Warning: Contains SPOILERS for X and Pearl!
Pearl has a pretty high kill count throughout X and Pearl, and here are all nine people she kills throughout the franchise and how she does it. The saga of Pearl and X takes the titular starlet from a sadistic up-and-coming actress to an all-out murderer, with bodies piling up wherever she goes throughout the two movies. Although it is possible that Pearl killed more in the decades between Pearl and X, the movies only confirm a kill count of 9, with each victim meeting a uniquely brutal fate at the hands of Pearl and Howard.
Ti West’s X was one of the most popular movies of 2022, with it seemingly acting as a homage to slashers of the 1970s and 1980s such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. However, it was quickly revealed that there is a lot more going on in the world of X, with Pearl exploring the detailed backstory of the killer from the first film. Ti West’s third X film MaXXXine is on the way, and before the story continues, here is a recap of everyone Pearl killed before her death at the end of X.
Related
X Movie Killer Pearl Backstory Explained
Ti West’s X features one of the scariest slasher movie killers in years, but how did Pearl become the covetous monster who attacks RJ and his crew?
9 Ruth
Set On Fire
Pearl’s first victim in the X franchise is actually Ruth, her very own mother. A heated argument regarding Pearl’s acting career begins, with it soon turning physical. Pearl pushes her mother into a kitchen hearth, causing her to catch on fire and receive severe burn wounds. Ruth eventually dies due to these wounds, and while the killing may not have been intentional, it was the first death at the hands of Pearl. Rather than feeding her mother to the alligator, Pearl carries Ruth’s body to the basement, where it stays until the end of the film.
8 The Projectionist
Stabbed With A Pitchfork
The projectionist is Pearl’s main love interest throughout Pearl, but he too meets a gruesome fate at her hands. While Howard is overseas fighting in World War I, Pearl begins an affair with a projectionist at her local movie theater. However, the projectionist becomes suspicious of Pearl after she kills her mother, with her freaky behavior causing him to leave Pearl. This upsets Pearl, with her stopping him from leaving by stabbing him with a pitchfork. She then pushes his corpse and his car into a pond, where her pet alligator eats him.
7 Pearl’s Father
Smothered With A Pillow
One of the darkest parts of Pearl is the titular killer’s treatment of her father, who she abuses and neglects throughout the film due to him being paralyzed. After being forced to watch Pearl deal with the corpses of her mother and the projectionist, Pearl gets a pillow and smothers her father to death. Her father is unable to fight back, with him dying and his body staying in the house alongside Ruth’s corpse. This means that Pearl killed both of her parents and her romantic partner. However, she didn’t stop there.
6 Mitsy
Hit With An Axe
The final character that Pearl kills in Pearl is Mitsy, her sister-in-law and the brother of Howard. Mitsy is one of the only characters that Pearl trusts, with her having a long monologue where she reveals her unhappiness to Mitsy. However, Mitsy soon reveals that she got the part that her and Pearl both auditioned for. This sends Pearl into a rage, with her grabbing an axe, chasing Mitsy down, and killing her. Near the end of Pearl, Pearl dismembers her body and feeds it to her alligator, something that she may have continued doing for decades until X.
5 RJ Nicholls
Decapitated With A Knife
X takes place decades after the events of Pearl, with an unfortunate group of young adults going to Pearl and Howard’s farm in order to film a porno movie. The first character to meet a dark fate at the hands of Pearl is the director RJ Nicholls. RJ is upset at the production of the porno, causing him to attempt to flee in the middle of the night. Before he can run away, Pearl finds him and attempts to seduce him. Upset, Pearl gets a knife and stabs him in the neck until his head comes off.
4 Wayne Gilroy
Pitchfork To The Face
The next character in X to be killed by Pearl is Wayne Gilroy, the producer of the adult film. Wayne is the first to notice that RJ has gone missing, causing him to search the premises. Wayne wanders into a farmhouse where he accidentally steps on a nail, with it impaling his foot. In pain, Wayne then notices movement around the barn. He looks through a hole in the wall, only for a pitchfork to be shoved through by Pearl, stabbing him in the eyes and killing him.
3 Basement Corpse
Cause Of Death Unknown
X does reveal one more murder that Pearl has committed outside the on-screen events of Pearl and X, with a body being seen in the basement. At one point in the film, Pearl and Howard ask Lorraine to go into the basement and grab a flashlight. Once down there, Lorraine notices a rotting corpse, with this signaling to her that something terrifying is going on. It is never explained who this man is, but it is clear that it isn’t a body that has been seen before, as its injuries don’t match up with any of Pearl’s other victims.
Related
Why Mia Goth Plays Both Maxine & Pearl In X
Mia Goth plays both Maxine and Pearl in Ti West’s slasher movie X, as well as prequel Pearl, and her dual roles emphasize the horror’s core themes.
2 Bobby-Lynne Parker
Eaten By An Alligator
Bobby-Lynne Parker is one of the actresses in the porn film that is being made in X, and her X death is one of the most gruesome. After Maxine claims that Pearl touched her in her sleep, Bobby-Lynne goes outside to chase Pearl down. She eventually finds herself near a pond, where she seems to be upset. Bobby-Lynne goes to calm her down, only for Pearl to push her into the pond. Bobby-Lynne is then eaten by Pearl’s alligator, with this undoubtedly being a throwback to Pearl’s favorite body disposal method in the prequel.
1 Lorraine Day
Shotgun To The Face
The final death that Pearl has a hand in throughout the story of X is that of Jenna Ortega’s character, Lorraine Day. Earlier in the film, Lorraine is trapped in the cellar by Howard and Pearl. She eventually gets free, but as she is running out the door, Howard shoots her in the face with his shotgun. While Howard is the one to pull the trigger, Pearl had a hand in trapping her in the basement and helped dispose of her body. This was the final murder that Pearl helped commit, ending her reign of terror throughout X and Pearl.
