Five Movies To See After 'X'
Ti West’s new horror film, X, released this weekend in theaters and, while it didn’t make a killing at the box office ($4.4 million opening weekend), it slayed with critics, sporting an impressive 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. X is old school in look and feel, building up to a violent back half of the film while offering titillation in the first half. West goes down the path of many before him of pairing sex and violence in horror and throws in his own homage to 70s sleaze and exploitation for good measure. So here are a few movies you might want to check out after having seen X:
1. Ready or Not (2019) – Amazon, AppleTV+, Vudu (Rentals)
Samara Weaving’s Grace discovers on her wedding night that she has married into a family that has a unique, wedding night tradition that can be deadly and she must manage to survive until dawn. This one is much more in the vein of comedic horror and with a supernatural element to it. It lacks the slow build of X as it pretty quickly gets into the action, but the “final girl fights back” element is strong in this one.
2. It Follows (2015) – Netflix
Jay (Maika Monroe) discovers after having sex with someone that something supernatural and unstoppable is now pursuing her. The only way for her to escape this entity is essentially for her to “pass it on” to someone else, and for them to pass it on, and so on and so forth. With this supernatural STD on a mission like the Terminator, the link between sex and violence in horror has rarely been so plainly stated. It also creates an unrelenting, brooding pace and a constant sense of dread and scanning the background.
3. The House of the Devil (2009) – Peacock, Vudu, Tubi, Redbox, Plex, IMDb TV (All with Ads)
Ti West’s first real breakthrough horror film was back in 2009 about a babysitter taking an odd job on a lunar eclipse and it slowly turns into a night from hell. The movie is set in the early 80s and does a phenomenal job of recreating the look and feel of a horror movie from the 1980s, right down to the music and opening credits. Another slow burn of a movie that builds to its horrific ending.
4. Audition (1999) – Tubi, Kanopy, Dark Matter
Ok, this one might give you nightmares. This Japanese film from director Takashi Miike starts out as one movie and slowly descends into another movie altogether. A widower sets up a fake movie audition actually looking to find a future wife from the whole ordeal. The woman he settles on, Asami, ends up being a wolf in sheep’s clothing, with ever-increasing hints that something is not right and this man has no idea what he has gotten himself into. Do not mess with a woman’s heart.
5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) – Tubi (Ads), IMDb TV (Ads), Showtime, AMC+, Shudder
One of the OG slasher flicks, Tobe Hooper’s horror classic still holds up nearly 50 years later in just how messed up it really is. Few movies have ever felt and looked as grimy and gritty as this movie. The appearance of Leatherface, and by that, I mean his arrival on screen and not just his visage, is unforgettable. It is never a good idea to go to a remote farm in Texas. Ever.
Ken Jones, Chief Film Critic