Review: American Mary

In 2012, American Mary was praised as one of the top features of Film4 FrightFest and in January this year, it finally received a limited distribution. Nine months later, I have at last had the pleasure of viewing this interesting and provocative tale.

Directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska, this horror flick follows Mary Mason (superbly played by Katharine Isabelle) – a medical student and aspiring surgeon. Victim to overbearing chauvinism and financial woes, Mary decides to at least solve her monetary issues by applying for a job at the sleazy strip-joint Bourbon-A-Go-Go. Club owner Billy Barker (Antonio Cupo) grants her a job, but one that doesn't involve performing on stage. Instead, upon discovering her medical education, he requests she perform some illegal surgery... for five thousand dollars. Given her financial situation, Mary reluctantly accepts the offer and completes the job successfully. However, word of her surgical finesse soon gets around and she fast becomes a highly sought after individual.

Betty Boop wannabe, Beatress (Tristan Risk), seeks Mary’s services and offers ten thousand dollars in exchange for an “unconventional operation... for cosmetic purposes” on aspiring Barbie-doll Ruby RealGirl (Paula Lindberg). After completing another successful surgery, Mary consequently generates further acclaim. However whilst respected by some, she remains objectified by others and falls victim to extreme objectification and violence from her medical professors. The main culprit, Dr. Grant (David Lovgren), is then kidnapped by Billy’s errand boys, and handed over to Mary, where she performs all manners of surgery as an act of extreme revenge, namely in the form of bodily alterations. It is not long therefore, before Mary drops out of medical school and seamlessly becomes a fully fledged celebrity in the underground body modification community. 

From the off, American Mary is a smart, satirical comment on the American Dream. On the one hand we have the titular protagonist who is a girl of familial values, working hard and struggling to achieve her dream occupation. Yet on the other hand, circumstances propel Mary into a world of objectification and exploitation. From this she arguably reigns supreme but at the cost of her moral integrity, mental stability and ethics. She develops from a smiling, hard working but victimised individual into a successful, powerful yet fear inducing woman, whose personality and studious nature is replaced with stoic expressions and psychological scarring that no amount of suturing could ever heal. 

Wonderfully portrayed by Katharine Isabelle, this character development and female cast and crew attribute the film with an underlying comment on sexual politics. Furthermore, the lurid portrayal of men teamed with the conscious addition of sleaze and titillation, effectively depicts the perils of objectification. Therefore it is almost without question, that this dark tale of transcendence consequently places American Mary as a twisted tale of feminism, granting the film with its greatest strength. It is a problematic truth that rape-revenge films are often automatically granted a ‘feminist’ title and indeed, some of you may disagree with this thematic analysis; however, the female centricity of American Mary is undeniable and at the very least induces a provocative debate. 

American Mary’s strengths also lie in the films’ style. Note-worthy aspects are the FX created by Todd Masters and MastersFX, who successfully create graphic scenes of surgery and the unsettling appearances of Beatress and Ruby RealGirl. Old school practices are in abundance and it is refreshing to see nothing of a computer-generated nature. Equally, the costume design by Jayne Mabbott is nicely done, as Mary’s attire gradually consists of bright reds and leather that coincide with her ascension to prowess. The films’ only weak spot is its third and final act in which narrative cohesion is somewhat lost and the unfolding, climactic events feel slightly rushed and out of place. 

This fault pales in comparison however, as American Mary is a wonderfully grisly, satirical comment on the American Dream, which equally portrays a feminist rite of passage. Sutured together with excellent characterisation, superb performances and the optimum amount of stylistic sleaze and gory imagery, this is undeniably one of the more compelling and provocative horrors of 2013. 

Have you seen American Mary? What were your thoughts? Post a comment!