BIFF Movie 21 - American Mary

Movie #2 on the final Sunday of BIFF was "American Mary".  This was billed as a horror but in reality was more just a macabre drama that I found a little weird.  Directed by the sisters who gave us "Ginger Snaps", it follows a young medical student who inadvertently becomes involved in the underground body modification scene, initially to make money but then her motivations for performing some bizarre surgical procedures become questionable. And therein lies the problem.  We never actually find out what is behind this young girl who at first appears quite normal but is then able to perform some fairly unspeakable acts with seemingly little emotion or regret. 

Mary is a promising but struggling uni student who seems to have no family other than a grandma who lives in a foreign country.  With debts piling up and very few options, Mary decides to take a job at a gentlemen's club but during the 'interview' she is called upon to do some highly illegal surgery to save a guy the owner has tortured a little too far.  A big wad of cash persuades her too easily although there is a scene of her reacting afterwards.  With some extremely alternative people tracking her down to do some cosmetic surgeries, Mary at first says no but the even bigger wads of cash persuade her.  After attending a surgeon's party where she is drugged and raped by her lecturer, Mary kinda goes over the edge into an icy cold world where she gets her revenge.   Within a few minutes she becomes well known on the internet as the queen of body mod surgeries and quits her medical degree.  While you can completely understand her wanting to get revenge on this disgusting person, the script has her doing some pretty despicable things in anyone's book and also gaining a bit of an ego, swanning around in designer gear and wielding her cutting tools like a maniac against anyone who crosses her.

The dark vibe was pretty cool but I felt the movie to be flawed.  Mary's lack of emotion at certain times is never explained, it makes it difficult to empathise with what would normally be a very sympathetic character, the ending is unsatisfying and overall I just felt the construction was weird.  The relationship between Mary and the club owner is bizarre and a lot of things just don't come across as natural.  The biggest cross for me though is how the directors cut away from a lot of the gorier parts of the film which might otherwise have saved this and given it a bigger impact.  Afterwards I heard a few people saying that the film was 'too mainstream' but I would have to disagree - this explores some pretty strange places to me.