There’s something unusual about Ti West’s latest movie, Pearl, which is now in theaters. The film is a prequel to his 1918 setting of “X,” West’s homage to ’70s grindhouse, but that’s not strange. It’s not a gruesome tale of a young woman trying to slaughter her way from farm life to silver screen stardom. It’s not the Douglas Sirk style with a novel sensibility.
What’s strange is that both “Pearl” and “X” were released just six months apart. This is a bonanza for any filmmaker. For actress Mia Goth, it’s secondary, too. In ‘Pearl’ she plays the unhinged title character. In “X” she plays Maxine, a porn starlet, and another.
There’s more: West announced last week That goth reprise her role as Maxine “MaXXXine” The third film in West’s trilogy, set in 80’s Los Angeles.
It’s not unheard of for a director to release two films in a year.Alfred Hitchcock did it together “rear window” When “Dial M for Murder” 1954. Ida Lupino, Steven Soderbergh and Spike Lee also did it.
But for a genre guy like West, an indie director best known for his slow-burn horror “Devil’s House” When “sacrament” Unicorn realm. Goth is the same.
In a phone interview, Goss said, “It was my first lead role in a movie, and then it snowballed into two lead roles in two movies.” ”
In a video interview, West talked about the origins of “Pearl” and what it means to have a double year. These are edited excerpts from two conversations.
How does it feel to be part of a two-film-a-year movie club?
Very strange, but cool.I appreciate it very much [the distributor] A24. When I first pitched to them, I thought ‘X’ could come out and ‘Pearl’ could come out and then come out soon after. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so you’ll never get that chance again.
And credit A24: they loved it. I felt like what they were doing was very avant-garde. I’m very proud of both movies and that they are so different in that you don’t have to see ‘X’ to appreciate ‘Pearl’. They enrich each other, but they are independent.
It’s not just that there are two movies in a year. That’s what movies are about.
There are all sorts of details that relate to both movies in a fun, world-building kind of way. There wouldn’t have been enough movies in .
It’s been almost three movie years for you.
It has already been downgraded. [Laughs] this was Impressive but now — “You made two movies, you wrote a third, and it’s a shame you didn’t get a third.”
Why did you decide to make a trilogy?
They are all connected in their own way.The joke I made was like, ‘We had to get back together’ Biff Tannen timeline We fixed everything up like “Back to the Future” so we could set up a third movie. I’m hoping the additional context of the third film lands the way I want it.
Where did the idea for “Pearl” come from?
When we were making ‘X’ we went to New Zealand because we had secured borders so there was virtually no pandemic going on. We had a crew and we were going to build these places in the middle of nowhere. What if he made two movies in a row?
I had an idea for a young Pearl, so I thought I’d make an “X” prequel. I wrote the script in two weeks and improved it later. I think this is less expensive than the first film and a better script. A24 I agree.
“Pearl” fuses technicolor style with a fresh story. What did you like about that mix?
I wanted an aesthetic that was radically different from “X”. Initially, I thought I could do it with this German Expressionist black and white method. It would be cheaper that way because you don’t have to paint anything. However, the idea of doing it in this Golden Age style of Hollywood seemed to suit her character better.
The idea of mixing an almost Disney aesthetic with dementia and psychological issues was something I had never seen before. A24 was like, “Don’t worry about slightly cheaper options, let’s do the right thing.”
You made your foray into the Western genre with your last film, “In the Valley of Violence” Why are you back in fear?
I was making horror movies in quick succession. And, you know, making movies is pretty traumatic. You have to really want to do it for two years. So I was doing westerns and then TV shows and I was enjoying it. I felt very sharp and it was a good opportunity to make a movie again.
What sequels or prequels do you enjoy?
“Evil Dead 2” Same as the first movie, but completely redefined. It leans into who Sam Raimi was then as a filmmaker. It was his brain that made that movie. Without him, the movie wouldn’t exist.
Halloween is just around the corner. Are you a Halloween man?
I like that people who don’t watch horror movies are a little more open to horror movies in October.It’s fun to see people you don’t usually see “Nightmare on Elm Street 4” “Well, it’s on TV, so I’m curious how they’ll get out of this problem.”