If you're not a "serious" modern horror fan then you might not have heard peep about "The Twisted Twins" (Jen & Sylvia Soska) American Mary. I had been hearing drums in the dark about the movie since mid 2012 and read Film Deviant's January 2013 review when it was released. Okay, I skimmed the review because I try to avoid as much info as I can about movies I want to see. This is one of those movies that left me with a need to talk about it afterwards, particularly with one or two friends who I feel would have insights into the movie that would fill in some blank spots for me.
American Mary is a difficult movie to review in-depth without giving away too much. It definitely falls into the modern Western ero-guro genre hardcore - Bizarre Mag UK hardcore (if you don't know what this means you might not want to look it up when in polite company or at work or if you're the type to be offended easily...then again you're on my site so you probably don't offend easy). What sets Mary apart from the Excision/Woman pack is that this movie are its moments of humor (blacker than my lungs though the humor is) and there are a few moments of twisted tenderness which took me aback.
What surprised me, in the best way possible, were; the performances, dialogue, strength of not only the protagonist but of the supporting characters as well (two of which I adore), and quality of production. Oh, and Katharine Isabelle - as a man who once went to more than a few Goth/Industrial nights back in ye olde 90s, uh, I'll tell you about it when I'm older. Pervy joking aside, Isabelle turns in an excellent performance, at turns utterly human and empathetic and at others frankly scare me. She reminds me of a friend I used to have in the bad old DC days.
Two performances really sealed the deal for me with American Mary: Tristan Rusk's Beatriss Johnson and Twan Holliday's Lance Delgreggo. I'm not leaving out Antonio Cupo's Billy Barker, he did an excellent job and I think he's a great actor and, in a weird way, he was the connection character for me (insert proper cinematic term). Rusk nailed it with, I dunno, I can't help but think Lynchian flair. Holliday is a hired goon but delivers a monologue that makes you go, "Awww" and "Jesus fucking Christ" at the same time.
The Soska Sisters have put together an excellent movie though I'm not sure if I would call it horror anymore than I would call Blue Velvet horror. It's a movie I wouldn't recommend to the average horror fan but if you're into the kind of weird and creepy and sexy (or any combination thereof, like sexy violence and violent sex) hell yeah, watch American Mary.
American Mary is a difficult movie to review in-depth without giving away too much. It definitely falls into the modern Western ero-guro genre hardcore - Bizarre Mag UK hardcore (if you don't know what this means you might not want to look it up when in polite company or at work or if you're the type to be offended easily...then again you're on my site so you probably don't offend easy). What sets Mary apart from the Excision/Woman pack is that this movie are its moments of humor (blacker than my lungs though the humor is) and there are a few moments of twisted tenderness which took me aback.
What surprised me, in the best way possible, were; the performances, dialogue, strength of not only the protagonist but of the supporting characters as well (two of which I adore), and quality of production. Oh, and Katharine Isabelle - as a man who once went to more than a few Goth/Industrial nights back in ye olde 90s, uh, I'll tell you about it when I'm older. Pervy joking aside, Isabelle turns in an excellent performance, at turns utterly human and empathetic and at others frankly scare me. She reminds me of a friend I used to have in the bad old DC days.
Two performances really sealed the deal for me with American Mary: Tristan Rusk's Beatriss Johnson and Twan Holliday's Lance Delgreggo. I'm not leaving out Antonio Cupo's Billy Barker, he did an excellent job and I think he's a great actor and, in a weird way, he was the connection character for me (insert proper cinematic term). Rusk nailed it with, I dunno, I can't help but think Lynchian flair. Holliday is a hired goon but delivers a monologue that makes you go, "Awww" and "Jesus fucking Christ" at the same time.
The Soska Sisters have put together an excellent movie though I'm not sure if I would call it horror anymore than I would call Blue Velvet horror. It's a movie I wouldn't recommend to the average horror fan but if you're into the kind of weird and creepy and sexy (or any combination thereof, like sexy violence and violent sex) hell yeah, watch American Mary.
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