X (4 Stars)

This is the first film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival Nights.

Usually there's the main festival in September, plus two mini-festivals in January and April with two days each. Over the last two years the schedules have been hit by the Corona pandemic. This year the January festival was cancelled, so the April festival was lengthened to last four days.

"X" is a first class horror film to open this year's four-day festival. It's set in Texas in 1979. A team of six young people rent a small house on a farm to shoot their first film: a porno! VCRs are new on the market, so they think they can cash in on this new medium. By selling a porno to watch at home, instead of backstreet cinemas, it's a film that's not just for perverts. I don't see the logic in that, but the young film makers say a lot of things that are the product of enthusiasm rather than logical thinking.

The old farmer, probably in his eighties, has no idea what's happening. He's unaware that the film makers are sneaking into the cow shed to film sex scenes. It's all relevant, because their film is called "The Farmer's Daughter". There's a lot of tension in the film, because the young people have different opinions about whether they want to make smut or art. Two of the women are jealous about which one of them is the film's biggest star.

But tragedy strikes. The farmer's wife, who was a beautiful dancer before the First World War, sees what's happening. She wants to get sexually involved with the film cast. When they turn her down, she kills them, one by one. At first we think she's the only killer, but her husband joins in the killing spree.

This is a very good film. If all the other films in the festival are at least this good, it will be a fantastic four days.