Review: American Mary (2012)

American Mary (2012)
Directors: Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska
Writers: Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska
Stars: Katharine Isabelle, Antonio Cupo, Tristan Risk



American Mary tells the story of a young med student desperate to make money. It's a relatable premise about a woman trying to make ends meet. Mary interviews for a job as a stripper and instead ends up getting offered $5,000 to stitch up a guy who's been badly injured. While she is initially terrified, she performs the surgery. She returns home, horrified by what he has done. The next day, she is offered more money by a stripper for a body modification operation. Mary gets invited to a party that one of her professors is having. There, she is drugged and raped. The story then turns in a different direction when she has her rapist teacher kidnapped. She performs multiple surgeries on him. She drops out of med school, goes into business on her own as a body modification surgeon, and continues to hold hostage and operate on her professor.

Mary, played by Katherine Isabelle, gives a great, confident, sarcastic and scary performance. She is often clad in black leather and lace; think Betty Page meets Dr. Kevorkian.  However, we never really discover much about her character other than that she has a grandmother who dies. We don't learn who she is or what she wants, other than revenge. While the film has its moments, ultimately the story falls short of satisfying the expectations it sets.  There are several characters and scenes reminiscent of David Lynch or The Wachowski siblings, but there's a lot of noir-ish style and not enough substance.

After Mary kills a security guard who discovers her hostage, the film toys with the idea of turning Mary into a villain. There's also a storyline with a detective on her case that felt rushed. The film tries to tell several stories that don't all get resolved, and the ending feels rushed. It does, however, have a good mix of dark humor and gore, and features a powerful female protagonist, often absent in modern horror films. 

- Peter Browne





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