This week's corpse comes to us via Shudder.
AMERICAN PSYCHO FOR A NEW GENERATION
The trailer for Excision painted a picture of a teen struggling through her puberty and the bullshit that comes along with that. It looked like a cool movie. The trailer did a good job of convincing me it was worth the watch, and with Shudder having a substantial amount of content, it’s not easy to pick a flick. So once I saw the eye-catching movie poster, followed by the trailer, it became pretty clear what my choice was. Fortunately for me, the movie surpassed all expectations and again made me realize that you cannot judge a film by its theatrical trailer.
Excision tells the story of Pauline (AnnaLynne McCord), an awkward high school student with sociopathic tendencies and a mean case of raging hormones, trying to lose her virginity. Her home life doesn’t make matters any easier. Her mother, Phyillis (Traci Lords), is a mean, bitter woman who finds it very difficult to be nice to her eldest daughter and instead shows favoritism towards Pauline’s sister, Grace (Ariel Winter), who is terminally ill with cystic fibrosis. A chain of events ensues after Pauline’s defloration that will change her and her family forever.
One of the aspects of the film I truly enjoyed were Pauline’s dream sequences. They’ve been turned up several notches compared to the short film– they’re decadent and obscene. In those dreamscape moments is where we get a good amount of the gore in this movie. Cinematographer Itay Gross shines in these dream sequences. The color contrasts in the shots portrayed were hypnotic. The glistening blood, together with the gory visuals of surgical mutilation and a super-sexy Pauline, made for some very memorable day dreams. The rest of the gore in the movie came from our protagonist practicing her surgical incisions. I won’t say more as to not spoil anything.
One of the aspects of the film I truly enjoyed were Pauline’s dream sequences. They’ve been turned up several notches compared to the short film– they’re decadent and obscene. In those dreamscape moments is where we get a good amount of the gore in this movie. Cinematographer Itay Gross shines in these dream sequences. The color contrasts in the shots portrayed were hypnotic. The glistening blood, together with the gory visuals of surgical mutilation and a super-sexy Pauline, made for some very memorable day dreams. The rest of the gore in the movie came from our protagonist practicing her surgical incisions. I won’t say more as to not spoil anything.
Actress AnnaLynne McCord was very impressive. I honestly did not know she had it in her. Her strong performance carried this movie from start to finish. Her portrayal of a gangling high school outcast was on point. This was aided by the awesome makeup work accomplished by Elle Favorule and Amanda King. They managed to make the very beautiful AnnaLynne McCord look like the ugly kid in class who might have cooties, to a very sultry, exotic, luxe version of Pauline. The difference is night and day. I’m hoping to see Ms. McCord in more genre flicks in the future, she’s definitely not just another pretty face, this girl can act. The rest of the cast fares well. Traci Lords does a commendable job as the mother. She summons her best bitch persona and nails it. Ariel Winter does a nice job as Pauline’s sister, Grace. She brings some optimism into this very bleak and disturbing world.
I loved this movie, and enjoyed every minute of it. The journey of this sociopathic teenager takes you through the highs and lows of what could be a potential Hannibal Lecter: Essentially, it’s the coming of age story of a potential serial killer. This is what Rob Zombie was trying to do with Michael Myers in his Halloween reboot– to give a face to The Shape, but failed to fully execute. Writer/Director Richard Bates Jr. did a phenomenal job with the story and characters, and was successfully able to expand on the short film he made back in 2008. Pauline’s persona was substantially padded. He was able to add some incredible depth to an already complicated character. When you start to peel back the layers of this character’s personality you will begin to find deviancy, evil, and a lack of moral obligation– which down the line will lead to a bright future as a serial killer. I do wish they had added some segments to the movie that was in the short. It would’ve helped to better explain a couple of questions that are left lingering– nothing too major though. The ending to this movie is one of the best I’ve ever seen– I’ll stop now before I give away too much. //Arturo Padilla
