Maxxxine is the final neon-soaked chapter of Ti West's trilogy, blending genres influenced by their respective decades. Gabe talks about how sexuality is explored in Ti West's trilogy and gives us a film history lesson on video nasties. Kat talks about the 1980s Satanic Panic craze.
Sources in this Episode:
The match that lit everything on fire - Michelle Remembers
Patriotic Pandemonium: Examining Moral Panic and Civil Religion in the American Satanic Panic of 1980-1994 | Guldner, Jessica
Other Reading:
Patriotic Pandemonium: Examining Moral Panic and Civil Religion in the American Satanic Panic of 1980-1994 | Guldner, Jessica
Media from this week's episode:
MaXXXine (2024)
In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.
Directed by Ti West
Maxxxine: Crazy, Sexy, Video Nasty
by gabe castro
RED: Quotes, someone else's words.
Synopsis
Maxxxine is the final neon-soaked chapter of Ti West’s trilogy, blending genres influenced by their respective decades. After surviving the events of X, Maxine Minx heads to Los Angeles in the 1980s, chasing fame in the adult film industry amid the home video boom. As she strives for success, the glamor and excess of Hollywood reveal darker dangers, turning her dreams into nightmares. True to West’s style, Maxxxine fuses slasher horror with psychological tension, exploring themes of ambition, survival, and the exploitation of fame in 1980s LA.
Maxxxine embraces the gritty, raw aesthetic of video nasties, capturing the essence of 1980s grindhouse cinema. The film's visual style, as captured by cinematographer Eliot Rockett, blends the glitz and grime of Los Angeles, evoking the era's seedy underbelly. This stylistic choice not only pays homage to the video nasties but also immerses the audience in a world where danger and decadence coexist. Maxine is presented as the strong, confident survivor we saw in X, but her supposed growth—learning to care about others—felt unconvincing as her tough exterior slowly cracks while those around her die.
The film explores how nudity impacts women's careers in 1980s Hollywood, especially in the adult film industry. It highlights how female performers are expected to use their bodies as commodities, with nudity often seen as essential for fame. As Maxine tries to leave the sex industry, she witnesses women being lured into secret parties for their looks, only to be punished and murdered for the very traits that once gave them power. Later, a woman of supposed “higher status”, an actress, is similarly lured - the danger to women does not consider your status.
I was initially excited for the conclusion of a trilogy I had enjoyed, but Maxxxine fell flat for me. One of my main critiques was that West juggled too many threads, neglecting each. While I’ll cover some of the themes and ideas that stood out, there was too much going on without anything impactful enough. There’s a sprinkling of video nasties, real-life serial killer The Night Stalker, religious cults, and the rise of the VHS tape - to name of few.
Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby
Ti West’s films, particularly in the X trilogy, take different approaches to sex, using it as a tool to explore deeper themes of identity, power, and exploitation, while also subverting genre tropes.
Sex as Empowerment and Exploitation in X: In X, a 1970s slasher inspired by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, sex is central to the plot, following a group of adult filmmakers in the 1970s. West contrasts the characters' sense of sexual liberation and empowerment with the voyeuristic and exploitative aspects of the adult film industry. The film critiques how society often stigmatizes sexuality while capitalizing on it. This tension culminates in horror, with the elderly Pearl’s longing for lost youth and sexual vitality turning into violence, highlighting how age and sexual repression can distort desires.
Sexual Repression and Madness in Pearl: Pearl, a twisted Wizard of Oz tale of a young woman's yearning for freedom and fame, delves into the darker side of sexual repression. Set decades earlier, it follows Pearl, a young woman trapped on a farm, whose unfulfilled sexual and emotional desires spiral into psychosis. Pearl’s lack of sexual freedom and autonomy, coupled with her dreams of fame, become a source of frustration and violence. Here, sex is more about the absence of it and the damage repression causes, leading to a twisted internal struggle.
Sex as a Path to Fame and Ambition in Maxxxine: In Maxxxine, the focus shifts to the 1980s' adult film industry, where sex is a commodity for achieving stardom. Maxine uses her sexuality as a tool for fame, but the backdrop of the home video boom adds layers of commodification and exploitation. This period highlights the intersection of sex, ambition, and identity, with Maxine navigating a world where personal and professional lines blur in pursuit of success. The film explores how the adult film industry can both empower and exploit.
Across these films, West doesn’t just treat sex as a genre convention but rather as a narrative device to explore broader societal issues, including fame, repression, and the commodification of bodies. Each film's time period reflects the evolving attitudes toward sex, from the freewheeling 1970s to the exploitative 1980s.
Ya Video Nasty
As with his other films and the exploration of sex and the culture of the time period, West also explores the environment of filmmaking during each of these time periods as well. So naturally, West pays homage to the Video Nasty era present in Maxxxine’s 1985 setting. Given Maxine’s career shift from sex work to acting - it is intentional and natural that she would find herself cast in a video nasty film. These 1980s exploitation horror films, known for explicit content and graphic violence, led to significant censorship due to their shocking nature. The lack of regulation in the UK allowed filmmakers to release and advertise these films freely, causing public outcry over their morality and impact.
Maxxxine itself attempts to be a video nasty. The film features head-bursting, neck-slicing action, and a palpable sense of dread, reminiscent of the shock value that defined many video nasties. This approach aligns with the film's goal to entertain and thrill, even if it means pushing the boundaries of conventional horror.
Maxxxine ambitiously juggles multiple themes, from Maxine's career transition and personal trauma to the homage to 1980s video nasties and the gritty portrayal of Hollywood's dark side. While this multifaceted approach gives us a lot to engage with, it also leads to a fragmented storyline. The film's attempt to balance these diverse elements results in a diluted focus, preventing any single theme from being fully explored. Were it not so ambitious, the film could’ve allowed us stronger moments with Mia Goth’s Maxine and the gritty neon world of 1985.
Hysteria in 1985: the Birth of the Satanic Panic
by Kat Kushin
RED: Quotes, someone else's words.
1980’s Satanic Panic
The Satanic Panic of the 1980s was a widespread moral panic that gripped the United States and other parts of the world, characterized by a fear of Satanic ritual abuse (SRA) and the belief in a vast, underground network of Satanic cults. This phenomenon was fueled by sensationalist media, religious fervor, and societal anxieties, leading to numerous false accusations, wrongful convictions, and a lasting impact on American culture (Guldner, 2023). Let’s unpack the backdrop of MaXXXine.
Origins and Catalysts
What started the Satanic Panic? Well that’s complex as the United States and much of Europe has a long history, obsession and fear surrounding Satan. America, being a nation largely founded by Puritans, makes the film “the Puritan 2” very fitting to the time period. In many ways Satanic Panic was a callback to the witch hunts that the Puritans enacted in early America. Religious fervor and fear has led humanity to do countless horrendous things, so the radicalization of Christianity is nothing new, and wasn’t surprising considering the other forms of witch hunts to weed out communism that were taking place from the 1950s onward. American citizens were already primed to respond when the match was lit. It became clear to those in charge that religion and fear are fantastic manipulators, and motivators. If you can convince a group of people that something is “evil” under God, convincing them to enact violence on the government’s behalf is easy. The path to hell is paved with good intentions.
The match that lit everything on fire was a book called “Michelle Remembers” which I learned about from a CBC.CA article. The publication of "Michelle Remembers" in 1980 by psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder and his patient Michelle Smith is often cited as a significant catalyst for the Satanic Panic. The book detailed Michelle's alleged repressed memories of being abused by a Satanic cult, which were recovered through controversial therapeutic techniques. This book played a crucial role in spreading the fear of Satanic ritual abuse. It sparked a global panic about satanic cults, leading to widespread investigations and prosecutions based on the recovered memories of satanic ritual abuse. The book's horrifying allegations and the involvement of the Vatican gave it credibility in the eyes of millions of people around the world. It also led to the promotion of the book by the Catholic Church and the development of an official investigation into Michelle's story by the Pope. The book's influence extended to law enforcement, mental health professionals, and social workers who were instructed on how to investigate satanic ritual abuse. Copycat cases appeared across North America and spread to the U.K., Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil. However, the book and its impact were later discredited and debunked after it became clear that there was no physical evidence to support Michelle's recollections.
In addition to these books attempting to create “credible” claims of satanic abuse, the role of the media, particularly tabloid media, in spreading and sustaining the panic cannot be overstated. Sensationalist reporting on alleged Satanic activities kept the public engaged and fearful. As described in The American Hysteria: How the Satanic Panic Changed American Society in the 1980s by Hal Johnson "tabloid media sold because it was outrageous and just truthful enough for people to not want to fact check what they were reading" (Johnson, 2024). This type of media coverage not only fueled the panic but also influenced the content produced by Hollywood, as filmmakers and producers sought to capitalize on the public's fears.
The political and religious climate of the 1980s only furthered the public's fears. The 1980s saw a resurgence of Christian fundamentalism and conservative politics in the United States. Influential figures like Jerry Falwell and Ronald Reagan played a role in stoking fears about Satanism. The document Patriotic Pandemonium: Examining Moral Panic and Civil Religion in the American Satanic Panic of 1980-1994 | Guldner, Jessica notes that the Reagan administration approved federal funding for FBI investigations into several facets of the Satanic Panic, including serial killers, victims’ rights, and the rise of pornography (Guldner, 2023). This political and religious climate created a fertile ground for the panic to take root and spread.
Satanic Panic’s Impact on Society-
Legal and Social Consequences:
The Satanic Panic led to numerous false accusations and wrongful convictions. High-profile cases, such as the McMartin preschool trial, became emblematic of the hysteria. In Hal Johnson’s paper the author explores three court cases—the McMartin case, the San Antonio Four, and the case of Bernard Baran—to understand how the Satanic Panic affected different regions of the U.S. These cases highlight the devastating impact of the panic on individuals and communities, as well as the role of falsified evidence and societal prejudices in perpetuating the hysteria.
Targeting of Minority Groups:
The panic was often used as a pretext to target minority groups, including the LGBT community. As noted in Hal Johnson’s Paper: "the Satanic Panic, as we discovered over the course of this research, was an excuse of conspiracy theorists to target minority groups, something that is still happening today." (Johnson, 2024). This aspect of the panic underscores the intersection of moral hysteria with broader social prejudices and discrimination.
Impact on Hollywood and Pop Culture
Movies and Television:
The fear of Satanic cults and ritual abuse found its way into numerous films and TV shows during the 1980s. These media often portrayed exaggerated and sensationalized depictions of Satanic rituals, contributing to the hysteria. This is why MaXXXine focused on the protests of the movies and Hollywood saying it was indoctrinating children into the ways of Satan.
Television Shows that stoked the flames of fear:
"60 Minutes" (1985): A segment on Dungeons & Dragons linked the game to Satanic rituals and teenage suicides.
"Geraldo Rivera's Devil Worship: Exposing Satan's Underground" (1988): Claimed to expose a network of Satanic cults in America.
"Unsolved Mysteries": Featured episodes on alleged Satanic rituals and cult activities.
Movies that did the same:
"The Exorcist" (1973) About a girl possessed by a demon, influencing later horror films.
"Rosemary's Baby" (1968) A woman believes she is carrying Satan's child.
"The Amityville Horror" (1979) A family terrorized by supernatural forces.
"Mazes and Monsters" (1982) Portrayed Dungeons & Dragons as dangerous.
"The Omen" (1976) About the Antichrist being born into a family.
"Poltergeist" (1982) A family haunted by malevolent spirits.
"Hellraiser" (1987)Featured demonic entities and dark rituals.
"The Devil's Rain" (1975)Depicted a cult of Satanists.
Documentaries and Specials:
"Satanis: The Devil's Mass" (1970) A look into the Church of Satan.
"Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills" (1996)Examined the wrongful conviction of the West Memphis Three based on Satanic ritual abuse allegations.
Music
The music industry, particularly heavy metal and rock genres, was also heavily scrutinized during the Satanic Panic. Bands and artists were often accused of promoting Satanic messages through their lyrics and imagery. This scrutiny was part of a broader cultural movement that sought to find and eliminate perceived threats to societal morality. The article The Devil Is in The Details: An Analysis of the Satanic Panic by Travis James Brooks from University of Memphis highlights how the conspiracy incorporated "Christian ideas about a literal Satan," which influenced public perception and media portrayal of musicians and their work.
The Satanic Panic of the 1980s was a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that had a profound impact on American society. It was fueled by sensationalist media, religious fervor, and societal anxieties, leading to numerous false accusations, wrongful convictions, and a lasting influence on Hollywood and pop culture. The panic not only reflected but also amplified the public's fears, leaving a legacy that continues to resonate in contemporary conspiracy theories and cultural narratives. It’s what led to media like MaXXXine and the original X being created, to really bring focus back to that impactful time period that did so much to define the horror genre. In that way I think I appreciate MaXXXine a bit more than I did when I first watched it in theaters. Even though it did leave me wanting more I appreciate it’s nods to the history.
Additional Reading:
The effects of the Satanic Panic extended beyond the 1980s, influencing later cultural phenomena and conspiracy theories. The article NPR Article America’s Satanic Panic Returns through QAnon, highlights the ways the 1980s reach to recent history with the same rhetoric and fear mongering being used when unpacking QAnon. This demonstrates the lasting impact of the panic on American culture and its continued influence on media and entertainment.
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