Ti West takes Mia Goth to the dazzling 80’s, where another killer awaits, in this apparent conclusion to the X franchise.

What started with a simple story of a porn shoot in a barn that resulted in diabolical murder with a vicious crocodile bite,  Ti West ends his unique X story-line with a starry cast, a glimpse of the Bates Motel and a sizzling 80s soundtrack, but with so much promise, why does MaXXXine feel like she has wasted her potential?

There is nothing wrong with the cast.  Goth once more is such a captivating watch that she carries the whole weight of the picture on her shoulders and with some heavy A listers as background characters, this third and possibly final entry feels like the most polished and confident of them all, but the storyline is the biggest let-down. 

Yes it’s great to see Maxine go all fists angry on Kevin Bacon‘s sleazy Private Eye and more so when they have battle of wits outside the infamous Bates Motel, but apart from such great visuals and West builds a wonderful nasty 80s world, which dips the viewer right in the middle of this grainy, nasty era, but there just feels a genuine lack of thrills and mayhem, especially with a serial killer called The Night Stalker, a dressed Buston Keaton/ Jack the Ripper bogeyman who is terrifying the big city.

So, not to confuse fans, while PEARL served as a prequel, a 1918 setting which was a homage to the Technicolor era of Hollywood with Goth as the title character, showing us how the killer of X started her thirst of blood and carnage, here Goth returns as the character of the final girl in that film – if you didn’t know she played both the elderly lady and Maxine, in which in this now the sequel to X – caught up? – the survivor of that farm bloodbath is still haunted by the events of 1979 as suggested thanks to a great scene when we see the ghost of Pearl herself looking down from the window of that PSYCHO setting in which like Norman Bates, Maxine simply can’t run from the past.

Trying to move away from the Porn industry, she tries her luck in the horror genre and catches the eye of film director Elizabeth Bender, played here with relish and fun by the impressive Elizabeth Debicki who casts her in the horror sequel “The Puritan II,” a full on B-movie horror flick but as the ambitious director states ” a movie with A ideas”. Maxine’s drive to be the best actress around and for everyone to know her name, is what makes her such a compelling watch, this is Goth’s world and she is fully embracing it.

Its a shame that the plot doesn’t quite match what’s on show. The movie is dipped in the blue-print of an 80’s Brian De Palma thriller and even the killer soundtrack never makes MaXXXine feel like bore, but you can’t help feeling that there is something missing, a vicious bite to go with the imagery. West as always impresses with some directing wizardry, a scene where Maxine is drenched in goo and looks like Pearl is a great set-piece and much like his earlier work, he can create a long gone era fantastically on screen.

But with a slasher movie, set as the background, you never feel threatened or even taste the danger that lurks behind the neon lights. The cast gives it their all, coke-fuelled scenes aplenty, but as we race towards the climatic reveals, it becomes more of a “is that it?” than the hopeful “down and dirty” the film through-out suggests and teases.

MaXXXine for all her best intentions becomes nothing more like the Bates Motel setting on show, all style on the outside, but nothing but an empty shell on the inside and after being spoiled with the first two films in this trilogy, you can not help but end up much like Pearl herself way back in X, watching the frolics of a younger generation in that barn, you want it – you need it – but all you can do is watch and feel a tad frustration that you simply, can’t join in the fun!

Rating: ★★★☆☆