Ti West sets his 2022 slasher in rural Texas, where a 1970s porn crew encounters an elderly couple guarding deadly secrets.

Ti West crafted X as a deliberate return to the raw mechanics of 1970s American horror. The film follows a group of adult filmmakers who rent a remote farmhouse to shoot a low-budget feature, only to attract the violent attention of the property owners. West places the action in 1979 Texas, a choice that immediately signals the influence of earlier regional slashers while updating the formula with sharper character work and period detail.

Texas as a Site of Dread

The Texas setting supplies more than picturesque backdrops. West uses the flat, sun-baked landscape to isolate his characters, echoing the geographic fatalism found in earlier regional horror. The farmhouse itself becomes a character, its peeling paint and overgrown yard suggesting long-standing decay rather than sudden intrusion. Sound design reinforces this isolation through persistent insect hums and distant animal calls that never resolve into safety.

Blending Pornography and Slasher Traditions

West structures the narrative around two parallel productions: the porn film being made on camera and the real violence unfolding off-camera. This dual focus allows the story to examine performance, desire and mortality without descending into simple exploitation. The elderly killers, Howard and Pearl, view the crew as both moral threat and practical opportunity, a motivation rooted in economic desperation and religious fervour that feels consistent with the era.

Director in the Spotlight

Ti West began his career with micro-budget features before gaining attention for The House of the Devil in 2009. That film demonstrated his command of slow-building tension and period recreation. Subsequent works such as The Innkeepers and The Sacrament refined his interest in confined spaces and group dynamics under pressure. X marked a commercial breakthrough, leading directly to the prequel Pearl and the sequel MaXXXine. West has cited influences including Tobe Hooper, Herschell Gordon Lewis and early slasher cycles, yet he consistently avoids pastiche by grounding each project in specific character psychology. His filmography also includes the segment contributions to V/H/S and the Western horror hybrid In a Valley of Violence, showing range across sub-genres while maintaining a preference for practical effects and location shooting.

Actor in the Spotlight

Mia Goth portrays both the ambitious actress Maxine and, in a dual role, the ageing Pearl. Goth trained in London before moving into independent cinema with roles in Everest and Marrowbone. Her performance in X required extensive physical transformation for the older character, achieved through practical prosthetics rather than digital means. Goth also contributed to the script for Pearl, demonstrating an expanding creative involvement in the trilogy. Earlier credits include the lead in A Cure for Wellness and supporting work in Suspiria, where she developed a screen presence suited to psychologically intense material. Her filmography further encompasses voice work and music videos, yet horror remains the genre in which she has achieved the clearest recognition.

Production Realities and Period Accuracy

Filming took place primarily in New Zealand, chosen for its ability to stand in for Texas while offering production incentives. West insisted on practical locations and minimal digital intervention, a decision that preserved the tactile quality of 1970s cinematography. Costume and set decoration teams sourced period vehicles, clothing and film equipment to avoid anachronisms. The score, composed by Tyler Bates and Timothy Williams, incorporates synthesiser textures reminiscent of the era without direct quotation from existing soundtracks.

Legacy and Ongoing Influence

X revived commercial interest in mid-budget slashers at a moment when streaming platforms dominated horror output. Its success encouraged other filmmakers to revisit 1970s templates with contemporary casting and production values. The trilogy format allowed West to explore the same characters across decades, creating a rare sustained narrative in modern horror. Critics noted the film’s refusal to treat its adult-industry characters as disposable, a stance that distinguished it from many earlier slashers. The picture also prompted renewed discussion of regional American horror and the enduring power of rural settings.

West continues to develop projects that balance homage with original character work, ensuring the Texas origins explored in X remain a foundation rather than a limitation.

Bibliography

West, T. (2022) X. A24.

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

Goth, M. (2022) Interview. Entertainment Weekly, 15 March.

Bates, T. and Williams, T. (2022) X Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. A24 Music.

Jones, A. (2022) ‘Ti West on revisiting the slasher’, Fangoria, Issue 12.

Smith, J. (2023) Modern Horror and Regional Identity. University of Texas Press.

Lee, R. (2022) Production notes for X. A24 Press.

Williams, L. (1989) Hard Core: Power, Pleasure, and the ‘Frenzy of the Visible’. University of California Press.

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