The Blackening | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

FAQs

Is Maxxxine a good movie? ›

Not quite as scary or visceral as the previous two films, "Maxxxine" remains a fun, dark and twisted odyssey of persevering through trauma and the brutality of Hollywood, cementing Ti West as one of the most visionary directors in contemporary horror.

Production. The film was announced in January 2020, with Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins writing the script, based on Perkins' 2018 short. Tim Story was later hired to direct, and filming took place in Brentwood, California in late 2021. Much of the film's dialogue was improvised by the cast.

Then, the early box office returns came in: “The Blackening” grossed $2.5 million in its first day, opening in 1,775 theaters. Independently produced by Oliver and Story with MRC films financing, the horror-comedy carried a production budget of $3 million, with a final tally of $5 million after factoring in P&A.

As a film it's very well made and I love the 80s nostalgia. Great score and acting, Giancarlo is a nice addition, love that man, and Kevin Bacon was cool to see as well. Mia Goth herself, I felt like could have had more to do, she was really good but her character felt restricted.

While the crimes in MaXXXine didn't actually happen, their details were inspired by Ramirez. Detectives in the movie initially suspect the Night Stalker is behind the deaths because of Satanic imagery left at the respective crime scenes. Most notably, the killer brands each victim with a pentacle.

In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. However, as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Los Angeles, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.

MaXXXine / Film synopsis

And while The Blackening avoids nudity, its frequent sexual banter still feels quite crude and gratuitous. Likewise, though the movie avoids extreme gore, blood is not just shed, but splattered. Movies such as The Blackening might feel to some like fun and games.

The Blackening tells the story of friends reuniting over the Juneteenth weekend, the US holiday which celebrates the end of slavery. "Growing up there was always the one black person, the token black person that would get killed first," Story says.

Characters drink, use drugs like mushrooms and Molly recreationally, kiss, make allusions to sex, and rely on sexual humor for some jokes. The film is a critique of racial clichés used in many horror films, particularly the "Black character dies first" chestnut.

Camden and Clive Connor both die during the climax of The Blackening, as Allison stabs Camden repeatedly with arrowheads and Lisa crushes Clive's face with a large statue. The only other person who definitively dies in The Blackening is Officer White (Diedrich Bader), who is shot in the neck by an arrow.

Who is the villain in The Blackening? ›

Clifton is the main antagonist in the 2023 horror/comedy The Blackening. He portrays himself as a nerdy, innocent man, but in truth, he is a vengeful manipulator.

The Blackening is a laugh-out-loud horror comedy that's perfect for watching with a big group of friends.

A sister to boy's names Maximilian and Maxwell, Maxine is a feminine name with two origins, Latin and Scottish. With it's Latin origin, meaning "greatest," Maxine is perfect for the modern-day parent looking for a classic, old-fashioned name with a twist.

Although MaXXXine isn't a true story, Goth told Total Film that blending in elements of Ramirez's case helped ground the film. “It sets out a breadcrumb trail back to reality,” the actress and producer said. “It's not just some big sweeping horror movie that's purely for entertainment value. It's rooted in something."

Releasing in theaters on July 5, 2024, the film is rated “R” for… “Strong violence, gore, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and drug use.” If you missed the trailer, you can watch it right here.

Writing wise, Dybbuk is an outdated horror script but turning things up and down in the climax makes it watchable. Even the original Malayalam movie had loopes but that was okay for regional industry level because they don't make horror thrillers regularly.

Several strong graphic scenes of high impact violence featuring a man's balls getting stomped on (shown in horrific closeup detail) and a man's neck getting slashed.

MaXXXine is a 2024 American slasher film written, directed, produced, and edited by Ti West. It is the third installment in West's X film series following X and Pearl (both 2022), serving as a direct sequel to the first film.

Citizen Kane (1941), starring and directed by Orson Welles, has topped several international polls, including five consecutive decades at number 1 in the British Film Institute's Sight and Sound decennial poll of critics.