Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for MaXXXine (2024)
Summary
WhileMaXXXineincludes a lot of nods to its predecessorsXandPearl, director Ti West’s ‘80s-set slasher also features a plethora of references to famous movies, people, and pieces of Hollywood and horror history.Pearl’s iconic endingwas always going to be a tough act to follow, but Ti West’s follow-up to 2022’s psychological horror is a fitting end to the trilogy that began with 2022’sX. WhileXwas a ‘70s-set homage toThe Texas Chain Saw MassacreandPearlwas a Technicolor nightmare that subverted the Golden Age of Hollywood,MaXXXineis firmly an ‘80s slasher.
Everything fromMaXXXine’s neon-drenched visuals to its synth-pop soundtrack screams the 1980s.MaXXXine’s clever twist endingeven incorporates a nod to the decade’s infamous Satanic panic, and frequent nods to the Night Stalker’s crime spree definitively plant the movie in 1985. However, this setting isn’t just an excuse for some aesthetic nostalgia.MaXXXine’s plot takes the ingredients of ‘80s slasher movies, adds in references from throughout Hollywood’s long history, and uses the resulting stew to comment on pop culture, the ethics of entertainment, and the dark side of the movie industry. This is underlined byMaXXXine’s many easter eggs.
Does MaXXXine Have A Post-Credits Scene?
Audiences stepping into MaXXXine might be wondering if there’s a post-credits scene to the horror film, and if it’s worth staying through the credits.
11Theda Bara’s Career
Maxine Walks On Theda Bara’s Walk of Fame Star
One ofMaXXXine’s earliest nods to Hollywood history comes when the titular heroine walks over actor Theda Bara’s star on the Walk of Fame. Bara was a silent film star who gained a reputation as one of Hollywood’s first “Vamps.” Bara played dark, alluring sex symbols in the 1910s and 1920s, and her 1917 movieCleopatraplays on a marquee in one ofPearl’s many Easter eggs. Bara’s status as a screen legend whose characters used their sexual prowess to dominate men and gain power is ironically mirrored in both Maxine and Pearl’s storylines inXAndPearl.
Pearl’s pet alligator, who ate Mitsy’s body inPearland killed Bobby-Lynn inX, was named Theda after the legendary Silent Era actor
To make the connection between the actor and Goth’s two characters clearer,PearlandXboth referenced Theda Bara beforeMaXXXine. Pearl’s pet alligator, who ate Mitsy’s body inPearland killed Bobby-Lynn inX, was named Theda after the legendary Silent Era actor. Since there was no love lost betweenX’s bitter elderly version of Pearl and its ambitious heroine Maxine, it makes sense that Maxine stomps out a cigarette on Bara’s Walk of Fame star. This throwaway gesture builds on the references to the actor in bothXandPearlas the following scene reveals Maxine’s dark side.
10Buster Keaton
Maxine’s Would-Be Assailant Is Dressed As Buster Keaton
Shortly after stamping out her cigarette, Maxine wanders down a dark alley alone. She is soon pursued by a knife-wielding creep dressed as the Silent Era star Buster Keaton. A legendary actor and stuntman best known forThe GeneralandSherlock Jr., Keaton is one of the most enduringly iconic actors from the Silent Era. Keaton also directed many of his most notable movies, shaping the landscape of film comedy in its early years. The mugger’s costume is turned into an appropriately funny visual pun when Maxine pulls out a gun and shouts “Hold it right there, Buster.”
The sequence that follows isone ofMaXXXine’s most brutal momentsas Maxine forces her would-be assailant to strip nude, makes him suck on a gun barrel, and then graphically crushes his privates. There is an obvious pun on the name “Buster” here, but the sequence more broadly highlightsMaXXXine’s investment in borrowing from various ages of film history. Buster’s gruesome fate is a grimly funny instance of Maxine turning the tables and, like Keaton’s best movies, offers audience members truly jaw-dropping visuals that they are unlikely to forget anytime soon.
In visual terms, the killer’s outfit is an overt reference to Giallo movies and, more specifically, director Dario Argento’sThe Bird With the Crystal Plumage.
9The Bird With the Crystal Plumage
MaXXXine’s Gloved Killer Resembles Argento’s Giallo Villain
One of the most notable recurring visual motifs inMaXXXineis the killer’s distinct attire. The unseen villain wears a trench coat and a pair of long black leather gloves that effectively hide their identity until the finale’s big reveal. In terms of plot,MaXXXineimplies the Night Stalker, a real-life serial killer, might be its villain before the twist. However, in visual terms, the killer’s outfit is an overt reference to Giallo movies and, more specifically, director Dario Argento’sThe Bird With the Crystal Plumage. This influential proto-slasher features a killer who dresses almost identically.
8Psycho
Maxine Visits The Bates Motel Set
While there is a deluge of movie references featured throughoutMaXXXine, only a few of them are acknowledged by the characters themselves in-universe. One such moment is Maxine’s visit to the set ofPsycho.The Puritan II’s director takes Maxine to the set to reaffirm the importance of her artistic vision, but Maxine ends up distracted by a hallucination ofX’s villain Pearl. This doubles as a nod toX’s horror movie reference, as Maxine’s first sight of Pearl resembles a shot ofPsycho’s infamous “Mother” in the earlier slasher.
While at work, Maxine’s doomed roommate, Leon, watches a killer crocodile movie.
7Killer Crocodile Movies
Leon’s Choice of Viewing Material References Both X And Pearl
While at work, Maxine’s doomed roommate, Leon, watches a killer crocodile movie. It’s not immediately clear what movie he is watching, although it could be 1979’sThe Great Alligator Riveror 1976’sEaten Alive. Although 1980’sAlligatorwould be more appropriate, that movie’s atypically urban setting is nowhere to be seen. Regardless, the sequence clearly resembles Bobby Lynn’s death inX. Since Theda the alligator also appears inPearl, it is fair to say that this reference doubles up as a nod to both earlier movies in the trilogy.
6The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
A Newspaper Headline Reports On The Texas ****star Massacre”
By including a brief clip that could be fromThe Texas Chain Saw Massacredirector Tobe Hooper’sEaten Alive, West subtly acknowledgedX’s creative debt to the horror legend.MaXXXinethen makes this debt much more blatant when a newspaper headline refers toX’s killings as “The Texas ****star Massacre.” This highlights just how much the movie borrowed fromThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre, from its remote setting to its lone female survivor to the framing of its opening scene. The headline also doubles as a parody of the tasteless ways that the media scare-mongered in the ‘80s.
5St. Elmo’s Fire
This Brat Pack Drama Is Frequently Referenced In MaXXXine
Although many ofMaXXXine’s most prominent movie references focus on other horror movies, West’s slasher also features nods to more mainstream fare. For example, the 1985 Brat Pack dramaSt. Elmo’s Fireis referenced numerous times. This plants the movie’s timeline firmly in 1985 as Maxine walks under a marquee advertising the movie and later hears its hit theme song on the radio. Despite being released the same year as the high school dramaThe Breakfast Club,St. Elmo’s Firesaw the Brat Pack’s biggest stars play disillusioned graduates who were unhappy with the trajectory of their post-college lives.
4The Crucible
The Puritan Looks Like A Grisly Adaptation Of This Iconic Story
Everymovie in West’sXtrilogyhas something to say about Evangelical Christianity, the Protestant work ethic, and their relationship with the American entertainment industry. However,MaXXXine’s fictional movieThe Puritan IImight be the director’s most obvious nod to this theme. This movie-within-a-movie stars Maxine as a stereotypical ‘50s housewife possessed by a vengeful witch. It seems to be influenced byThe Stepford Wives, but the glimpse viewers get of its predecessorThe Puritanis explicitly indebted to Arthur Miller’s legendary playThe Crucible. This iconic play used the Salem Witch Trials to indict McCarthyism and was adapted to film in 1996.
3Halloween, Prom Night, and Terror Train
Leon Mentions Jamie Lee Curtis’s Start In Horror Movies
When Maxine presses Leon to name three movie stars who got their start in the ignominious horror genre, he begins with Jamie Lee Curtis. Curtis starred in 1978’sHalloween, 1980’sProm Night, and the same year’sTerror Trainin rapid succession, and these three movies were the hits that made her a star before she transitioned into more high-profile roles. Ironically, whileMaXXXine’s Night Stalker subplotgives the movie the atmosphere of a more conventional slasher, the noir-tinged final movie in West’s trilogy doesn’t owe as much to the structure of these classic slashers asXdid.
2Alice Sweet Alice
Maxine And Leon’s Conversation Has Some Dark Foreshadowing
WhereXfollowed a classic slasher setup with its isolated location, small cast, and short time frame,MaXXXineowes more to the Giallo sub-genre. Its story blends elements of detective fiction with gory slasher horror like this sub-genre of Italian horror, which explains why Leon and Maxine also mention Brooke Shields in their conversation. Shields got her start in horror movies with an early role was in 1976’s rare American GialloAlice Sweet Alice. LikeMaXXXine,Alice Sweet Alicefollows the story of a young girl who is framed for a series of brutal murders by a religious fanatic.
MaXXXineis the second slasher movie about an aspiring actor to use the song “Bette Davis Eyes” in its moving ending.
