A B-movie with A-movie ideas.
When the trilogy concludes this Fourth of July weekend, it will even count Martin Scorsese among its admirers.
Its also an unenviable amount of pressure placed on its lead character, the newly rechristened Maxine Minx.
As Maxines big break arrives, however, so too does a seeming blackmailer whose face she never sees.
From its setup alone,MaXXXineis obviously a much more elaborate film than eitherXorPearl.
Both of those pictures were shot on the same Texan (read: New Zealand) farm.
The 43-year-old West exudes copious amounts of nostalgia, too, while recreating the look of 80s Hollywood.
Which is to say its notably far more of a cesspit than a film set in 1969.
Instead West is chasing a style of genre filmmaking thats gone out of vogue.
But its part and parcel for a love of a time and place that extends even beyond simply horror.
Despite its gargantuan scope,MaXXXineis probably the thematically thinnest of the three films.
Its the sequence where an also superb Debicki is auditioning the lowly porn star for a scream queen role.
MaXXXine is in theaters on Friday, July 5.
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Rating:
4 out of 5
