...for this viewer, as many might agree, a genre film, which garnishes just the right measure of negative reception, or which exploits the potential for that measured degree of negative reception, or even purposefully and gainfully sets itself up for that potential, just for sensationalism...that is, without going so overboard, that it kills the actual film's potential, may the film be good or bad...is pretty damn cool, in this viewer's book. It's like old-age cliché of heavy traffic on the highway, as the result of a multi-vehicle accident; once knowing that there's been an accident ahead, who isn't gonna stop for moment and gawk at the destructive mayhem, as they drive by?? And if there's bloodshed or injury involved...well, all the more probable, as far as the curious 'lookie-loos'. As far as genre films...especially if they are over-the-top disturbing, or graphic, and whether or not there's method to the filmmaker's madness...purpose, associated his or her twisted and disturbing vision...well, damn the critics!! If word gets out that because of the content of a film, medical personnel and vehicles are stationed at the theater...or if people are reportedly fainting in the theater aisles, as the result of watching the film...or if picketers, with signs menacingly and shakingly upheld, attempt to divert movie-goers...or even when staunch and stiff-shirted critics lambaste & petition against a particular movie, warning that 'you should adamantly not see this movie, because it (...fill in the blank; heck, the late Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel used to do that, all the time)...whether such things are staged or not...well, much like the fact that a measurably greasy laden take-out bag might well be the sign of 'fine' cuisine, within...most ardent genre fans, like this viewer, might probably be the first in line, to view the cinematic 'ugliness', suggested by the naysayers, who in most cases, haven't bothered to even watch what they are speaking out against......in this viewer's book...uh, what was that old saying about "...if you can't stand the heat...???"...
...so, when this seasoned viewer recently stumbled upon, and went sight-unseen into a little psychological horror ditty from 2012, called "Excision", and advance word mentioned that people at the 2012 Sundance film festival, where this film was being premiered, were fainting in the aisles...and critics were getting up & walking out...and that the film's twisted & graphic imagery reportedly went a bit beyond the fringe of what, according to Hoyle. might be normally defined as 'twisted and graphic'...and that the cast comprised of genre & non-genre notables, like Ray Wise, Traci Lords, Malcolm McDowell, Marlee Matlin and John Waters...well, to shamelessly coin a 'Jerry McGuire' cliché, "...you had me at...'fainting in the aisles'!!"...
...amongst her high school peers and her family, Pauline is the epitome of the classic, darkly garbed, overly unkempt & acne scarred, nary-spoken, ignored by most, angst-filled, rebel loner misfit, who revels in her resigned 'odd-ness', and could care less what anyone else thinks. In truth, deep within this darkly appearing and introversive waif of a girl, hides an obsessive, psycho-erotic and graphically twisted passion, culled by a folding of her utmost desire to become a surgeon, one day...into a typical teenager's dwelling hormonal desire to shed the stigma of virginity...
...of Pauline's grossly dysfunctional family, she assumes the closest and most embracing rapport with her younger sister, Grace...in part, as the result of her sister's unwavering sense of innocence and goodness, which Pauline seems to feel empathetically obligated to tender and protect...as well as being equally empathetic to her sister's failing health, as the result of acute cystic fibrosis...a deliberating condition, which Pauline...the aspiring physician...cannot help but feel that one day, she might extract from her sister's being. The sisters' mother, Phyllis...an uptight and controlling parental figure...does whatever she can, to 'correct' Pauline, and remains stern, unswerving & unshaken, when Pauline resists such 'correction', at every turn. The family patriarch and father figure, Bob...though, the able-bodied breadwinner, here...assumes a silent majority stance in these affairs, himself being relentlessly under the thumb of his controlling wife...with any arising rebellious spark, quickly snuffed out...and speaking up only to reiterate what his so-called 'better half' firm-handedly enunciates...
...between obsessed research into her sister's ailment...her forced visits to a local priest, because her mom can't afford a psychiatrist...her moments of angst 'spiritual' meanderings with God, despite the fact that she's an atheist...her accepted proposal, towards having sex and finally losing her virginity, during a planned and predetermined time when...unbeknownst to her soon-to-be-shocked and disgusted 'suitor'...she's in the midst of her monthly period...Pauline embraceably engages a number of dreams and fantasies...surreal, grisly, graphic and bloody...which reflect a simultaneously horrifically lurid, beautiful & erotic correlation, parallel and synchronicity between her obsession in becoming a surgeon...and her thoughts & ideas about sexual intercourse. And in the midst of all of this angst, turmoil, obsession and fantasy...like an equation, the solution of which is progressively revealed...like the pieces of a puzzle, falling into place, and unveiling 'the big picture'...Pauline find herself in the wave-crashing throes of an epiphany...a revelation (...ironically reflective of the film's namesake)...in the most mildly unrevealing of terms (...uh, not!!). An idealistically motivated and extreme plan to 'excise' her mother's demandant influence...and at the same time, 'excise' her sister's insufferable pain and discomfort...once and for all...
...as compellingly macabre and captivating as most viewers will find actress AnneLynn McCord's intensely skewed bravura performance as our hapless, misguided and disturbed, albeit determined misfit here, Pauline, it might very hard-pressing and indeterminate, as to how one feels about the character, upon final frame. Horror?? Sympathy?? Revulsion?? Understanding?? And yet, in the same light, most may resign themselves to satisfactorily surrender to this character indeterminacy; to look at her in any other way, is to mar the irresistible intrigue and complexity of the character. In contrast...not to mention, a certain measure of irony...genre fav actress Traci Lords is unconventionally cast as the incorrigibly uptight and repressive mother, Phyllis...a multi-valve fauceted performance, in the sense that the character is played nicey-nice, loving & caring, at one moment...and at an instant, becoming the distinct definition of the 'mother-from Hell'. Call it a surprise (...or perhaps not, as it seems he is often cast in ironic and contradictory roles), but it was most deliciously amusing to see cult filmmaker...and sometimes actor...John Waters, here cast as the counseling priest, trying to get Pauline to see past her delusional mindset...despite his own character's inlaid sense of repression, as seen through her eyes. And in supporting and integral roles...Ray Wise, as a no-nonsense, high-expectation-demanding school principal...Malcolm McDowell, as a smug mathematics teacher who is prone to holding out a student's misgivings, for their own good, and for all to see...in this case, especially Pauline, whom he is particularly drawn to, in this respect, knowing that she wants to be a surgeon, yet spurges the classroom 'building blocks' needed for that endeavor. And there's actress Marlee Matlin...a school counselor, who exudes her own eye-rolling, sigh-rendering sense of angst, appearingly having seen it all, as far as students and their parents...even to the point where she sighingly engages sign language in her counseling sessions, to underscore her own personal angst and commentary...
...one has to admit that for an inaugural film production, "Excision" is quite an auspicious and impressive beginning for director and writer Richard Bates, Jr. The direction is brilliant, smart, engaging and visually stunning...though at moments...especially the dream and fantasy sequences...clearly not for the faint-of-heart, or easily repulsed. The writing is tight, clever and dripping with a pitch-black dark humor, as bitingly delicious as Tabasco chocolate. The macabre turn of events, herein, as well as the ensuing character play insistently grasps and seizes the hapless viewer...rest assured, even those seasoned...and leads down an indelible and conclusive path...drawn to a finale, which one might not want to readily admit wanting to arrive at...but sallys forth, anyways...all the while thinking, "...no, we're not going there, are we?? Come on, we're not going there...we're not...we're not...no...No...NO!!!" And of course, 'we' do 'go there'...
...ah, yes...the dysfunctional, disturbed and delusional ladies...ya' gotta love 'em, right. "Excision" might recall the likes of previous high points, as far as dark humored genre films, featuring psychotic and sociopathic femme fatales, such as "Carrie", "Heathers" and "May" (...the latter, one of this viewer's personal favorites); however, "Excision"...with no holds barred...takes this familiar genre to a whole different level of dementia...deliciously dark...exquisitely beautiful, in it's rendered ugliness...slyly (...severed) tongue-in-cheek funny...and oh-so invitingly mind-scrambling...
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