A Rundown of the 13 (+1) Best Horror Movies I've Seen in the Past Year
[2 of 13]
EXCISION
(January 2012)
Writer/director Richard Bates, Jr. expands on his
2008 short film, Excision,
transforming the original 18-minute short into an 81-minute study of disturbed
youth and the dreams of the perfect family just gone horribly wrong, as 90210’s AnnaLynne McCord takes the role
of Pauline, a high school student with aspirations of becoming a surgeon.
Now, while
normally, a teen-ager with ambition who knows exactly what they want out of
life is a good thing, it’s so not a
good thing where Pauline is concerned.
With a stellar supporting cast--Roger Bart,
Traci Lords, Marlee Matlin, Malcolm McDowell, Ray Wise, and John Waters as
Reverend William (!)--Excision, just
like Pauline, knows exactly what it wants, and knows how to get there; the
basic beats of the short are taken and transformed into pivotal scenes in the
feature, while time is taken to further explore the narrative’s key filial
relationships.
Infused with the
black humour of Heathers, and
compounded by gore and disturbing sexual imagery, Excision is the kind of film that lays out its cards and isn’t shy
to tell you where it is it’s going to end up.
Still, filled
with that sick sense of foreboding, you’re hoping it doesn’t go where you may imagine
it will, because that way will only end in tears.
But of course,
it does, and even though you may have anticipated it, the climax still packs a
gut-wrenching wallop that’s both horrifying and tragic.
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