand the universe through prequel and sequel demonstrates confidence in the core premise. X proves that the grindhouse impulse, when executed with care, still resonates decades after the original circuit closed.

Bibliography

West, T. (2022) X. A24.

Rockett, E. (2022) ‘Shooting X on 16mm and digital’, American Cinematographer, May.

Hooper, T. (1974) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Vortex.

Goth, M. (2022) Interviewed by Entertainment Weekly, 15 March.

Craven, W. (1972) The Last House on the Left. Sean S. Cunningham Films.

A24 (2022) Production notes for X. New York: A24.

Russell, J. (2022) ‘Practical effects in X‘, Fangoria, Issue 12.

West, T. (2021) Commentary track on House of the Devil Blu-ray. Magnolia Home Entertainment.

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