Directed by four different women, "XX" is divided in four sometimes promising but in the end deceptive segments:

(1) "The Box": Near Christmas, Susan Jacobs (Natalie Brown) is going home by subway with her son Danny (Peter DaCunha) and her daughter Jenny (Peyton Kennedy). There is a man (Michael Dyson) with a box and the nosy Danny asks what it is. The man opens the cover and Danny glances inside the box. From that moment on, Danny does not eat anymore. Six days later, his father Robert Jacobs (Jonathan Watton) takes him to the Dr. Weller (Ron Lea) that can not find reason for the loss of appetite. When Danny tells Jenny the content of the box, she also stops eating. Then they tell to Robert what Danny has seen and he stops eating too. What is the mystery of the box?

This intriguing tale has no conclusion and even the writer and director Jovanka Vuckovic probably does not know the content of the box.

(2) "The Birthday Party": On the day of her daughter's birthday, Mary (Melanie Lynskey) finds her husband dead in his office. She tries to hide the body since the guests for the birthday party will arrive soon. Will she succeed?

Maybe the intention of the director and writer St. Vincent would be to make a black comedy. However the result is a pointless and senseless annoying segment.

(3) "Don't Fall": Four friends go camping in the wilderness and they find horror in the place.

Written and directed by Roxanne Benjamin. "Don't Fall" is another terrible and forgettable segment where things happen without any explanation or character development.

(4) "Her Only Living Son": Cora (Christina Kirk) flees with her son Andy (Kyle Allen) from her husband and lives in a small town. Near the eighteenth birthday of Andy, his behavior changes and he discloses his dark side. What will Cora do?

Written and directed by Karyn Kusama, the dark "Her Only Living Son" is the best segment.

My vote is four. Title (Brazil): Not Available

This is 4 short stories told in 80 minutes.

The first two tales are different from other horror tales, while the second two are simply short versions of stories we have already seen. The stories were done well. If you need closure in a tale, this is not where you want to be.

Story 1- "The Box" is about a boy who looks into a box and loses his appetite and does not eat. The dining room table had food on it every night. I gained five pounds just watching it. Excellent.

Story 2- Is about a birthday party. A mother so obsessed with appearances goes to comical lengths to conceal her husband's recent passing.

Story 3- 2 couples in a remote area...the proverbial one suggested by a gas station attendant.

Story 4- A far too common genre about a mothers' love for her special son.

I also enjoyed the claymation doll between the tales.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

XX is an independent horror anthology that got a bit more press than the average due to it notably being advertised as one written, directed and being lead entirely by the fairer sex.

I have to admit this did interest me, women do tend to lead most horror movies but written and directed by? My interest was peaked, and I do love horror anthology films.

Telling 4 short tales separated by creepy stop motion animation it was worse than I ever thought it could have been. You see it reminded me heavily of The ABC's of Death (2012) which was an anthology I'd expected huge things from and ended up being one of the worst films I've ever seen. The stories were pointless, disturbing (And not in a good way) and just downright confusing, and that's basically what we have here. The tales aren't exactly what you'd expect, they aren't traditional horror or even alternative horror for that matter. They are weird art house films for the most part which are neither interesting nor scary. One of them simply isn't horror at all and the first story was just, well the whole thing is just terrible.

The third story was passable, the rest range from bad to absolutely dire. The films all female gimmick isn't worth watching this for, it's truly poor stuff.

The Good:

Story separators are interesting

Melanie Lynskey

The Bad:

3/4 stories are just awful

1/4 isn't even horror