Review: I first heard about the director duo known as the Soska Sisters back when they had their debut film "Dead Hooker In A Trunk" released and I was able to have a chance to see that film. Sadly I really did not like it and only made it about half way before giving up on it. So that brings me to the chance to review their latest feature film "American Mary" which I had some skepticism about while going into it, but that quickly faded. To myself I see this as redemption for the Soska Sisters and I really think they have a great and long career making films ahead of them. I definitely think that they came into their own more on this film than on "Dead Hooker...". Now on with the autopsy!
The first thing I must admit that caught my eye was the American Mary poster artwork which featured Katharine Isabelle who I absolutely loved in the fantastic Ginger Snaps trilogy as well her great scene in "Freddy VS Jason". Knowing she was going to in it just made this film more well worth to watch. Katherine Isabelle plays as Mary Mason who is a med school student who turns her back on the school after she is brutally violated by someone she truly trusted. From there she stumbles into a world of underground surgeries as well as doing body modifications. Katherine did an excellent job at showing the transformation of the character as the film progressed. She went from being this kinda bland talented med student to becoming a very sexy femme fatale that no one should fuck with.
The plot of the film in ways reminds me of the very well done film "I Spit On Your Grave" and ranks up on my list now as one of the best female fronted revenge films of all time. Now maybe it's the version I have but it seems like there is parts missing or it's just the way some of the scenes were edited together. There was about 4 times or so that it went from one thing to another and seemed like something was missing. Aside from that I did like the way the film was paced which was steady and right to the point. Maybe the lack of bullshit filler that you get used to in most films was missing and that is why it seemed cut at times. The one thing I will mention that seemed like something was cut is when Mary goes from starting to practice body modification on someone to the person being modified beyond belief. I gore hound in me would of loved to of seen in detail some of what she did.
Overall this was a damn good horror/revenge film that was well acted, well directed, and overall well put together. I highly recommend this to those who are looking for something different than most horror films that are being released nowadays. The presentation on this DVD release is quite good and comes with great audio as well. It would of been better if I could of viewed this film on it's blu-ray release instead, but oh well this film is great on any format. The special features only come as 2 things which is a commentary track and a "making of" featurette. You can rent if you want, but I look at this film as a purchase instead!
-Daniel "Damnation" Lee
Director: Colin Theys
Genre: Horror
Blu-ray Release Year: 2013
Theatrical Release Year: 2012
Time Length: 103 mins.
Company: Xlrator Media
Review: I first heard about the director duo known as the Soska Sisters back when they had their debut film "Dead Hooker In A Trunk" released and I was able to have a chance to see that film. Sadly I really did not like it and only made it about half way before giving up on it. So that brings me to the chance to review their latest feature film "American Mary" which I had some skepticism about while going into it, but that quickly faded. To myself I see this as redemption for the Soska Sisters and I really think they have a great and long career making films ahead of them. I definitely think that they came into their own more on this film than on "Dead Hooker...". Now on with the autopsy!
