Maybe that’s too much to ask of any horror franchise. The goriest slasher movie may possess hidden depths—the mold-setting Black Christmas, the meta-aware Scream—but its primary function is providing entertainment and vicious thrills. All three movies in West’s X trilogy basically deliver on that front, even the slightly ponderous Pearl, which featured fewer murders and more tearful monologues by Goth. MaXXXine has a bitchin’ soundtrack; lots of sultry, De Palma–inspired long shots; and a very engaging and salty performance from Goth at its center. It’s fun, but it’s unavoidably a bit of a style exercise, albeit a very good one.