American Mary: Directed by Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska

Kim Lawrence Ah-See

doi:10.3399/bjgp13X664360

The clarity and precision of American Mary, the new horror offering from Canadian directors and identical ‘Twisted Twins’ Jen and Sylvia Soska, stands in marked contrast to their raw, no-budget breakthrough Dead Hooker in a Trunk. In more ways than just the title, the former is a much more subtle film, and demonstrates how impressive the sisters and their distinctive style can be, given any budget at all.

It tells the story of medical student and aspiring surgeon (or ‘slasher’) Mary Mason, wonderfully portrayed by the laconic Katharine Isabelle, who stumbles upon the sinister but lucrative world of ‘body modification’ and literally carves out a new career for herself. After a brutal, sexual attack by one of her surgical lecturers, she abandons medicine and turns her skills toward this twisted, underground cosmetic surgery, helping her misfit clientele to ‘express’ themselves through a ‘mod menu’ of procedures such as ‘tongue-splitting’ or ‘voluntary amputation’. She even performs an ‘appendage exchange’ on the ‘Demon Twins of Berlin’ (cameo by the Soska sisters themselves) and with the help of strip-joint manager Billy (Antonio Cupo) finds time to exact gruesome revenge on her lecturer (who serves as something of a practice subject for her new-found speciality).

Needless to say, surgeons are not portrayed kindly. Laughing that they ‘cut up people for a living’, it is their ruthless treatment of Mary that transforms her from a vulnerable student with financial issues, to the unflinching ‘Bloody Mary’, sauntering from one grisly scene to the next. But the gore is not gratuitous and the violence is more implied than graphic. American Mary does not make you jump out of your seat, opting instead for intelligent dark humour and psychologically disturbing scenarios in seedy surroundings. Rather than a collection of conventional ghoulish scares, the Soska sisters achieve a memorable and suitably gothic visual, of Mary in red surgical scrubs and black latex gloves operating to the sound of soothing piano arpeggios, or practicing suturing on raw turkeys.

Katharine Isabelle as American Mary.

The plot line brings new meaning to doctor–patient confidentiality, as Mary evades discovery by the authorities, and reaches a gory but rather poignant denouement, when she is finally faced with the consequences. Remarkably, American Mary was shot in only 15 days, yet does not feel constrained or rushed, and with an outstanding lead performance from Isabelle, it is a refreshingly understated and funny tribute to its two talented creators.