In my very special Halloween episode, I explore true crime, sex work, and media of the 1980s through the lens of this summer's horror hit MaXXXine. It is the third film in Ty West's trilogy.
Maxine isn’t worried about crime, Aids, or drug addiction. She is concerned with fame, or as she says, “I will not accept a life I do not deserve.” The adage is a gift from her father, a preacher turned serial killer who represents the patriarchy in its purest form. The buxom bootstrap babe makes her way through Hollywood in a twisty and turny homage of a film that climaxes on the Hollywood Sign in a standoff with a shotgun to her daddy’s face.
My sources for this film include Michael Connely's podcast turned mini-series The Wonderland Massacre & the Secret History of Hollywood and the Netflix docuseries Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer.
