Maxine Minx is a movie star. We know it, she absolutely knows it (and tells herself in the mirror whenever she needs a pick-me-up). Maxine — or OK, yes, the imitable Mia Goth playing her — told us as much all the way back in 2022, when she uttered the forever-iconic line in X: “I will not accept a life I do not deserve.â€
After missing out on the prequel action of Pearl, Maxine arrives in 1980s Hollywood with a mission in the final installment of the trilogy that X set up. Yes, A24’s direct sequel to that cult-beloved slasher, MaXXXine, is here to turn heads, and maybe do some more stuff that causes others to lose theirs. Directed by Ti West, the horror/thriller auteur behind the previous films in the series, this entry (in theaters July 5) sees Maxine escape her previous tragic events for the glittering opportunity and high-end dangers of of 1985 Hollywood, with the kind of self-assuredness we’ve come to expect from such a cinematic underdog. Naturally, she nails her first audition for a “B-movie with A-ideas,†per Elizabeth Debicki’s pantsuited hotshot director, known as The Puritan II.
Thankfully, there is an opportunity for non-famous, currently alive humans in Los Angeles to experience exactly how MaXXXine connects with the real-life history, crime, and mysteries of the city. A24 has teamed up with Starline Tours for the MaXXXine: Hollywood Is a Killer Tour. The exclusive bus tour guides passengers through the unforgettable neon-drenched sights that served as background for the industry’s latest fictional scream queen, who will stop at nothing to make her fame last forever.
We went behind the scenes of the Starline tour, departing from Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame right outside the TCL Chinese Theater, and got an early look at the movie, shot on location and lovingly recreating LA in all its ’80s glory, to compile this guide to the true Hollywood dreams and horrors that Maxine Minx knows all too well.
Theda Bara’s Hollywood Star
Very early in MaXXXine, when our titular hero — avenger, impossible force? — looks beyond her adult film roots, we watch her meet up with a colleague and friend, Tabby Martin, played by Halsey with a delicious accent. Tabby invites Maxine to a chic party up in the Hollywood Hills hosted by someone powerful. Maxine has to decline, as she’s late for yet another gig at the kind of peep show venue that once proliferated.
As Tabby takes her taxi to her destination, she warns Maxine to stay safe — hello, the Night Stalker is still active in these parts (more on that later). Our complex heroine has choice words: “I can take care of myself.†Cut to Maxine furiously stubbing out her cigarette on a Walk of Fame star.
The star? Real. Its namesake? Theda Bara. If you don’t know her, you don’t know West’s talent for sneaky references. Bara’s star remains one of the oldest you can see mere steps from the Chinese Theater, as she was a silent film actress and femme fatale sex symbol. Who could relate to that profile?
Hollywood Memorial Cemetery (aka Hollywood Forever Cemetery)
Hollywood Forever Cemetery, renamed the neighborhood’s “Memorial Cemetery†in the film, gets a visit from Detective Williams (Michelle Monaghan) and Detective Torres (Bobby Cannavale) as they inspect corpses tied to a string of murders in the area that may or may not be be related to the Night Stalker. They’re told the victims were discovered by men snooping around the grave of Judy Garland who is, yes, buried in the real cemetery alongside other pioneers of the town.
The Night Stalker
The Night Stalker looms large in the lore of California’s most prolific and creepy serial killers. But we don’t need to get into all the details. There are thorough true crime documentaries for that exact purpose! What we will say is that MaXXXine alludes to the panic that gripped Southern California when the Night Stalker (real name: Richard Ramirez) was still active in his miserable campaign of chasing down and brutalizing women. Thankfully, he was caught and put behind bars.
The Bates Motel and Psycho House
If you haven’t seen the seminal thriller Psycho, what the hell are you doing reading this? But here’s what you didn’t know, and what I only realized on the tour: The unforgettable motel and house from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 squirmy masterpiece are still there! Just sitting around, having been preserved all these years later for commemoration and future shoots like the one in MaXXXine. Our starlet visits the musty set on her thespian journey and, without giving anything away, sees something rather ghostly.
The Hollywood Sign and Starlight Drive (aka Mulholland Drive)
You may have been told that you can’t actually walk right up to the Hollywood Sign anymore. Sadly, correct. But you can get pretty darn close by visiting the Mulholland Scenic Overlook on Mulholland Drive — and it’s a gorgeous stop on the Starline MaXXXine tour.
In a crucial scene from the movie, we watch Maxine head from below the sign to a house oh-so close to those giant letters built in the hills. She goes up “Starlight Drive,†which would be Mulholland Drive, or Mulholland Highway, its name when the road sneaks through the difficult-to-reach parts closest to the sign that are off-limits.
Let’s just say that Ms. Minx makes her own treacherous climb through these exact hills for the pursuit of a lifetime. The rest is for you to discover.
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