X - A Marca da Morte

Zero expectations or knowledge about this movie when I turned this one on. I knew it was a horror movie and that was it. Watching it, I could feel the love that the creators had for the old age of horror movies, the era of slashers and all the things that Scream once dissected and made light of, an age of horror movie rules where you expect sex to equal death and the final girl to surmount all odds and take on the horrible entity terrorizing them.

The idea of this movie seems like something I should have really enjoyed. The reality of it was more underwhelming. I never found myself connecting to the characters, so when things start to go awry, I had no investment in their existence. They were just red shirts in a horror movie. I expected them to die and most of them met that expectation. It was fine. It never really tipped the scales into love, never into hate, it lingered in the realm of quiet acceptance of what was going on, a positive tolerance that never reached proper enjoyment.

I liked it. It's a nice old-fashioned (flawlessly 70's styled) slasher horror-flick, with a fairly original premise. As in any comparable horror movie the motives for the killings are pretty farfetched, but who cares, when they are pictured so relentlessley gruesome, the gore here is definitely not for the tender-hearted. Another strong point is how the movie very gradually builds up the tension, this is a real slow burner, the apprehension of looming doom is palpable throughout the movie. This is helped by a strong direction, a very clever and inventive editing, and some great photography, see for instance the scene of one of the girls swimming in the lake, while... well, I won't give it away, but it's beautiful and hair-raisingly scary at the same time!

Add to all this some very funny dialogues and goings-on at the start, and you're in for a well made, old-school horror flick, maybe not life-changing but absolutely entertaining for those who can apprciate this kind of movie (like me!).

An interesting slow burn, but without enough to make it stand against the countless other slasher films, X is a fine film and another tribute to the iconic genre that made horror so popular in the first place. Granted, I do enjoy myself a slasher film from time to time- I'm quite fond of films like Nightmare on Elm Street and My Bloody Valentine, but where X faults among the others is through using a rather familiar formula without any true unique purpose. Throughout the film the characters often talk about an X factor, something that makes Mia Goth's character special and starworthy- but unlike its mentionings- this film just doesn't have that. The acting is really good, I love the underrated Mia Goth as always- as well as Brittany Snow, Martin Henderson, and even Kid Cudi did a rather impressive job. The cinematography is fantastic and perfectly fits the amitpshere and tone the film is going for. The music is enjoyable and tense, and its pacing can be a bit slow at times, but does allow for an interesting point of view. Its main problem lies solely in its script, which revolves largely around a smut film production- but takes too many elements and formulaic tendencies from other horror films like Evil Dead, Friday the 13th, The Visit and most obviously Texas Chainsaw Massacre to really stand out on its own and become its own thing. In the end, its not a bad watch, I wouldn't watch it again, but I certainly didn't mind watching it. It isn't the most memorable, but I certainly don't have any disdain for it. It just could have been more, especially given the talent involved, but ironically it settled for less.

My Rating: 5.8/10.

Not really a jump scare sort of deal and like if you read the little description about the movie it has all the spoilers in it already.

First point, I thought it was really funny when kid Cudi was standing in the door frame and you could only see his shadow

Secondly For a movie about making a porno, there were adequate number boobs shown.

And the prosthetics used to make the main actor look older we're great. In all worth a watch like most things above 5 stars

Little note to IMDB -Not only do I not want to write a 500 word essay I also would not like reading other peoples 500 word essays. Make it like 200 easy.

I didn't know what to expect going into this movie. Some reviews said it was porn with some horror, some said it was a slasher B movie. Some said decent acting and a good gore fest.

It was all of the above, though I'd say less porn, there are some nude/sex scenes but they're really not the heart of the movie. The gore is well done, the acting is very good I think, and the overall slasher aspect is reasonable, though it could have been a little more creative.

Saying all of that none of it is what I'll remember this movie for. What really struck me in this movie was the portrayal of age and how it affects people and their relationships, I actually felt really sad for some of the characters in this movie, and that isn't usually how I'd expect to feel watching a slasher. It really did feel like the writers, directors,. And actors were trying to remind us of something whilst also making a decent slasher. I think it's to value our youth, and our lives as much as we can. I don't want to say much more as I don't want to spoil the movie. Needless to say if you're looking for a decent movie to check out I'd recommend giving this a go. It will entertain you and also make you think a little about the problems others have.