Wow. That was my first thought when American Mary ended. While not a perfect film, it is still a great, creepy, disturbing movie. It is well acted, has a engrossing and mostly satisfying story. It looks gorgeous. I was going to write "considering it is a low-budget movie"...but forget that. It just looks gorgeous.
Mary, the hottest medical wackjob ever. |
The film follows Mary Mason (the beautiful and talented
Katharine Isabelle, who is critical to the success of the film), a medical student who is running out of money. When she losses her low-wage waitress job, she heads to a local strip club, hoping to earn enough to stay in school and realize her goal of becoming a surgeon. While there, she is offered $5000 dollars by club owner - and brutal, but charismatic thug - Billy (
Antonio Cupo) to provide some life-saving medical aid to a man he and his underlings were torturing. She is soon drawn into an underground world of body modification enthusiasts, including Ruby Realgirl (
Paula Lindberg), woman who wants to become a living Barbie doll, complete with no nipples and a mostly closed vagina. While Mary shows reluctance, she also needs the money. As the film progresses, she is drugged and assaulted by one of her med school professors (Dr. Grant, played by
David Lovgren) at a surreal rape party held by some of the local surgeons, which ends her career as a student. She uses her underworld contact with Billy - who is obviously in lust with her - to have Grant kidnapped and brought where she spends a couple of days trying out various body modification surgeries on him (although we only see the results later in the film). Mary becomes a sensation in the body modification community. She also becomes increasingly unstable. When we finally see what she has done to Grant - removed his arms and legs and keeping him suspended from chains in a storage locker - she winds up murdering a guard who discovers them. A short time later, she threatens one of the strippers at Billy's club. Billy suggests the two of them just leave together, but she heads home instead. The film climaxes with Mary being contacted by Beatress (a woman surgically altered to look like Betty Boop, played by
Tristan Risk), who has been beaten by Ruby's husband, who is not happy with her "dollification" and is now looking for Mary. She is attacked by the husband in her home and stabbed. She kills him and sews her wound shut, but dies from internal bleeding, to be found by the police the next day. The end.
The Soska twins, looking all creepy-sexy...which is my favorite kind of sexy. |
First, the few things that didn't work. The film's climax didn't work, reflecting a weirdly moralistic punishment for Mary. In keeping with the twisted tone of the film - and with how charismatic Mary is - it would have been far more satisfying if she had survived, whether on her own or with Billy. And there is an extended cameo made by the sisters who wrote and directed the film,
Jen and Sylvia Soska that is badly acted - they sport really bad fake German accents - and pretty pointless. Of course, it's their movie - and more power to them for a) making a film and b) making a great film - but this scene drags. And that's really it.
The good...well, everything else. The film looks amazing. It is a beautifully shot film and shows how much talent can trump budget. The acting is great and care is taken to give even minor characters traits that set them apart. The film does have some gruesome moments, but nothing feels gratuitous and the effects are well executed and believable. The story proceeds logically, has enough tension to keep the viewer engaged and has protagonists (Mary and Billy) who change and deepen during the course of the film. There are well-timed moments of humor. In particular, I thought the scene where Mary, after having become a fixture in the extreme body modification community, almost has some poser who just wants a piercing beaten up, is hilarious. Since this is a horror film, there are some very cringe-worthy moments (when she is preparing to mutilate Grant and when she is getting ready to threaten the stripper) that remind you that, yes, this is a disturbing film. And the assault on Mary is distressing and necessary; unlike some films where there is a rape scene, this does not feel gratuitous. Oh, and Katherine Isabelle is amazing as Mary. She is able to convey the conflicted nature of the character and her descent into cold brutality, and possibly madness, quite effectively.
This is a movie that anyone who likes horror films, movies that focus on character psychology, thrillers...basically, anyone who likes a movie that is a little more challenging than the mindless multi-plex fodder of the day...needs to see. It is not perfect; but it is an impressive, gripping film.
Mary...great surgeon, but I'm not to keen on her dental techniques. |
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