Pomona Rewind

Having raised the bar for slasher movies with his wonderfully executed ' X ,' how does Ti West kick on with the second film in his trilogy? The answer is, it seems, by fusing the genre with a period drama that celebrates the early days of cinema. Co-written with Mia Goth, 'Pearl' fills in the back story of one of the characters the London born actress played in ' X '. Pearl was an old woman in the previous instalment who unleashed an orgy of violence on a Texan farm in 1979 where Goth's other character Maxine was making a porn film. © A24 A prequel to 'X,' 'Pearl' is not, however, your typical psycho movie. It's a loving, knowing tribute to the Golden Age of cinema and another meditation by West on the lure of fame and the dangers of developing an unhealthy obsession with it. 'Pearl' begins with Goth's farm girl sporting a fine dress and dancing aeound her bedroom like a Disney character. She's interrupted, however, by her

And so to Ti West's 'X' - the first in a series of films that celebrate and shake up the slasher movie genre. Released digitally last year, the film helped establish Mia Goth as the movie industry's pre-eminent cult actress. Made in New Zealand back to back with its prequel 'Pearl,' it should be viewed before watching that film. A loving recreation of Tobe Hooper's ' Texas Chainsaw Massacre ' and John Carpenter's ' Halloween ,' it's a glorious throwback to the days when slasher movies really spooked cinemagoers. © A24 However be under no illusions - 'X' isn't mere pastiche. Goth takes on two roles in 'X'. The first is Maxine, a stripper recruited by her sleazy boyfriend, Martin Henderson's Wayne Gilroy to star in a porn movie called 'The Farmer's Daughters'. The movie is being filmed in 1979 on the cheap, on a farm deep in the Bible Belt of rural Texas. © A24 Wayne is a man on the make - an entrepre