American Mary: DVD Review

Having done the festival circuit, body-horror American Mary comes to DVD and Blu-ray. Leo Owen takes a closer look …

Director/Writer: Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska
Release Date: January 21 2013
Running Time: 103 mins
Certificate: 18
Starring: Katharine Isabelle, Antonio Cupo, Tristan Risk, John Emmet Tracy, Clay St. Thomas, Nelson Wong, David Lovgren, Tristan Risk

The third feature from Canadian identical twins, Jen and Sylvia Soska, since their 2009 debut releases (Dead Hooker In A trunk, Together We’re Heavy), creates a sub-genre within body-horror. Focusing on body modification, American Mary initially explores modern day Frankensteins operating on willing patients.

Ave Maria soundtracks scenes of surgery prep to unnervingly introduce us to the film’s lead – promising medical student, Mary Mason (Katharine Isabelle). Training to be a surgeon, Mary is shown in lectures and attending a residency programme at the hospital. Struggling to fund herself, Mary inquires about a vacancy she sees advertised among on-line classifieds for a dancer in a strip club.

Aside from the club’s seedy vibe, the film’s erotic tone is quickly set when Mary’s interviewer demands she strips down to her undies. Although Mary clearly has what it takes to be a dancer, club owner, Billy (Antonio Cupo), is more interested in the rest of her CV and immediately offers her 5,000 cash in hand to step in for an unavailable colleague referred to as “Black”.

Left in the club’s basement with a man with an eye gouged-out, Mary is shocked but mindful of her debts and finds her handiwork leads to calls from strangers seeking out Dr Mason’s work. While unintentionally attracting attention on the underground surgery scene, she also turns heads at the hospital, resulting in an invite to get to know the surgeons socially. Naturally, just as everything’s looking peachy, the unexpected occurs and Mary is left struggling to recognise herself – both in and out of control, she becomes a victim of her own handiwork.

Through the character of Beatress (Tristan Risk) – a seriously plastic-looking woman modelled on Betty Boo – the Soska sisters impartially explore a variety of interesting body-related issues. Early on Beatress explains she wanted to “look how [she] feels on the inside outside” and talks of a “nice girl who wants an unconventional operation”, offering Mary 10,000 dollars and a veterinary clinic for after-hours surgery with an additional two grand merely for showing. Beatress’ “nice girl” turns out to be fashion designer, Ruby who aspires to be like a doll (“not desexualised while naked”) and thought-provokingly complains: “It’s not fair God gets to choose what we look like on the outside.” Ruby’s chosen modifications alone are hard to digest but reactions to her procedure and the implications behind it are even more shocking.

To some, the mention of body modification itself and popular procedures (tongue splitting, implants, teeth filing, genital modification, voluntary amputation…) is squirm-inducing and horrific enough but for the hardened, the Soskas have included a series of seriously sinister doctors. Mary’s hospital supervisor, Dr Walsh (Clay St. Thomas) orders her to tell a family his patient has died, clearly taking pleasure from this and later tells Mary: “You’re going to be a great slasher.” Her lecturer and tutor, Dr Grant (David Lovgren) says most micro surgeons are “odd” and describes one who paints people being eaten alive by different animals in his spare time. At the party, another surgeon (Nelson Wong as Dr Black) says “I’m a mother f*cker, I cut up people” before the camera moves to show a naked girl being pawed by a group of men.

From a brutal rape scene to dream fragments, pain and pleasure are inextricably linked throughout American Mary, giving the film a grimy sadomasochistic feel. An early introduction to two gothic-looking German twins who want an appendage exchange carried out so they can always be part of each other, is erotically played and Billy’s sexual fantasies about Mary involve pouring blood over her naked body.

The Soska sisters use their club setting and eye-candy lead as an excuse for nudity, resulting in some unconvincing character relationships and Mary’s character becoming too hardened too quickly. Although Katharine Isabelle gives it her all, other cast members don’t quite make the cut, floundering in shocking multi-national accents (the Soska sisters awful cameo included) or wooden performances (John Emmet Tracy as Detective Dolor). Inspiration for American Mary clearly came from Almodovar’s far superior The Skin I Live In and although like its muse, there are plenty of memorable scenes, others add little to plot or character (a pointless bathroom scene comes to mind), suggesting the Soskas are yet to fully mature as filmmakers. “If you please yourself, you can’t please everyone”, the film seems to suggest – perhaps in future projects the twins will learn from their own lessons?

Special Features:
Behind The Scenes
American Mary In London