Writer(s): Bates Jr.
Starring: AnnaLynne McCord, Roger Bart, Ariel Winter, and Traci Lords
A movie like Excision probably never would have interested me at all were it not for my wife, whom I was reminded of just from reading a brief plot outline. She has a rather bizarre fascination with blood and surgeries, and has watched many different kinds that are readily available online. Her ideal job would be working in a trauma unit somewhere, something she has always wanted to do, and she even tried shadowing a coroner on a couple of occasions. Additionally, she has borrowed a number of anatomy books from the library, going so far as to taking notes as if she were in school. I suppose this isn’t really all that weird in and of itself—I mean, people who have a want for those kinds of things are necessary to save lives—but it does take a rather alerting turn when I show her a small cut, or a bleeding wound that I have, and see her eyes light up with excitement. I swear that if I stumbled into the house, bleeding from multiple stab wounds, I would make her day (slightly exaggerating if my injuries were life-threatening; not stretching the truth at all if I fully recovered).
So then you may understand why I felt like I knew Pauline, the protagonist of writer/director Richard Bates Jr.’s off-the-wall surgical-horror film, right off the bat. Thankfully for me, though, Pauline is so mentally unstable that she makes my wife look like a gleaming picture of sanity; her idea of a wet dream involves cutting people open, or ripping out their tongues, and for no reason. It should come as no surprise that she, too, wants to be a surgeon, and frequently fantasizes about performing surgeries on a variety of people, most of whom don’t seem to need it.
There really isn’t a whole lot of plot to speak of—it seems pretty evident, at least to me, Mr. Bates, Jr. had an ending in mind (one that slowly reveals itself to be pretty obvious from the outset), and then just kind of waffled his way into getting there. It also follows a theme of repetition, one that can occasionally wear out its welcome (it’s generally something like: school scene/horrific surreal surgery scene/home scene/surgery scene/etc.) This sounds like a line from a bad review, but it’s not: thankfully, Excision seems to be smart enough to realize when it might be losing its audience, so my attention never wandered for long, before something else grabbed it and sucked me back in. It also doesn’t hurt that it never takes itself seriously, which means that there are plenty of genuinely funny moments peppered throughout.
As seems to be a trend these days (or maybe it always has been?), Pauline’s demented behavior is presented under the guise of a “coming of age” film. Pauline, who clearly is an outcast (though it’s somewhat refreshingly by choice, and she wears it like a proud badge of honor), uses her imagination largely to help navigate her life, in which she balances an indifference to school, with a domineering mother that watches over, and immediately grades, her every move. It may not be the least bit original, but it at least blends its themes well, and even shoots for genuine emotional responses out of its audience; it’s a tough enough balance blending horror and comedy, so the fact that it successfully manages all three is a rather impressive feat.
As you are probably well aware, one of the marks of any good movie rests on the strength of its acting, and that’s another category where Excision excels above similar genre fare: all of the principle cast deliver solid performances. AnnaLynne McCord is perfectly weird as Pauline, the shy wannabe surgeon who doesn’t even seem to have the talent or the drive to make it that far. Traci Lords is also surprisingly strong as Pauline’s controlling mother; the two of them combine to form an amazing final shot that overcomes the obviousness of the material to deliver something truly chilling. The rest of the cast is made up almost entirely of people that you have seen before: There’s Roger Bart, as Pauline’s father (who I recognized from an excellent episode of the excellent comedy “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”); John Waters, as a priest; Ariel Winter, who my wife recognized from the hit sit-com “Modern Family”; even Marlee Matlin, the one woman who made a career out of being deaf, shows up in a small, yet funny, role as a school guidance counselor.
Part of the reason I was a little hesitant to watch this is because, although critics seemed to enjoy it, user ratings were relatively low. I have to say that many of those such reviews probably have a lot to do with the marketing, which paints this as much more of a “surgical horror” movie than it actually is. Even the one-line synopsis on Shudder (the monthly subscription service where I caught it) seems to allude that poor Pauline is pushed to the brink of her sanity by fellow classmates, which would seem to insinuate that she eventually gets her bloody revenge by practicing her “craft” on them. But don’t go in prepared for any kind of body count, because in actuality the film is much more reserved than that; the focus is more on Pauline and her relationship with those around her, especially her younger sister who is suffering from cystic fibrosis. Now that’s not to say that Excision is completely bloodless—there’s actually quite a bit of the crimson stuff—but all but one of these scenes exist solely in Pauline’s confused mind, which might not sate the curiosity of those expecting a slasher film.
Instead, it plays like a character study of a confused girl as she struggles to understand her place in the world. It’s certainly not the kind of film that’s for everyone, but there’s probably a good chance that you’ll recognize enough of yourself in Pauline to enjoy the ride. However, I would hope that most of what you share with her is manifested more in either her physical appearance (she always has acne and apparently refuses to shower), or her awkwardness, and less in the way she, you know, gets off from fantasizing about bloodshed, torture, and killing.
RECAP: Even if you heed my advice and ignore most of the marketing (some of which would lead you to believe this is more a straight-up horror movie than it actually is), and even if you manage to go in with an open mind, Excision still might not be a film for you. It has a repetitive story structure that makes it seem to drag on in certain spots, and within the realm of a regular narrative, the ending can be seen coming from a mile away. These are all things that I’ve harped on many times in negative reviews, but Excision manages to overcome these flaws with sharp acting, some genuinely funny moments, enough disturbing material to satisfy those with an affinity for the red stuff, and a final scene that overpowers its predictability with a chilling, completely unexpected finish. It’s part “coming of age” film and part horror picture, a combination that has been done many times before. But Excision pulls off the combination with gusto, delivering a film that was much different than I was anticipating, and much better than I thought it had any right to be.
RATING: 7.5/10
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