Hmmm - I didn't really get what all the fuss is about with this. A group of folks rent a house on the farm of an elderly couple. They arrive and settle down to make their porn film. Director "RJ" (Owen Campbell) isn't happy when his girlfriend "Lorraine" (Jenna Ortega) wants to join in and determines to skedaddle in the middle of the night. Suffice to say, he doesn't quite manage and next thing the whole load of them are in peril of their lives. This contains one of the daftest old age sex scenes I have ever seen, but that is all I found even vaguely memorable about this rather derivative film. Sure, it's got an hungry alligator but the ending is weak, and the characters just parodied everything crass from the tacky late 1970s adult entertainment industry in a really flat, sterile, fashion. Takes too long to get going, and certainly does not need to be seen on a big screen. More V than X, I'd say.

Certainly a messed up horror-thriller, this had its moments but I'm not sure how much replay power it has. However the acting was fairly good, particularly Mia Goth and the premise itself was fun. **3.5/5**

Finally, a new quality original slasher! What a refreshing entry into the modern-day horror genre. So many movies are either plagued with remakes or supernatural elements, it is so nice to see a back to bones hack and slash. This movie does way more than that though, deep down there is a very heart touching story about growing old and becoming irrelevant. It is so interesting to be so emotionally connected to the killer but yet disturbed by the actions they take as well. I just cannot get over how good this movie is! The gore, the setup, the dialogue, the plot, everything about it I dug. Extremely excited to see what Pearl has to offer later this month. **Score:** _93%_ | **Verdict:** _Masterpiece_

<em>'X'</em>... I didn't see that coming! Admittedly, I practically came in fully blind, but still. It's not only an impressively stylish movie, it's an absolutely wild ride from beginning to completion. A fantastic horror slasher, it's brought to life superbly on and 'off' screen. Mia Goth brings an excellent performance, that one scream fails to escape my memory... co-star Jenna Ortega matches her in that department though, perhaps even surpasses. I've known Goth by name for a while, but this is the first movie of hers that I've logged. Ortega herself is very good too, as are all of the others in this 2022 release. Brittany Snow does well, is it just me (probably) that sees a facial resemblance to Christine Lakin? (shoutout anyone who watched <em>'Internet Icon'</em> featuring her back in the day). Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi, that <i>one</i> shot is a madness btw 😂 *insert Rowley Jefferson gif here*). Martin Henderson, Owen Campbell and Stephen Ure play their part too. The deaths are awesome - super well done. The one with the secondary eye pop edit got me squeamish; the editing is top tier. Just looked up the filming locations for this... New Zealand?! I was totally convinced that the farm was the same one used for <em>'The Walking Dead'</em>. Aside from a few differences, the house and barn match my (admittedly fading) memory of Hershel's digs. Clearly not! Lastly, I did not even realise, until looking at the Wikipedia article in fact, that Goth played Pearl as well... crazy prosthetics! That does make the eponymous follow-up's cover make a lot more sense (given I knew it was a prequel), I was questioning that until this very moment.