Slightly uneven but admirably well-done tribute to 1970s cinematic gore á la "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Someone knew where they were doing here and really wanted to make a quality genre picture, not just an exploitative, derivative rip-off "tribute".
In 1979 a porn production crew rents a remote farm to make make a porn that would also be a "real movie" (clearly a fourth-wall nod there; this production tries, and to a respectable extent succeeds, to rise above its genre.) Unfortunately, the old couple they rent from are at first odd and menacing and then it gets worse.
The story and motivations don't quite hold up—the reason the old couple act the murderous way they do is never even hinted at, a classic case of "because, movie"—but, like a lot of '70s horror, this goes further into character and decent moviemaking than modern audiences are probably used to. It explores more of the characters' relationships and motivations than you might expect to see.
Because of that, I would imagine modern horror fans will find this tediously slow. In fact, the first half of the movie isn't a horror movie at all. But I appreciated that—the thoughtful pacing, cinema verite realism, and at times lovely, well-done-without-being-slick cinematography that sticks to '70s conventions rather than pandering to modern flash.
Unfortunately the occasionally thin plotting keeps it from being a great movie, but it's definitely enough of a cut above genre expectations that I enjoyed it. It's a little special. Somebody involved really got what was well-made and subtle about some of those '70s classic indie horror flicks, and reproduced it pretty flawlessly on that level.
It also stars a couple of B-listers who should have been recognizable but disappear into their roles: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow.
It wasn't until after I wrote all that above that I looked and discovered, to my shock, this was written and directed by my forever-loathed horror icon nemesis—Ti West. Well, ok. He finally got away with what he tried and failed so egregiously to do with the painfully derivative, totally uninteresting, and inexplicably popular "House Of The Devil" (which I hated enough never to have watched for the purposes of reviewing.) Ok, he got me. I'm very pleasantly surprised. Never thought I'd enjoy a Ti West film, but I did. It does explain the occasional weaknesses of the plot, though.
Looking this up, apparently he also directed an episode of "Tales From The Loop", a cherished favorite sci-fi series of mine. Interesting.
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