- Horror Movie - Horror Homeroom

Posted on January 20, 2024

I am so Glad: Pearl and an Interpretation of a Smile

Guest Post

by

James Rose

Even though it is the second part of a projected horror film trilogy, Ti West’s Pearl (2022), is more a sharply written and extremely well performed character study of the titular character than it is a genre film. Set in 1918, at the height of World War One and the Spanish Flu epidemic, the film chronicles the slow but steady emergence of psychopath Pearl (Mia Goth). Living with her German immigrant parents on an isolated farmstead in rural Texas, Pearl dreams of becoming a famous Hollywood Chorus Girl, a fantasy which will enable her to escape her strict, dominating mother, Ruth (Tandi Wright), and her responsibilities in both looking after her paralysed father (Matthew Sutherland) and managing the farm. Her sense of entrapment is compounded by her marriage to Howard (Alistair Sewell) who, despite coming from a wealthy family, desires nothing more than the honest life and work of a farmhand.

A young woman wearing a red dress stares forlornly while standing in a cornfield. Her makeup is smeared.

Posted on March 1, 2023

But She’s a Star!: Talking Pearl (2022)

Podcast

In today’s episode, it’s an old-Hollywood tinged journey into repression and murder via Ti West’s Pearl, the sequel to his massively successful X. Set against the final days of World War 1, the film follows Pearl (Mia Goth), a young woman who feels trapped by her mundane farm life and who yearns to take her place alongside the Big Screen stars she idolizes. But when those dreams get dashed, the film segues into unadulterated horror territory. With its sympathetic look at madness and its homage to the Golden Age of film, Pearl is a character study that all but ensures that you will never look at a scarecrow the same way again. We’re going to spoil the hell out of this film, so stay tuned.

elderly woman stands in a blood soaked nightgown with a pitchfork. She is looking at a wall.

Posted on June 8, 2022

The Monstrosity of Aging: Talking “X” (2022)

Elizabeth Erwin

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.