Stephen King Praises Ti West's A24 Slasher Movie X

03/22/2022 11:35 pm EDT

Over the weekend A24 debuted not only their first slasher movie but the first chapter in their first franchise, Ti West's X. A love-letter to both horror movies like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre but also the adult film industry, the film plays with tropes and trappings of the slasher genre and has gone on to critical acclaim, earning a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes along with a "Certified Fresh" distinction. Now another important voice has given their stamp of approval with none other than Stephen King singing the film's praises.

"X is an extremely good horror movie," King wrote on Twitter. "Scary, smart, knowing. Oh. And entertaining." King's ringing endorsement got many excited, some noting they'd check out the film this weekend based on his recommendation. X marks the first film from Ti West in eight years but joining his already impressive filmography that includes The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers. The film stars Mia Goth (A Cure for Wellness), Jenna Ortega (Scream (2022)), Martin Henderson (The Ring, Grey's Anatomy), Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi), and Brittany Snow (Pitch Perfect, Hairspray).

Those that ventured out to see X in the theater were treated to a surprise after the credits rolled, the official trailer for the film's prequel movie, Pearl. Shot in secret at the same time as X and set sixty years prior, the movie features Mia Goth as the titular character, reprising her second role from X but without the old-lady prosthetics. A release date hasn't been confirmed but the film is set to arrive soon.

"It was really just betting on, 'Well, if we write a good script, why would they say no?'" West shared with the L.A. Times about making Pearl alongside X "We joked that the most A24 thing we could do with this movie is make two of them. For a studio that is consistently making challenging, progressively interesting, filmmaker-driven [projects], making two movies at the same time fell into the umbrella of what's so cool about what they're doing."  

"As much as X is this love letter to cinema, in a way so is Pearl -- it's just a very different kind of cinema. Which also sets up an idea for the third movie, which has a different vibe altogether," the filmmaker added. "I always felt like if you're going to make a slasher movie, you have to make a bunch of sequels."  

X is now playing in theaters nationwide.

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