In this episode, horror and pornography become not so strange bedfellows in Ti West’s “X”. A love letter to 1970s low budget filmmaking, the movie blends humor, heart and lots of boobs to create a shockingly effective meditation on the complexities of aging. We’re going to spoil the hell out of this film today so stay tuned.
And if you enjoyed this episode, you may also want to check out these resources that dive into the specter of aging in horror films!
Recommended Reading:
Chivers, Sally. The Silvering Screen. University of Toronto Press, 2019.
Hodge, Stephanie. “Demonizing Dementia in Horror: How Hollywood Plays on “Fears of Forgetting.” Exploring the Macabre, Malevolent, and Mysterious: Multidisciplinary Perspectives , edited by Matthew Hodge and Elizabeth Kusko. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020, pp. 211-229.
Marr, Matthew J. “Representation and the Cultural Politics of Aging in Justino, un asesino de la tercera edad (La Cuadrilla, 1994).” Studies in Hispanic Cinemas (new title: Studies in Spanish & Latin American Cinemas) 6.2 (2009): 139-152.
Miller, Cynthia J., and A. Bowdoin Van Riper, eds. Elder Horror: Essays on Film’s Frightening Images of Aging. McFarland, 2019.
Shary, Timothy, and Nancy McVittie. Fade to Gray: Aging in American Cinema. University of Texas Press, 2016.
Shelley, Peter. Grande Dame Guignol Cinema: A History of Hag Horror from Baby Jane to Mother. McFarland, 2009.
Sobchack, Vivian. “The Leech Woman’s Revenge: On the Dread of Aging in a Low-Budget Horror Film.” Scary Women Symposium, UCLA, January. https://web. archive. org/web/20190411224021/http://old. cinema. ucla. edu/women/sobchack/default. html. 1994.
