Review of American Mary (2013) by Midlands M — 19 Oct 2013

The film sees a trainee female surgeon (Mary of the title) struggle with her studies only to end up in the seedy underworld of underground body modification alongside an increasing fascination with killing after exacting gruesome revenge on her former professor and tormentor.

With a string of quotes emblazoned on the DVD cover I was expecting a dark satire on the torture/body porn genre but what American Mary served up (other than its fair share of boredom) was a set of sterile set pieces that took itself far too seriously in a field that needs to self lampoon every now and then.

Brave attempts at story were let down by some abysmal acting turns (English John Emmet Tracy as a cop was a particular misstep) and some turgid dialogue. On the positives, Mary herself was played with guts by the feisty Katharine Isabelle and I enjoyed the real life body modification support cast who added some much needed realism in amongst the clichés.

Neither shocking enough to lure hardened horror aficionados in nor enough meat on the hook (pardon the pun) for the passing fan, American Mary was quite ordinary. 6.5/10 Midlands Movies Mike.