While I'd figure that a sizable percentage of the movies I've seen and reviewed for this blog over the last decade or so are big-budget Hollywood productions that have gotten huge advertising campaigns, there are more than a few I'd only heard of through word of mouth. Whether it be via a post on some online message board or a review on a random website (or honestly, even as an appearance on Mystery Science Theater 3000), I've seen my share of movies I probably would have never heard of had someone not told me about them.
Such was the case with the movie American Mary. I'd heard about it late last summer shortly after it was released on DVD, and while it sounded intriguing, I was hesitant to watch it because I was honestly creeped out by its concept. But I remained curious about it, wondering if I was actually doing myself a disservice by avoiding it. So I've finally given in to my curiosity and sat down to watch it, and I'm here to tell you that in spite of some glaring flaws, American Mary is a hell of a movie.
The "Mary" of the title refers to Mary Mason (Katherine Isabelle), a med student who longs to one day become a surgeon. Buried to her neck in bills and desperate to dig herself out of this massive debt, Mary applies for a job at a strip club. The club's owner, Billy Barker (Antonio Cupo), gets a bit of a laugh out of Mary bringing a résumé to her interview, but is soon happy she did. Taking notice of her education, Billy offers Mary five thousand dollars cash if she'll perform emergency surgery on a badly injured friend. She accepts, but returns home emotionally rattled by the experience.
Mary is contacted the next day by Beatress Johnson (Tristan Risk), a dancer at the club Mary had visited the night before. Having undergone numerous procedures to make herself resemble Betty Boop, Beatress offers Mary a hefty sum of money to perform some cosmetic surgery on a friend who wishes to look like a real-life Barbie doll by having her nipples removed and genitals altered. Mary accepts the job despite her initial ethical objections to it, because the paycheck too good to refuse.
Requests from others within the body modification community come rolling in once word gets out about the success she had with Beatress's friend, but Mary would prefer to stay on the up-and-up in the world of surgical practice. But when she's drugged and sexually assaulted by one Dr. Alan Grant (David Lovgren), her trusted mentor, Mary has a change of heart. She drops out of med school and starts performing these radical surgeries full time. While she finds a modicum of fame and success with her new line of work, the bizarre nature of it, along with the brand of horrific retribution she decides to exact on Dr. Grant, begin to take their toll on her sanity as she becomes a very dangerous person to deal with.
American Mary is a weird movie, no doubt about it. Granted, it may be less weird if the whole extreme body modification thing is what you're into, but that doesn't make the movie any less unique. I won't lie and call it a perfect movie, since there are a couple of flaws that hold it back from being great, but it's still an oddly compelling movie that I couldn't turn away from.
The movie was written and directed by twin sisters Jen and Sylvia Soska, who had made something of a splash on the independent movie scene in 2009 with their debut effort, the ludicrously-named exploitation flick Dead Hooker in a Trunk (which is probably the most straightforward title for a movie I've heard since Hobo with a Shotgun). But alas, I have yet to see Dead Hooker in a Trunk, so I can't say how much the Soskas have developed as filmmakers since then. I can say, however, that their work with this movie is really good.
As far as their direction goes, the Soskas prove themselves to be very smart, capable filmmakers. They obviously knew exactly what they wanted to do with the movie and how they wanted to accomplish it. The movie boasts some fantastic cinematography, adding a certain modicum of artistic beauty to the on-screen oddities. I also thought the Soskas had the pacing down pat too, never rushing into things yet crafting scenes in a way that always keeps the audience intrigued and curious about what might happen next.
I can't say I was as enthusiastic about their script, though. It comes across like a series of loosely connected vignettes instead of a linear narrative, with only a handful of things tying each scene to the next. I also thought the subplot with the curious detective prodding Mary about Dr. Grant's disappearance never really went anywhere. It feels like it belongs in a completely different movie, since I never thought it ever really carried the same weight as anything else in the movie.
The movie's ending also comes completely out of nowhere, but the third act is so disjointed that I shouldn't be surprised. The first two-thirds of the movie are really good, but the third act comes apart at the seams to the point that the movie just kinda stops instead of actually ending. There's no real climax, no denouement or sense of closure. It just struck me as something the Soskas might have slapped together at the last minute after painting themselves into a corner.
But not only do the Soskas make up for it with their great direction, but the majority of the cast does their part as well. Among the supporting players, Antonio Cupo is sadly inconsistent in his role. The character is written as a sleazeball with a nice guy demeanor buried deep down, but Cupo only makes this evident part of the time. He's stiff for much of the movie, and he doesn't have much in the way of chemistry with our lead actress. There are times when Cupo isn't bad, but for much of the movie, he's just taking up space. However, I immensely enjoyed Tristan Risk in her role as the bubbly Betty Boop wannabe. She's very likable and sweet, with a voice that seems stolen from Ellen Green from Little Shop of Horrors. She's a little unsettling at times too, but then I'm sure that was the point.
But the real reason to see American Mary is its leading lady, Katherine Isabelle. I've been a fan of Isabelle ever since I first saw Ginger Snaps, and she doesn't disappoint here. She plays Mary as increasingly cold, almost sociopathic at times, You get the sense that she's got so much bottled up, like she's hiding something deep inside that she doesn't want anyone, even herself, so see or even acknowledge. Isabelle is frightening here, knowing exactly which buttons to push to be as scary as possible. I'm honestly surprised Isabelle isn't a bigger name than she is, because she has a ton of talent that should really be seen by more people.
Despite it stumbling near the end, American Mary is still a damn fine flick. The fact that it's so unlike the majority of the horror movies I usually watch makes it worth watching. Its uniqueness and off-kilter nature help to lessen the impact of the movie's less-than-stellar conclusion, and had the movie not existed outside the mainstream, it probably would have been ruined by overzealous studio executives and focus groups. But being made and released independently allows its originality to shine. And if American Mary is any indication, Jen and Sylvia Soska have a bright future ahead of them. I can't wait to see what they bring us next.
Final Rating: ***
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