Ti West on MaXXXine, a gory A24 horror set in 80s Los Angeles

Whether he likes it or not, Ti West was once a filmmaker synonymous with slow-burn horror. In The House of the Devil, his 2009 breakthrough, all that really happens in the first hour is the surprise execution of Greta Gerwig, while 2011’s The Innkeepers remains virtually plotless until the closing moments. Make no mistake, these were carefully crafted thrillers, each false scare and creaky floorboard designed to maximise the third act’s utter outrageousness. West knew how to fright and delight, just at his own blink-and-you-actually-might-not-miss-it tempo.

In West’s porn-related horror trilogy for A24, he’s pulling off a similar trick. While 2022’s X and 2023’s Pearl weren’t exactly slow-burn, they were small, contained stories in which Mia Goth felt isolated in her surroundings. However, the third film in the series, MaXXXine, is a propulsive, action-packed giallo extravaganza that follows a gory murder mystery across 1985 Los Angeles. “I made three very different films in three years,” says West, 43, in the Langham Hotel, in early June. “There are going to be people who like all of them, and people who like none of them. Part of making a trilogy is that everyone has their favourite. You see that in an extreme way with Star Wars. I wanted to lean into the stories being different, and to make a very bombastic finale.”

However, West is unsure about my comparison of the trilogy with the three-act structure of his early, slow-burn features. More specifically, he sighs when I use the term “slow-burn”, even though it’s to praise The Innkeepers. “The ‘slow-burn’ thing is something I get labelled with, I think mostly affectionately,” says West. “I know what people mean, but they don’t seem slow-burn to me. It’s strange that it’s as defining for people as it is. Maybe it’s because I can’t see my own situation.” Still, he adds, “I was ready to have this third movie be the climax of the whole trilogy, and to have a good rock ‘n’ roll time.”

Set a few years after X, MaXXXine reveals that Goth’s Maxine Minx is now a successful porn star facing the mirrored glass ceiling of her industry. Still traumatised, the actor attempts to transition into Hollywood, first by nabbing a role in The Puritan II, a schlocky sequel directed by Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki), an artist so hands-on that she literally smears blood onto victims’ faces. But Maxine is hiding from a blackmailing private eye (Kevin Bacon), a disguised serial killer known as the Night Stalker, and two detectives (Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Monaghan) convinced she’s the culprit. West, who also wrote and edited the film, takes full advantage of the meta storyline: when Maxine flees for her life on the Universal Studios backlot, it involves sprinting through the house that Hitchcock used for Psycho.

Maxine, of course, isn’t a typical final girl, and Goth isn’t a typical scream queen. When Maxine attacks an elderly woman (actually Goth in makeup) out of self-defence in X, she follows it with a sadistic hush gesture; on Pearl, a 1918-set prequel, Goth depicts the title character’s transition from an innocent farmgirl to the franchise’s Michael Myers. When it comes to MaXXXine, then, it should perhaps be the killer who is afraid of Maxine, not the other way around. “I was trying to write a character that if they’re threatened by things, then she is also a threat,” says West. “Which I think is more interesting than a passive victim… There are times I’m pushing Mia outside of her comfort zone, and there are times she’s pushing me outside of my comfort zone.”

To recreate the era’s hedonistic fashion, West and his production team looked at vintage porn magazines, the movies of Brian De Palma, and also Debbie Harry’s early years in Blondie. For the set design, West hand-picked every item. “It’s creating a world that’s an extension of my brain,” he says. “As someone who comes to movies visually, I’m happy to always be doing that.” Elsewhere, the movie is populated with ambitious dolly shots, an exorbitant colour scheme that brings out the rich reds of the blood spurts, and a closing image that’s laugh-out-loud hilarious when juxtaposed with the lo-fi nature of X. Dario Argento is a fair comparison – due to logistics, West even cameos as a gloved hand appearing in the frame, just like Argento did in his slashers.

Nevertheless, even in his early films, West specialised in stories about a young woman tiptoeing around a creepy environment. When Maxine evades a killer in the Psycho building, it recalls Sara Paxton careening through corridors in The Innkeepers or Jocelin Donahue leaping down the stairs in The House of the Devil. West, perhaps still rattled by my use of the term “slow-burn”, is hesitant to comment on any connection. “Maybe other people are better judges than I am,” he says. “For me, the goal of directing is to feel like you’re experiencing what the character is going through, whether they’re slowly walking or running.”

As for why these movies explore the adult entertainment industry, West explains that horror and porn were two genres in which you could be successful without Hollywood’s involvement. Neither required big budgets or celebrity names; in the 70s, they could be distributed via grindhouse theatres, drive-ins, or VHS cassettes. “If you’re outside the movie business, it’s an impenetrable thing to be a part of it,” he says. “The democratisation of porn and horror movies can get overlooked in cinema. As far as independent film is concerned, they’re closely related.”

When auditioning for dramas, Maxine faces stigma due to her background in porn. I ask West if he faces similar difficulties as a horror name: is it tougher to pitch a drama or romcom when he has Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever in his filmography? “Throughout my career, I would not be surprised if it has dramas and romcoms in it, just because I like movies,” he says. “But if I want to make a romcom, I’d have to get past a few confused looks. It’d be a long conversation of: ‘Why is this the thing you want to do?’”

As we’re discussing labels and type-casting, the conversation returns to whether “slow-burn” is an accurate description of his early films. “There was a time when I just got tired of hearing ‘slow-burn’,” he says, laughing. “I would do interviews, and someone’s like ‘slow-burn’ – and I’m like, ‘This conversation again?’ But I get it.” He compares the term to “elevated horror”, a phrase that’s meaningless but also gets the point across. “It’s a way of contextualising a movie for someone. Unfortunately, we need to do that.” He also acknowledges that some minds can’t be changed. “There’ll be people [who watch MaXXXine] that are like, ‘He’s gotta go back to slow-burn!’ and people who are like, ‘Finally, not slow-burn!’”

I end the interview by asking West for his favourite death from his filmography. Maybe because he’s in promo mode, he mentions a few from MaXXXine that can’t be printed due to spoilers, as well as one from Pearl. I mention my pick: Greta Gerwig in The House of the Devil. “That one I like!” West exclaims. “After she gets shot, and he takes the cigarette out of her hand, we came up with that on the day.” He continues, “I haven’t seen Greta since she became the most famous filmmaker in Hollywood. But she told me that when she walks down the street, people would still be like, ‘Hey, you were shot in the face!’ It’s probably good for her that it’s been replaced with Barbie and Little Women.” He adds, “She can kill me in Barbie 2. I’m ready and willing.”

MaXXXine is out in cinemas on July 5.