10 MORE Horror Movies That Actually Benefitted From Bad Acting

MaXXXine closed out Ti West's X trilogy last year, transporting ex-porn star Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) to 1980s Hollywood as she makes her big break for the silver screen. Set against the backdrop of the real-life Night Stalker killings, MaXXXine weaves a story of a religious, ritualistic killer haunting the streets of LA, whose deeper connection to Maxine threatens to upend her new life before it's begun.

The cast is an eclectic blend of up-and-comers (Elizabeth Debicki), contemporary music stars (Halsey, Moses Sumney), and familiar faces (Michelle Monaghan). And while a couple of these stars put in a down-to-earth performance, they are upstaged by the film's larger-than-life elements. Kevin Bacon in particular has a blast playing a corrupt gumshoe who seems like he would be as at home on Chinatown as this. Conversely, while we know Mia Goth has the goods, here she is cold and under-formed, defined by her resistance to character as much as her embodiment of it. But that's okay.

The point of this picture, as much as any other entry in the X trilogy, is an homage to a specific genre moment - the video nasties of the '80s. The films from this era prided themselves on spills and gory thrills over substance, and whether it's Goth's leading lady, Bacon's detective, or Simon Prast's manic TV preacher Ernest Miller, they all seem to understand what kind of acting this joint requires.