Did you think this was going to be a one-film list? Think again, I have found enough horror films to make an actual list out of a letter that seemed impossible! (The things I have seen to whittle this down to the good stuff for this one would be a piece on its own) Anyway! Enjoy this smaller edition that has seven films to talk about!
X (2022)
In the late 70s, a group of young filmmakers in rural Texas are off to make a movie, but not any movie, a porno! Keeping this fact from their elderly hosts, it’s only a matter of time before they are caught, and the couple’s anger is felt across the group.
It’s an old-fashioned throwback of a slasher that pits body and sex-positive young people against old religious folks who don’t like that kind of thing. There are good death scenes, and the feel of the film is solid. Yet, it feels as if Ti West watched too many of these types of films and was too influenced by that era and just lifted things from it instead, making X kind of samey? I don’t know; I know people love this one, but like Maxxine, it’s too much like the greatest hits of better films before it that we are seeing here. The cast is great, though, and Mia Goth throws everything at it.
In the end, there is enough here to love, but the film needs to let go of the reins just a little more and enjoy itself instead of trying to be like what came before it.
X-Cross (2007)
Shiyori has just had another failed relationship. To get away from things for a bit, she and her best friend Aiko head off to the countryside for some relaxation. Except they find that the tranquil village they call home for the trip is, in fact, the home of a cult with a love of, well, watch and find out!
Utterly daft, but in the best way possible. What should be a boring, run-of-the-mill endeavour goes full wacky, and it’s all the better for doing so. From the director of Battle Royale 2, you get the feeling that this is the direction Kenta Fukasaku wanted to go but was limited due to the circumstances of that project.
If you are in the mood for a Japanese folk cult horror that has a tinge of lunacy to it, then look no further than X-Cross. This sprint-to-the-finish style film would be better served to be linear, but what can you do? We can’t have it all. Full of personality, this is an enjoyable watch which will give you a squirming itch whenever you see giant scissors.
Xpiation (2017)
Somewhere in a cellar, a woman sits down and starts recording. What is the recording? Why is she recording the systematic torture of a man by a drug addict she has hired?
There was a bit of trepidation about throwing this one on the list, but I eventually gave in and went for it. Italians found the torture porn subgenre, and boy, did Domiziano Cristopharo go for it with this one. There isn’t much going on with Xpiation other than the actual torture scenes, but Christ, when we go to and keep returning to those scenes, they are blinding in their anger. You are never comfortable watching this one, which was probably the aim.
An unpleasant watch that tries to provide a reason towards our mysterious woman’s actions never quite makes itself work, but if you love watching sensitive areas get smashed for a woman who seemingly only wants to see men suffer, then this is the non-family film for you.
X-Ray (1981)
Susan is just having a routine check-up, but no matter how hard she tries, she simply cannot leave the hospital’s 8th floor. Thanks to someone dressed as a doctor forging her medical reports, those around her try to restrain her as they think she is dangerous. For those who see through the lies and try to help Susan, the doctor is calling, and he is only serving death.
A fun hospital slasher that doesn’t make a lick of sense, from the killer’s motives to trapping and trying to kill Susan to the staff at the hospital is a big old bunch of weirdos to Susan thinking that when she arrives for a scheduled appointment that she has to wander around endlessly to find that doctor, it’s just a beautiful dumb mess.
But as I said, it’s fun and has some great gore, prolonged and truly ahead-scratching scenes of breasts (80s slasher has got to get those breasts in somehow, I guess). If you are keeping score on your hospital-based slashers, this one falls around the middle. It’s not as good as Visiting Hours, but it’s better than Halloween II. Just remind me that if I ever get ill, I will not spend more than a second in that hospital.
X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)
An ambitious scientist (uh oh) has developed an eye drop to improve human eye-sight, but it turns out it can provide him with x-ray vision (bigger uh oh). Deciding to test it out on himself (the biggest of uh-ohs), his life is turned upside down when he loses control of everything in his life.
Rule number one for scientists in a horror film is that they are always going to be stupid enough to be their own test subject because nothing screams sensible like the one person who invented something risky and everyone else with some new thing that has the chance of going very wrong.
Anyway, our latest dumb dumb is Dr James Xavier, who thinks he is going to save humanity, only to destroy himself. Ray Millband is perfect for the role and nails the future monster that he becomes in this Roger Corman film. It really needs to be said how good Miliband is as Xavier; you buy that he wants to do good in the world and how obsessed and addicted he becomes when he begins to find success with his discovery.
Taking the slightly comical approach at the beginning with his discovery (heh, everyone at this party is naked due to my magic eyes, heh) to the descent Millband takes is as engaging a spiral as you will see in a Corman film—a real gem.
X: The Unknown (1956)
Radiation experiments carried out by the army awaken a subterranean monster (sound familiar) that soon begins to terrorise a remote Scottish village, leaving the victims in its wake with radioactive burns. But what is this creature, and more importantly, where is it?
We head to Scotland with Hammer Films for this 1950s sci-fi horror classic, where instead of a Kaiju, we get a big old radioactive angry blob that is going to have its way with the Scottish. Very much inspired by the threat of the Cold War, X: The Unknown is one of those early horror films that actually pulls you in for the plot due to how well-structured and performed it is with the melting and creature effects merely the cherry on this radioactive sundae.
Strangely for a film that you want to see the money shots for, this is one that actually works better when there are discussions and mystery throughout it. You are interested in what these scientists are doing and how they are going to approach the creature, and for a film like this on a small budget (it is reported that Dean Jagger took home nearly half of the production budget). It becomes a classic marvel of a film and one that you shouldn’t pass up on.
Xtro (1983)
Sam got abducted by aliens three years ago but has finally returned to Earth in hopes of seeing his family (how he returns to Earth is an eye-bugging sentence that only Takashi Miike would be proud of seeing; go watch Gozu for that reference). The reunion is understandably awkward, with Sam’s son Tony beginning to act frighteningly like his father. Can his mother, Rachel, save him?
I absolutely dare someone to make sense of Xtro. Hell, even the director of the bloody thing couldn’t make heads nor tails from the film, and he made the thing! It’s a mess of a film that threw everything conceivable at the wall, and rather brilliantly for us, every single thing stuck to it. We have an ultra-low budget film that just has no right to make such practical effects and creature designs for a £60,000 budget.
Yet, despite the lack of true structure, what we have is a very solid alien abduction film. It’s a miracle that something as good as this came from the ideals that got splattered throughout it. Xtro is an experience, but an overwhelmingly positive and gooey one. It’s a film you watch and can’t quite believe you watched. Like looking directly into the sun, it’s not something you should do, but damn if it isn’t tempting.
To check out our previous letters have a click below! Otherwise, come back for the letter Y!
Horror films to watch: Letter A
Horror films to watch: Letter B
Horror films to watch: Letter B (Part 2)
Horror films to watch: Letter C
Horror films to watch: Letter D
Horror films to watch: Letter E
Horror films to watch: Letter F
Horror films to watch: Letter G
Horror films to watch: Letter H: Part 1
Horror films to watch: Letter H: Part 2
Horror films to watch: Letter H: Part 3
Horror films to watch: Letter I; Part 1
Horror films to watch: Letter I – Part 2
Horror films to watch; Letter J
Horror films to watch; Letter K
Horror films to watch: Letter L
Horror films to watch: Letter M
Horror films to watch: Letter M (Part 2)
Horror films to watch: Letter M (part 3)
Horror films to watch: Letter N
Horror films to watch: Letter N (Part 2)
Horror films to watch: Letter O
Horror films to watch: Letter P (Part 1)
Horror films to watch: Letter P (Part 2)
Horror films to watch: Letter Q
Horror films to watch: Letter R (Part 1)
Horror films to watch: Letter S (Part 1)
Horror films to watch: Letter T (Part 1)
Horror films to watch: Letter U
Horror films to watch: Letter V (Part 1)
Horror films to watch: Letter W (Part 1)
Horror films to watch: Letter X
Horror films to watch: Letter Y
Horror films to watch: Letter Z
Support Us
I am but a small website in this big wide world. As much as I would love to make this website a big and wonderful entity. That would bring in more costs. So, for now all I hope is to make Upcoming On Screen self sufficient. Well enough to where any website fees are less of a worry for me in the future. You can support the website below…
Patreon
You can support us in a variety of ways (other than that wonderful word of mouth) and those lovely follows. If you are so inclined to help us out then you can support us via Patreon, find our link here! We don’t want to ask much from you, so for now we have limited our tiers to £1.50 and £3.50. These will of course grow the more we plan to do here at Upcoming On Screen.
Thanks for reading, every view helps us out more than you would think (we have fragile egos). Until next time.
Social Media
You can also support us via Twitter and Facebook Instagram and Blue Sky! by giving us a follow and a like. Every single one helps!
