In this movie's universe, Maxine is the Night Stalker.
The police in the trailer say that Maxine has lost three close friends in three days. What are the odds of that?
Besides, it would make the trilogy an Hourglass Plot: Pearl felt she had promise that was ignored and losing her dream turned her into a Serial Killer. Maxine is a Final Girl who survived and feels she's "gonna be a star." But, when she loses her Hollywood dream, she starts killing people because there's No Such Thing as Bad Publicity.
We'll see if the movie goes full Alternate History in "simply" making Richard Ramirez a Fall Guy, writing him out altogether, or making him Maxine's accomplice.
Maxine's father is looking for her, and he's an antagonist.
The detective in the trailer says a very powerful man is looking for Maxine. The cliffhanger to ''X revealed that Maxine's father operates a megachurch, which is a source of a lot of power and money today, let alone in the Reagan-era 1980s. Maxine's father is at least one of the killers.
Whether he'll do the dirty work himself, or hire someone to do it, we know from X that Maxine's father knows his daughter has "fallen" into sin via porn. Maxine's auditioning (and potentially casting) makes her into a public figure, which makes it possible for him to find her. He or his people come to LA to track her down, and kill anyone who stands in their way. Their ultimate intention may be to "save" Maxine's soul, or to sacrifice her for her "sin." The movie we seen In-Universe will be a Homage to Eli Roth's segment of Grindhouse or potentially Thanksgiving (2023).''
In the trailer, we see Lily Collins screaming on the videotape while tied up wearing colonial garb, similar to the pilgrim-hatted killer in Grindhouse. The trailer reveals that it's called "The Puritan II", suggesting that it's a period piece.