The movie MaXXXine takes inspiration from many other horror movies, creating an entertaining and well-rounded pastiche to the horror of the 1970s and 1980s. MaXXXine is the conclusion to A24 and Ti West’s horror movie trilogy. The movie follows Maxine Minx, a porn actor who aspires to be a star in mainstream Hollywood movies. Unfortunately, when she gets her big break, her past catches up with her, leading to murders all around her.

Like the past two movies in the X trilogy, MaXXXine pays respect to the horror genres that came before. Because the movie is set in 1985 Hollywood, it primarily focuses on horror films from this decade and the one before. Rather than 70s slashers or 50s technicolor, MaXXXine pays much more attention to exploitation horror, psychological thrillers, and noir. Ti West’s inspirations can be recognized through thematic, narrative, and scene parallels.

10

Psycho (1960)

A Classic Psychological Thriller

The most obvious horror movie that inspired MaXXXine is the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock movie Psycho. This deviates from most of the movie’s other inspirations since Psycho doesn’t fall into the exploitation subcategory. Psycho is a psychological thriller that centers on a woman named Marion Crane who stays at the Bates Hotel, run by the proprietor Norman Bates. In MaXXXine, Elizabeth Bender, the director of the in-universe horror movie Puritan II, takes Maxine Minx to the Psycho set, a landmark in horror history.

The film revisits this location twice. First, when she hallucinates Pearl in the window of Norman Bates’ house. Second, when she’s running away from John Labat. The Psycho set represents Maxine’s drive for lasting fame and notoriety. Additionally, while nothing bad happens during the scene, MaXXXine includes a shower scene that uses many of the same lighting and angles as Psycho.

9

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

A Slasher Movie Loosely Based On A True Story

Ti West drew inspiration from the classic slasher horror movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre when creating the first movie in his trilogy, X. In the classic slasher movie, a group stops at a farmhouse and discovers murderous individuals next door. The group then gets slaughtered one by one at the hands of the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface. This parallels the storyline of X, where the group goes to a farmhouse to shoot a porn film and discover the murderous couple next door, most notably Pearl.

Since the prequel Pearl made no reference to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it seemed the trilogy left it behind in the first film. However, MaXXXine makes a hilarious and direct reference to the movie with a quick and easy-to-miss moment. A newspaper about the murders in X describes the event as “the Texas pornstar massacre.”

8

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970)

An Internationally-Acclaimed Gaillo Horror Movie

MaXXXine makes a direct and indirect homage to the Giallo movie The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage follows an American writer named Sam Dalmas, who sees an attack while visiting Rome and becomes obsessed with solving the string of murders related to the event. The direct inspiration can be seen whenever the serial killer is visible before MaXXXine’s ending. Like the villain in The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, the 2024 movie’s villain wears a black coat and black leather gloves.

MaXXXine’s less direct inspiration is The Bird with the Crystal Plumage’s genre. Gaillos are Italian murder mystery movies that incorporate elements of slasher, thriller, horror, and eroticism. Ti West’s movie mirrors the balance of murder mystery and horror in Gaillos. The police officers and Maxine Minx both want to solve the brutal murders surrounding the titular main character.

7

The Burning Hell (1974)

A Damaging Christian Propoganda Horror Movie

MaXXXine’s true crime references made it seem like the Night Stalker was behind the murders surrounding Maxine Minx; however, it’s eventually revealed that her father, Earnest Miller, was behind the deaths. His motivations and backstories are connected to the real-life man Estus Pirkle and his horror documentary hybrid movie The Burning Hell. Estus Pirkle was a cinematic evangelist who spread dangerous fire-and-brimstone Hell propaganda meant to scare people into changing their ways. He famously made horror movies showing sinners getting punished for their supposed sins.

Maxine Minx’s father parallels this motivation and personality. Earnest records all the murders he commits, purportedly after he offered the victims redemption, and they turned it down. He intends to make a movie with all the footage showing what happens to people who commit sins. The biggest difference between The Burning Hell and Earnest’s movie in MaXXXine is that Estus Pirkle didn’t really kill the victims in the movie.

6

Scream 3 (2000)

A Slasher Comedy Movie With A Major Central Mystery

Of all the major movies MaXXXine draws from, Scream 3 is seemingly the only movie made in this millennium that Ti West used as inspiration. The third Scream movie takes place in Hollywood and follows Gale Weathers, Dwight Riley, and Sidney Prescott, who try to solve the mystery of who’s killing off the cast of the fictional movie Stab 3. On a broader level, Scream 3 and MaXXXine have almost identical tones. They balance dark and twisted with the comedy on the verge of satire. Both movies also center on a murder mystery.

However, the two horror films include a more direct parallel, with Ti West’s film copying one scene from the predecessor. In Scream 3, Sidney Prescott gets chased through the movie set that looks like her hometown. MaXXXine mirrors this by having Maxine Minx run through the Hollywood Studios backlot while being chased by John Labat.

5

Don’t Open Till Christmas (1984)

A British Exploitation Slasher Movie

Ti West’s MaXXXine takes inspiration from the 1984 exploitation slasher movie Don’t Open Till Christmas about halfway through the film. In Don’t Open Till Christmas, a man wearing a grinning mask murders people dressed as Santa Claus in London during the holidays. Scotland Yards’ Chief Inspector Ian Harris and a mysterious reporter named Giles work together to try and solve the murders. MaXXXine walks the line between a pastiche and an exploitation thriller, and the scene inspired by Don’t Open Till Christmas pushes the movie into the former category.

In MaXXXine, the killer goes to a viewing booth to watch a sex worker dance and masturbate. This parallels the Don’t Open Till Christmas scene, where a Santa impersonator goes to a peep show, at which point the grinning masked man slaughters him. It’s a clear homage to the underrated ‘80s horror flick.

4

Body Double (1984)

A Neo-Noir Exploitation Erotic Thriller

One of the most apparent movies that inspired Ti West when making MaXXXine is the 1984 neo-noir erotic thriller Body Double, co-written, produced, and directed by Brian De Palma. In Body Double, a man named Jake Skully house-sits in Hollywood, where he watches a blonde woman through the window. When she’s murdered, he investigates the crime, bringing him into the city’s dark underbelly of drugs and the adult entertainment industry.

The most fundamental similarity between Body Double and MaXXXine is the fact that both movies include themes of voyeurism, sex work, and violence in Hollywood. However, there are other parallels as well. MaXXXine and Body Double use gritty visuals, neon lighting, and the same color palette. Additionally, the kill scenes look remarkably alike in these two horror films. There are so many thematic, visual, and narrative similarities that it can’t be a coincidence. Ti West must have intentionally drawn from Body Double.

3

Hardcore (1979)

A Crime Thriller With Erotic Elements

Most of the time, MaXXXine uses homages for a single scene or character. However, the movie takes a different approach when it comes to the 1979 movie Hardcore, directed by Paul Schrader. Ti West’s movie draws its basic premise from Schrader’s classic crime thriller. In Hardcore, a religious Midwestern man named Jake Van Dorn goes to Hollywood to find his daughter Kristin, who he believes has been indoctrinated into sex work. It turns out that Jake Van Dorn and Kristin have very different values that conflict with one another in Hardcore.

In MaXXXine, the televangelist Earnest Miller follows his daughter Maxine Minx to Hollywood to “save” her from what he perceives as evils, despite the fact that there’s nothing wrong with doing ethical and consensual sex work. In reality, Maxine and Earnest hold different values in MaXXXine, like that of Jake and Kristin in Hardcore.

2

Peeping Tom (1960)

An Exploitation Thriller-Horror

One movie that MaXXXine uses for inspiration thematically and stylistically is the 1960 movie Peeping Tom. The classic thriller-horror film follows a serial killer who records his murders – especially targeting sex workers – for his own gratification. MaXXXine uses the same approach of showing someone with a video camera recording everything. The movie even looks through the camera at one point, similar to Peeping Tom. This meta filming approach provides a level of disconnect between the murders and the audiences, raising questions about how people engage with sex and violence.

On a broader level, both MaXXXine and Peeping Tom focus on voyeurism and exploitation. Each murder feels personal and targeted, even though the murderer doesn’t actually know any of his victims. The killers might look down on people who choose to use their bodies in a way that they view as exploitative, but they are engaging in just as much exploitation by making their movies.

1

Ms. 45 (1981)

A Rape-Revenge Horror Movie

Though it isn’t the prevailing genre of MaXXXine, the exploitation thriller pastiche takes some inspiration from rape revenge movies, specifically Ms. 45. The 1981 film follows a woman named Than who gets raped twice in one day, leading her to become a spree killer that targets men. Two main scenes in Ti West’s movie draw from the 1981 revenge horror – the alleyway and party scenes. In Ms. 45, Thana’s first rape occurs in an alley when her masked attacker pulls out a gun. MaXXXine draws on this while spinning the outcome.

Instead of Maxine Minx getting raped, she pulls a gun on him and forces him to perform fellatio on the gun barrel and steps on his scrotum. Later in the movie, the titular main character uses a party as a cover to plan John Labat’s brutal murder in MaXXXine. This mirrors Ms. 45, where Thana attends a party as a cover for her plan to murder many men. Ultimately, MaXXXine would have felt incomplete without a reference to the rape-revenge movies that were popular in the 80s.