"AMERICAN MARY is a superbly crafted horror drama that combines the surrealism of David Lynch, the shock and awe of David Cronenberg and the darkly erotic satire of Brett Easton – Ellis, taking the audience on a high impact, often gruesome journey into the underbelly of (Seattle’s) body modification scene." - Sangbad Australia (full article)
"I really appreciate the way the filmmakers respected people with body modifications and allowing people to define themselves the way they see fit. The make-up artists particularly did a great job making the body modifications for the film.My favourite part of American Mary is that it’s creepy, but not disgusting. I was expecting to see a lot more blood and gore than what was actually shown. It is a perfectly twisted world and the makings of good cinema." - Avihayil Genesove, lazyreviewzzz (full article)
"American Mary soars when The Soska’s play to their strengths. With their up-for-anything leading lady totally synched to their vision, they have crafted a shocking, slyly funny work of baroque modern horror. Delving thematically into myopi
c vengeance and soulless immorality as motivating forces, it is a vivid slice (no pun intended) of slow-burn, visceral terror and signals the arrival of Jen and Sylvia Soska as much-watch genre auteurs." - Simon Foster, Screen Space (full article)
"You may be surprised at how fresh and young the new era of trash horror films look when you see American Mary. The pale skin of directors Jen and Sylvia Soska has not seen the sun, aged under 30 and also not yet dirty on the film industry
; their outlook for horror is to present a movie for their “mother”, with humor and a good scare we all can handle.
It comes after their first title Dead Hooker in a Trunk shocked audiences with its themes and humor and broke the Soska twins as auteur filmmakers. With the orders of twin sister directors, who thought of American Mary together; we are presented with a strong female character storyline to concentrate our blooded fantasies.
The film is a tasteful exploration of body modification in an American story of the individual quest to be different. Look out for doll-parts, fork tongues and the Soska twins as guest extra actors." - Acclaim Mag (full article)
"Flaws notwithstanding, American Mary is a bold statement from the Soskas. It’s masterfully shot by cinematographer Brian Pearson, remarkably acted—especially by Isabelle and Risk—and boasts fantastic practical makeup effects by MasterFX. The film contains a plethora of subtext to digest and discuss, and its central themes—control, body image, sexuality, gender politics, and empowerment—are wonderful to explore within the atmosphere of grotesque imagery. Although the film lapses at points, the journey shows a confident and intelligent filmmaking team, unafraid to make filmgoers squirm at the delivery of their message. Ultimately, American Mary is fiendishly clever, brutal, and a step forward for the Twisted Twins." - Chris Hallock, Diabolique Magazine (full article)
"This time The Soska Sisters have decided to down play their somewhat signature use of in your face exploitation, camp, and downright maliciousness; whilst steering towards a more sly and self restrained vein of horror. However do not let this sudden change of skin fool you, because if one thing is for sure about this sultry blood thirsty duo, is that they don't plan to tame themselves down anytime soon. Don't believe me? Try asking the guy at the Luna Leederville screening who cried whilst causing a row of seats to shake." - Alex Dermer, Weekendnotes (full article)
"I think this film is the best I've seen all year. If you enjoy horror, I recommend this 100%. I wasn't grossed out at all during the film, and there were no "cat in a box" type scares. I love the use of real effects over CGI. A female driven movie is a wonderful thing, and the Soska sisters are young masters. I can't wait to see what they come up with next!
Everything about the film was beautiful, and it stuck around in my head for a while. Go and see this film if you can!!" - Natalie Woolaston, Gothy Two Shoes (full article)
"Therein lies the greatest charm of : while the character descends ever further into a dangerously violent mindset, her actions almost never feel unjustified and the audience continues to connect with Mary. This is largely down to Katharine Isabelle's knockout performance. Her Mary is vulnerable and confused, but copes without becoming too hard or unrelatable. Generous amounts of dark deadpan humour help keep the tone of the film surprisingly light throughout.
Another incredible performance is Tristan Risk as Beatress Johnson. Despite her heavy prosthetic makeup, she manages to portray a woman pretending to be Betty Boop and still infuses her with enough of an underlying own personality to make for a very engaging character. The rest of the cast are spot on, too, and the soundtrack adds the last piece of the puzzle to form an entertaining, intelligent film about how our choices influence our lives and about how sometimes the ones that look the scariest are the kindest and vice versa. I sincerely hope to be able to pick this up on DVD, as I would love to watch it again and again." - Lindis Kipp, Eye For Film (full article)
"I know this all sounds crazy, and believe me it is, but it’s all done so damned well. What could have been just another “revenge” movie becomes so much more under the brilliant direction of the Twisted Twins and the fantastic acting of their cast. Katharine Isabelle’s portrayal of Mary as a sexy, smart and strong woman transforming from a doe-eyed medical student to…well, what she becomes is truly something to behold. Not to be overlooked is Tristan Risk’s remarkable performance as Beatress who is incredibly bizarre but so sweet that you look past her weirdness. The Twisted Twins themselves even make a fun appearance as potential patients of Dr. Mary.
I can honestly say, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that “American Mary” is on my very short list of the best horror films of 2012. Well done ladies, I cannot wait to see what beautiful insanity you bring us next." - Larry Dwyer, Horror Movie News (full article)
"AMERICAN MARY is certainly one of the most original and well-written films that I have ever watched. So much so, that in the future I can see it on ‘essential horror films to watch’ lists all over the world. I’m not the only one who sees this though, as Universal Pictures have picked up the film for international distribution. If you haven’t seen this film yet, then I suggest you see it as soon as possible!"- Leyla Richardson, Bloody Mess (full article)
-Sylv
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