Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh Sat 12 Jan only

Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska / Canada / 2012 / 103 min

There’s been a lot of hype surrounding American Mary in the UK since the film premiered at last year’s FrightFest. Not only is it the much-anticipated follow up to Jen and Sylvia Soska’s 2009 Dead Hooker in a Trunk, it also joins an increasing number of new horror films written and directed by women, in a traditionally male-centric genre. But in an industry currently dominated by soulless remakes and instantly forgettable sequels, does the release of American Mary mark a turning point in contemporary cinematic horror?

Following permanently broke medical student Mary (Katharine Isabelle), the film sees the promising surgeon begin practising unlicensed but remarkable cosmetic surgery for money. When an incident leads to Mary’s disillusionment, she embarks upon a new role as an underground body modification surgeon.

Outwardly American Mary is a stimulating, thought-provoking horror with a number of welcome changes; Isabelle’s Mary is an intelligent woman who succeeds because of her surgical skills not because of her body. The Twisted Twins say the film is an analogy of modern film-making; the battle to procure funding and support told through Mary’s journey from studious pupil to feared underground surgeon. However the film’s strength lies is in it’s ability to present those choosing to modify their bodies as less dangerous than those who conceal their true nature.

While horror needs strong female characters like Mary some of the sub-plots are more traditional than unconventional. Making Mary the victim of a violent attack early in the story, (in fact the decision to make her a victim at all) doesn’t follow the Soska’s otherwise original and unique addition to the genre. Why must strong female characters become victims before they can succeed? Does the adversity that intelligent female protagonists face always have to revolve around misogyny and sexual violence? While this reviewer profoundly disagrees with this, American Mary undeniably opens up an important dialogue about attitudes towards body modification, film-making and female characters in horror that can only bring the genre forward.

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