Viewed – 08 June 2013  Blu-ray

I went into this fairly blind, but appealed by the fact that genre actress Katherine Isabelle was in it.  Now I have only ever seen one movie with this actress, but then again that movie was Ginger Snaps … possibly the second best Werewolf movie ever made (if you don’t know what the best is, then I feel sorry for you…).  So sitting down to this I was presented with the story of struggling medical student Mary Mason (Isabelle) who has dreams of being a surgeon, but due to debts finds herself turning to a sleazy nightclub owner for help.  Soon she meets Beatrice, a plastic-surgery addict who wishes for Mary to perform a hush hush procedure on her equally plastic friend … and before long Mary is doing body modification operations to pay her way through school.

This is a very macabre and decidedly Cronenberg-esque movie with an enjoyably nutty turn from Isabelle who it has to be said, looks totally gorgeous and sexy throughout.  But of course ample shots of Isabelle in her undies does not a movie make (for the most part) and the surrounding movie here is rather hard to enjoy.  Its full of freaky scenes of gore, surgery and oddball characters (especially the Betty Boop-like Beatrice) that made me feel rather uneasy.  Also as events spiral out of control, Mary pretty much becomes a homicidal maniac – which didn’t ring true whatsoever – her taste for violence and dismemberment comes out of nowhere.

As a vehicle for the obviously talented Katherine Isabelle, this seemed somewhat lacking and she never really got to shine – the movie was more interested in freaking this viewer out than presenting a satisfying, entertaining experience.  Nasty, sleazy, but not one I’d rush to recommend.

Verdict:  2 /5

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• Interview: Jen and Sylvia Soska Talk American Mary (shockya.com)
• Movie Review: ‘American Mary’ (houseofgeekery.com)
• Exclusive: Star Katharine Isabelle on the Soska Sisters, the World of Body Modification and More for American Mary (dreadcentral.com)
• [Review] American Mary (2012) (supermarcey.com)