X (Lionsgate) Blu-ray Review

X is an original horror film from writer/director Ti West, who gave us House of the Devil and The Innkeepers. Is the film worth the time or is it a slow burn bore?

Studio: Lionsgate
Release Date: March 18th, 2022 (theatrical) / May 24th, 2022 (blu-ray)
Run Time: 1 hour 46 minutes 20 seconds
Region Code: A (locked)
Picture: 1080p (1.90:1 aspect ratio)
Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish
Slipcover: Yes
Digital Copy: Yes (VUDU)
Starring: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow, Kid Cudi, Martin Henderson
Written by Ti West
Directed by Ti West
Rating: R (strong bloody violence and gore, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use, and language)

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Poster

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What's It About?

Set in 1979, adult movie actors and a small film crew arrive to a farmhouse occupied by an elderly couple in the desolate Texas countryside to film an adult movie. As the day shifts to night, the visitors slowly realize that they are not safe, and are being targeted by a nearby enemy.

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Film Review

X is a slow-burn slasher film from Ti West. The film has a TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE vibe, which is very intentional. The film is deliberately paced and gives us a foreboding feel from the get-go. The film didn't do all that well at the box office, grossing under $12 million in total, but those who have seen it seem to love it. I liked it but I didn't love it. I didn't know what to expect going into the film and I was surprised by some of the events in the film. I was also kind of bored too. Like STUDIO 666 and AMBULANCE before it, X feels longer than it needs to be. I get the slower pace is to build tension, but you shouldn't be putting your audience to sleep. It takes almost an hour before anything of consequence happens. West could have cut some of the stuff from the first hour to get the film moving. Once the killing starts, the film does pick up, but I suspect that a lot of viewers have tuned out by then. The film is well made and the acting is really great. The pacing hurts the film in the long run.

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Video/Audio

West usually shoots his film on film, but here he shoots digitally. He did this because he shot the film during the pandemic, in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand, and didn't have the resources the shoot on film. Watching the film, I was kind of surprised this wasn't shot on film because it looks like it was. West really knows how to get everything he can out of the format. The film is very brown and this transfer captures that well. Skin tones and colors are sharp and detail is high. The film is also dark but nothing gets lost in this darkness that isn't supposed to.

The 5.1 track is very nice as well. Dialogue is crisp and clear and the jump scares really get you jumping.

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Extras/Packaging

That X Factor (11m 37s, HD, 1.78:1)

The Famer's Daughter (4m 56s, HD, 1.33:1) Scenes from the film being shot.

Pearl Make-Up Timelapse (1m 33s, HD, 1.78:1)

Also from A24 (7m 29s, HD):

Everything Everywhere All at Once

After Yang

The Green Knight

I am saddened by this special features package. West has given pretty good commentary tracks before, so why isn't there one on this disc? Also, why is there a standard EPK style featurette here when there could have been more? What we have here is standard with nothing warranting a second watch.

Packaging-wise, we have a nice slipcover featuring one of the posters used for the film. There is some embossing on the giant X that takes up most of the cover. The blu-ray case features the same artwork. The disc art for the two discs (blu-ray and DVD) is very plain with the title of the film and studio logos. The blu-ray has a blue color to the artwork while the DVD is white. There is a digital copy slip inside that can be redeemed at VUDU.

The blu-ray disc is REGION A (locked) and the DVD is REGION 1.

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Overall

X is an interesting film, if nothing else. It takes what we know about slasher films and tries to do something different with it. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it is really cool. The blu-ray features great picture and sound, but the lack of any good special features hurts this release. This could have been a contender for best release of the year, but Lionsgate and A24 really dropped the ball in terms of features.

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Extras/Menus