Pearl (2022) KILL COUNT

Welcome to the death

count

where we

count

the victims and all our favorite horror movies and show you how they were made. I'm James Aice and today we're watching Pearl released in

2022

Pearl is a prequel to X the slasher that was released. early the same year we'll get one last full trilogy when Maxine premieres next week, following his ex's latest girl in 1980s Los Angeles. All three films come courtesy of the veteran writer, director, editor and producer Tai West Pearl explores the early years of her ex's bloody grandmother, who now becomes the main character once again played by Mia Goth, only this time she doesn't have to sit for hours doing an elderly person's makeup.

Goth came up with a

pearl

y backstory as character work for x and co-wrote the script with West. During the production of X, a24 greenlit the project when , which gives this prequel a rewarding continuity that allows us to see X's old, broken locations and characters when they were in their previous Prime years and is not just a new coat of paint that differentiates the two films, while X is a 70's style slasher that evokes the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A nightmarish Technicolor character piece, it draws inspiration from Golden Age films and radical musicals. Watching Pearl go to work feels like watching Mary Poppins murder people in Oz.

The bright theatrical tone makes the scary element stand out more. The horror here comes from Pearl's psychological breakdown, which seems inevitable given the circumstances she lives in. It takes place in 19180, a double dose of suck thanks to World War I and the Spanish Flu, but even without those global traumas, Pearl has been dealt a bad hand, living with mental illness in an era when No would have been recognized or treated. I won't try to diagnose her from the armchair, but she is clearly a sociopath with delusions of grandeur. One day, the whole world will know my name between the character's twisted but well-developed psychology and a performance for all ages. by goth Pearl is instantly inserted into the pantheon of horror icons.

Some memorable modern

kill

ers like Megan gain that status through their appearance and dialogue. Pearl is more of a Patrick Baitman type, she owns every frame she is in and you deeply learn who she is and the flaws that drive her, she is the main attraction of a film that also features disturbing images and buckets of red blood. cherry, in other words, a damn fucking horror picture, okay, this bloody backstory, let us, oh uh, sorry, a moment seeking the wisdom of the great Jaz. oh great JZ I traveled through the gray streets of Los Angeles to find you.

I heard that you have the power to grant me anything I seek. In fact, tell me what do you want? A good night's sleep. Your counter. This is an easy request. I can help you without any magic thanks to today's sponsor Helix Sleep Helix Sleep offers premium fiberglass-free mattresses customized to your needs and shipped directly to your door. That's why I just updated our '70s-themed room with one that all I had to do was fill. their online sleep quiz to get the perfect fit for my body type and sleep preferences from their selection of 20 unique mattresses that ended with me getting the Midnight Lux mattress with a 100-night sleep trial to make sure it was perfect for me, but Soy, sorry, is not the mattress for your guests.

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I have important matters to attend to. Greatness and jge and all that. This bloody backstory will leave us clutching our

pearl

s. Let's find out and get to the murders. The film begins with a rising score on it. barn doors like X, but while Pearl, isn't she a heavenly creature, friends, shame on her mother. I disagree. Pearl lives and works on her family's farm in Texas in 1918. Her parents are German immigrants and it's not a good time to be. I don't want to hear about any more dead Germans tonight, which further aggravates the mood at Pearl. She is her father.

Since the poor thing is a shell of a human being, an unspecified illness has left him immobile and he needs to be fed and bathed, it is horrible for him and also for Pearl, who is not cut out to live on the farm, and lets Her true self shines when she is alone. she's a former star a star has the same feeling about herself that Maxine Minks would have 60 years later you're special I'm special special is one way of saying it considering how she deals with Barnyard Pals who don't pay for tickets to her show, hanging a a poor goose and takes him to a nearby pond, there he calls his bumpy one, Theta, and feeds Gator a small card.

The next day, Pearl rides her bike into town and passes a man preaching the book. by Maxine I won't accept a life I don't deserve I don't deserve Being a great catchphrase to throw on a sandwich board After buying morphine for her dad, she disobeys her mom's orders and stops by the local movie theater to see a show she watches him with . Vision 2020, what I mean by a mask over your face to avoid the pandemic F takes place in 1918, when the Spanish flu was wreaking havoc on the world just like covid-19 in 2020, the parallels are many, remember cover your face and wear Don't stay close to anyone Newspapers warn of deadly resurgence Writer and director Ty West thought this was a theme.

An iCal way to add to Pearl's insulation. She already struggles with the loneliness of farm life with the pandemic in place and she can't even socialize. In the city, all this isolation has been enough to make one angry, hasn't it? It really reflects the mental health issues that many people experienced due to isolation during the Co lockdowns before the film begins. Nicole Kidman gets aired for some pre-show blurb, damn. The images are intense, they couldn't play meme music or anything like that. Pearl takes a scissors drink and adapts to Palace Folies, a film featuring the song We wee Marie we Mar, the same song that was heard in X when old Pearl was dancing in Bloody. headlines that version was a Chelsea Wolf version after the show Pearl has an alley encounter with the movie projectionist and that's projectionist with a capital P since we never found out the guy's real name, the mustachioed movie man flirts with Pearl without knowing that she is married because she never tells her that her husband Howard is fighting in the trenches and writes to her about the horrors he has seen and how much he misses her.

I don't want to be away from you ever again until death becomes a part like X showed that would become. It turns out to be true, the projectionist gives Pearl the still from the movie she just watched and tells her that she can come and watch a movie whenever she wants. only in one place could he have penetrated deep into the corn stalks, maybe he can get another one from the one filming behind the rose, he doesn't find Isaac or Malachi, but he runs into a creepy scarecrow, but hey, when you're in a Drought, even straw can look pretty and ripe, takes silly Bumpkin to a ballroom dance and starts practicing kissing him ooh, moving on to Advanced Techniques, I see, and why not, he's so handsome, isn't he Pearl ?

I'm married, um. Okay, that's fine, but then why are you about to do it? Okay, you're going to have a little secret about the scarecrow, uh, yeah, she clicks her Ruby heels against him and, well, she fucks that scarecrow. I mean, you shouldn't be too surprised that we don't. Since Pearls are perpetually horny even in old age, she arrives home late to find her frustrated mother chopping wood like she's William from The Witch, she is sent inside to help her father wash, which gives her the opportunity to practice his kits and his psychopathies, and she pinches him and pushes him, oh man, and strangles him too, come on Pearl, leave your parents alone at dinner.

Mama Ruth takes her daughter's soup away from her after noticing that she was missing her change. The 8 cent inflation calculator says it would be one dollar. 79 today seems harsh, but they are also tough. The moments when Ruth is quick to remind her daughter of her, especially for people like them, is an unfortunate reminder that Americans have often been suspicious of immigrants, especially when they come from countries where we are at war. The conflict between Pearl and Ruth is one that can be understood. Both perspectives as a desperate creative type. Obviously, Pearl will be miserable living on a farm, but her mother immigrated here and worked so hard to achieve this life that she can't afford for her daughter to be flighty that night.

Pearl wishes for a chance to escape from the farm and a shooting star heralds an opportunity, he arrives the next day when Howard's mother and sister visit him trying to help by delivering a roast pig. Ruth is too proud to accept alms, especially from a family that is much better off. It turns out that Howard comes from a wealthy family. and the privilege could even have been earned by serving in the war, you know, we had a doctor willing to declare him ineligible, but he turned down his family's wealth and the opportunity to be a farmer and a soldier, and Perls is super excited because a she really loves it. proud of you, that's great, Howie, her sister-in-law Mitzy, lets her know that there is a traveling troop in town auditioning girls to be dancers, that doesn't sound exciting, it sure does sound familiar to Pearl, so they both They make plans to attend the audition together.

Pearl thinks so. may be your ticket out of this place and allow you to have some Palace Folly yes sir she can see it now best of all it will get her away from her mother who is just CAU the saddest woman I have ever seen my life. a black cloud amongst all these vibrant colors Pearl was filmed on the same sets and locations as . 2 It was sometimes a lot of work to turn things around in the 1910s for the city. They filmed a section of Wanganui in New Zealand where they had to remove parking meters and light poles and place dirt to cover the asphalt, but other times it was easier.

To recreate this time period than the 1970s for It was actually easier than aging it for a while instead of having to add wear and tear, they could simply put up new wallpaper and a fresh coat of paint. It was very strange to be making a movie on a farm for over a month and then be away for about a month and when you came back, the farm looked totally different. The owners of the house they filmed in liked the remodel so much that they kept after production wrapped Pearl steals another of her mother's dresses and runs away to see the projectionist again, arrives in town looking like the Wicked Witch or I guess technically, by looking like Miss Gulch, there are a lot of images of the Wizard O's In this film, since, like Dorothy Pearl, she imagines herself living in a world that is larger than her farm life, Projection is pleased to take her to his dirt couch and give her a dirty glass of tits. , she asks to watch Palace F's again, but he suggests a reel from his personal collection, how about a movie no one else has seen?

A Free Ride from 1915 is a real-life bachelor party film, silent shorts being some of the first. examples of porn she picked up in France, as they are still illegal in the US OFA, but she believes they will soon be legal. People pay an arm and a leg to see this. It's a nod toward the future production that will take place in Pearl's backyard 60 years from now. There's another piece of connective tissue when the projectionist calls himself a bohemian. I guess Howard has a streak of bad luck.with guys like him, the last bohemian, the state here was the same walking around and shouting a Clothes attract my wife.

More connections are made with exes as the sexy couple encourages Pearl to follow her dreams. You only get one shot of this life and if you don't make the most of it when you're young, you don't get a second. Opportunity, that's the overall theme of Axe. There we see Pearl long after all her second chances are gone and hear the younger characters talk about how to avoid those regrets because one day we'll be too old to fuck and we'll laugh too little if You Have Me Pearl opens up about feeling trapped taking care of her father and tending to the farm, she may even open up too much if they just died, sorry, nothing, she almost fulfills that thought later when she rolls up to her poor father.

She went out to meet her best pastor. The G is named after a silent film actress whose film is showing at the local Pearl movie theater. American alligators can live over 80 years, so Theta may be the same Gator that would later take a bite. Bobby Lyn now doesn't have dinner with Dad, as Ruth finds Pearl before the chairs are knocked over. Later, Pearl finds a nest of alligator eggs and takes one home. Her resentment toward Howard for leaving her causes her to resent her new friend while she hallucinates. he was

kill

ed in the war I love this sudden explosion where they just blew up a doll full of fake guts.

Ruth discovers that Pearl has been infiltrating the city and demands that she isolate herself from her sickly father. Pearl asks to go to the dance audition instead saying that she wants something more than this life and that's it. the straw that broke the camel's back for her mother Ruth accuses Perla of being ungrateful and says that she knows her daughter as antisocial Trends It's not that she knows that word but she has seen what it does to animals and she is afraid of it, it's just a number of time before you hurt someone else she also says oh you think your life sucks look what I'm dealing with.

She was supposed to be his wife, not his mother. Ruth is played by Tandy Wright, a New Zealand actress who worked on X as an intimacy coordinator. She recorded her audition for Pearl. with the help of Owen Campbell and Martin Henderson and only had 3 weeks to learn the German required for the role, she goes crazy with guilt and even stabs an innocent table, oh my god, then she practically curses her daughter, but when you fail and you would fail, I want you to remember what it feels like because that's how I feel every time I look at you, damn we may have passed hereditary levels of brutal dinner scenes, that moment of falling leads to a game of Slappy slaps and before you know it.

Ruth catches fire. Pearl turns it off and scolds her mother with boiling corn water. She's sure the fire is already out, but so is half of her skin. Ruth is not quite ready to kill. However, Pearl keeps it in the basement with the rest of the decorations. We fade into a 4x3 Dream Theater and hold the poroi where the monochrome masses clamor for Pearl. Originally, Weston Goth proposed that Pearl be a black-and-white film thinking it could reduce production costs, but a24 knew they wouldn't see that film or its death toll, so the production pivoted to making what West called A insane Disney movie.

Pearl wakes up next. morning on that little metal bed and she briefly panics since it's the day of her dance audition, but the projectionist offers her a ride back home. Betty wasn't expecting to find a roast pig with worms on the porch, yes, that is, perhaps, a red flag that BR maintains. him outside while she tidies up, which includes cleaning up after her poor starving dad was left alone at the table all night, come on Pearl, he won't be in the mood for company. Nice to meet you sir, the protectionist is already having SE. His doubts and sexual aspirations end when he hears Ruth crashing in the basement.

He is played by David Corn Sweat, who has been cast as the dcu's new Superman. His performance here is excellent. With each new information he gets, he realizes that he got into something bad. he makes an excuse to leave, but Pearl realizes very quickly, what's wrong with you? Nothing, I'll take the biggest lies I've ever heard in my life for 800, she tries to walk away, but Pearl angrily takes a pitchfork out of the poor guy's backpacks twice and she's done. He plants it by planting it in the ground directly through her mouth. Damn, he then goes psycho and sinks his body and his car into the lake.

Johnny, it's a move he would repeat more than 60 years later in X. Pearl throws her mother back into the basement. then he dresses her and her father in her Sunday clothes. This is the most emotional we have seen her father and that emotion is fear without limits, ready to leave her life behind. Pearl gives her father a kiss and then smothers him with a towel. Screen man, you have to feel for the guy who had a really hard life and a pretty boring death. The film's soundtrack changes here to match Pearl's twist and character. The film's beautiful orchestral score was co-composed by Tyler Bates who returns from X this time working.

Using get out and it composer Tim Williams as inspiration, the two look to composers like frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herman and English composer John Barry, who worked on a slew of James Bon films. The score was performed by a 60-piece orchestra that was funded by a24. Despite going over the planned budget, Pearl makes her new digs and meets Mity at the audition, newly emboldened, she doesn't make any false claims about sportsmanship, it has to be me, the troop is just looking to hire a girl and, Since Pearl projects confidence, MSY asks her to audition first. Pearl accepts and finally infiltrates the world she's been dreaming of Aven, the judges aren't very impressed, but in Pearl's mind, she's putting on a show you haven't seen since 1917, not the year I'm referring to the Sendis movie, well, it's a full-blown musical number. with rockets of the Radio City and Ballistic variety, unfortunately, no matter how hard you smile, that is.

It's not enough to win over the judges, thank you, but it's going to be no and just like that, Pearl's brain breaks. I don't know what I was expecting, although you know she's not getting high marks from her burned-to-dead mom, the judges say We're looking for someone, all-American, young and blonde, someone with X Factor. Pearl has a complete breakdown and does a little bit of noise please X she was a damn liar, it is not my fault that you did not live the life you wanted, damn it, Bobby Lynn Mithy finds Pearl making balls with her brains and offers her to take her home back with the Pig worm in which she tries to calm her . with a nice glass of milk, but Pearl was about to miss her husband and have a self-reflective breakdown.

She worries me that there might be something really wrong with me. MSY in a bit of therapeutic theater, Mity offers to play the role of Howard so Pearl can vent her feelings I hate you so much for leaving me here sometimes I hope you die Mitsy immediately regrets her decision in an incredible 8-minute monologue Pearl opens up to the imaginary Howard about her disappointment with his life and admits that she resents him. for keeping them on this farm when her wealth could have given her the life she wants, it's TMI nonsense when she talks about the relief she felt at having a miscarriage and admits she kills animals, but don't just worry about the little ones. nothing with feelings nothing that can hurt me felt good of course that leads to a confession of killing his parents and the projectionist truth is that I'm not really a good person you don't say that this extended monologue was inspired by the 17 minutes .

A long shot of Steve McQueen's hunger was meant to be a climax that contrasts with how flashy and flashy the rest of the film is. Gotham practiced it every day of filming to write the words, which allowed her to let her emotions guide the scene. She performed the entire 15 minute scene uncut multiple times, lasting so long that you almost forget she's talking to Mity until she sees her face again. She is in danger. Mity tries to make excuses for her, but Pearl pressures her into admitting that she was chosen for The Chorus. Line I still don't know if it really was or if she simply agreed with Pearl to get out of there faster, I mean she does match what the judges said they were looking for but it didn't seem like she was lying when she said she didn't understand it in any case Pearl He says he's all for Mity getting the role, but it's not long before he follows his sister-in-law outside and grabs an axe.

I love this long shot that follows them as we look at Mity. They realize what is about to happen to her, they used a car mounted crane called the Russian arm and took about six shots, the heels are no match for Pearl's sentient work boots, allowing the Crimson assassin to take her down. down. I'll do anything you want. I want, it's no longer about what I want. Mitzy doesn't do my best with that. Mity is split by an off-screen punch. Pearl returns to the basement where her mother Ruth eventually died from her injuries. Thank God, her death.

She was starting to get cold. Pearl curls up for some cadaverous comfort and hallucinates her mother singing an al Lai that plays over a montage of Pearl cutting up her corpse and giving it to Theta. The practical effects of mit's body parts never failed to blow me away. They are so awful and gelatinous. I love it. They were made by Weda, providing yet another film with his always exceptional work. Pearl makes her mother more presentable by using the same hairbrush that we would see her use later in X, yeah, there you go, nice brushes or uh.

I got a little scalped from that one when I was done, the pro sets up the most disgusting table I've ever seen and I've seen all the Texas Chainsaw massacres. I mean, those are gross, but I don't think any of them will ever be as uh worms as this one. Later, Howard finally returns from the war, excitedly entering his house only to find Norman Rockwell in nightmare mode waiting for him. Pearl greets him with a picture of lemonade and the film ends with Mia Goth proving that she is the queen of long takes with a manic smile. for almost 2 minutes straight, this was originally meant to be a freeze frame ending but West wanted to see how long he could keep the smile on, he actually lost his sight, that was just one take and we only had one chance to do it and that was Never it was the plan for it to go on for so long, but Tai decided to keep rolling and then I just decided to move on, it lasts until the end of the credits, okay, that's all folks.

Seriously, Pearl, that's it, bye, how many deaths did Pearl bring to this antique horror show? Let's find out and get to the right numbers, scarecrow guy, scarecrow guy, have you always been like no, I can't, I'm married, well, only four people died? in Pearl, which is half as many victims as exes, were made up of two men and two women who gave us this technicolor pie chart. We've only seen this retelling and breakdown twice before on this show and both movies were good with a runtime of 102 minutes, Pearl having a death on average every 25 and a half minutes.

I'll give MSY the golden chainsaw for the coolest death, as long as we include the disgusting dismemberment that followed, which I'll do maete for Lam's death. Pearl's father happened almost entirely off-screen to a character who didn't really deserve it and that's it. Pearl is out in

2022

and will be followed by Maxine, which is out next week until the next time it's James and Janice. has been the death count in the next death count, forgive me father, because I have sinned, it has been 5 months since Immaculate Conception came out and we still haven't done a death count, God will never forgive you, well that's a bit excessive, don't do it.

Do you think I'm sorry? All is forgiven, just say five hells Lucias and we'll move on. Immaculate is the story of a novice sister named Cecilia who moves to a convent in Italy after a near-death experience that sounds terrifying drives her crazy. I believe God has saved her life to fulfill a special purpose, but what could she be? I must have drunk too much wine and embarrassed myself. No, it can't be that people do that all the time. It's probably something more conceptual that has to do with the movie. title, you're pregnant, there it is, don't be confused, this is not the first Omen, it's more or less exactly the same as the first Omen, screw this, but that doesn't mean it's bad Sydney Sweeney does a great job, thanks I don't I say as a compliment, well I did, you're probably just jealous that she made out with Glenn Powell this week anyway, make herthe two of you join together to watch Immaculate, make sure you brush up on your Italian, okay, I'll translate for Then on Friday, take a break to kill C oh God, oh, just with dead flesh, what's inside you is our success.

Immaculate and can currently be viewed on the streaming platforms pictured. D. It is always recommended that you watch the movie yourself before you kill. It is the only way to have your own properly informed opinion. Death counts are never meant to replace the experience of watching a movie. Thank you so much for watching this death count for Pearl Man 2022. What a horror year. Pearl was also an excellent contender in one of the horrors. Royal Rumbles I think was the first one, but if you don't know what I'm talking about or just want to watch them again because they're the best videos we've ever made, make sure you go die hard.

Meat hosts and subscribe there, just a reminder that that's where all the non-death count content is, including the podcast and our weekly Monday live streams, every Monday morning on 9 Pacific, We review the news and horror from the previous week and Dead Meat updates take a look too. Scream Dreams, the other podcast I'm on, where we interview horror people. We did an interview with Ty West. I don't know if it's available now, but be sure to check it out. My co-hosts are Kathern Corkran of Terrifier and Barbara Crampton. by Barbara Krampton So subscribe to that too, it's a good thing.

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