Excisão

Overall i thought this film was superb! The acting was outstanding by AnnaLynne Mccord and Traci Lords who made the film well worth a watch. If you like your strange/obscene movies this is one definitely to watch. There are bound to be some negative reviews of this movie but trust me when i say this take no notice. If there is one criticism it would have to be the ending of the movie but i wont go into detail as don't want to spoil it for potential viewers. The director of the movie has made a fantastic movie especially for his debut and this will hopefully not be his only movie, i cant wait for the next movie of his! Overall strange, weird, exciting movie so give it a watch.

In Excision, a high school misfit goes to great lengths to win over her domineering, conservative mother. Although it's presented as a horror film - and opened the Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival - it's a psychosexual thriller, rife with imagery set against a pastiche of normative teenage angst and desperation. It is a brilliant, provocative, unsettling film.

Pauline (AnnaLynne McCord) is the misfit. Scarred with acne and and overall unkempt look and poor posture, she is the poster child for unpopularity. But, like many cinematic rebels before her, she looks upon the idea of being liked almost with disdain. The opinions of others don't influence her.

Pauline aspires to be a doctor, but she is anything but a model student. She challenges her teachers and plays her classmates against each other for her own gain. She has no friends, and her therapy consists of visits to the local priest, whereupon she notes the hypocrisy of his understanding her moral issues when he's by definition pretty repressed himself.

She's part of a nuclear family. Dad Bob (Roger Bart) is a success at something, but he's under the thumb of his controlling wife Phyllis (Traci Lords). Sister Grace is the favorite of the family, partly because she's so nice and good and sweet but also because she is suffering from cystic fibrosis.

Of all the people with whom Pauline interacts on a regular basis, she cares only for Grace. She despairs of her sister's imminent death and wishes the same on her mother. Typical for a teenager, to an extreme perhaps.

Throughout the movie, Pauline sets particular goals for herself and then completes them, in opposition to her attitude toward school and life in general. When her mother forces her to be (at an advanced age) part of a cotillion, Pauline understandably ruins the affair. But when she wants to pursue a career in medicine, she goes to the library (cutting school) and researches her sister's condition.

You may well ask what the title implies. Something is being excised. We've already established that Pauline wants to be a doctor, but what is to be excised is something I cannot reveal here. On a less literal front, Pauline wants to excise her mother's influence from her own life and the pain and suffering from that of her sister.

This is not a movie for the faint of heart. It is not dripping with blood and contains no projectile vomiting, but Pauline's dreams - which include impromptu surgeries that equate to intercourse in her mind - are erotic, disturbing, grisly, and symbolic.

McCord nails the role of Pauline. Dolled up for the cotillion, she looks almost presentable, but even when she's her slovenly self you can see her beauty - eyes, wit, intelligence, smile - even if no one else in the movie can. McCord sells the film by subtly morphing Pauline from an outcast to a sociopath; at first, you take her for just another weird kid in the hall, but over time you see her as clearly losing her grip on reality.

And I didn't think I'd say this, but Lords is really good - in an ironic role - as the pushy, moralizing mom. Traci, you've come a long way, baby.

It's very hard to believe this is writer/director Richard Bates Jr.'s first film, feature or otherwise. The writing is tight, and he gets a lot out of his cast - which includes John Waters and Malcolm McDowell. It's a stunning debut.

I wasn't sure how the movie was going to end, although it was clear I was being led in a particular direction. I wasn't misled, but the conclusion is still a knockout; leaving just enough unresolved to be satisfying.

Excision is thrilling, a movie that will resonate with anyone who's felt unloved and with anyone who likes tales of revenge and redemption. It wisely picks a course and never goes too over the top with its set pieces. It's not a mild-mannered film, but it's also not an overwrought, ham-fisted gorefest. It's cleverly nuanced, achingly acted, and a mind- blowing masterpiece.

"Excision" is a consistently interesting concoction from the mind of writer / director Richard Bates Jr. Combining straight drama, horror, and very dark comedy, it's twisted to its core, with a very memorable character driving the plot forward.

That character is Pauline (AnnaLynne McCord, in an utterly fearless performance), a strange and off putting teenage girl living with a sister (Ariel Winter) who has cystic fibrosis, a reserved father (Roger Bart), and a demanding mother (long ago porn queen Traci Lords, who finally gets a chance to show some real acting chops) whose love Pauline desperately tries to win, while deluding herself into thinking she could have a career in surgery.

Some of the cast members (Malcolm McDowell, Ray Wise, Matthew Gray Gubler, John Waters (as a reverend!) and especially Oscar winner Marlee Matlin) have what amount to little more than cameo roles, but it's still nice to see all of these familiar faces. Anyway, McCord and Lords do a fine job of carrying the movie, and their scenes are uncomfortable as they're clearly meant to be yet undeniably compelling.

Bates sets his story in a typically placid looking suburbia which serves as an appropriate contrast to the bizarre psycho sexual elements of his plot. He serves up plenty of grotesque, bloody imagery for the horror crowd yet films it all in such a slick way that it's oddly beautiful. He takes full advantage of the 2.35:1 aspect ratio in which the movie is shot, considering the way he arranges actors and objects within the frame.

Adventuresome cult movie lovers tired of the soulless quality of bigger budgeted studio based productions should appreciate the daring with which Bates approaches this material. Once it's all over it's the kind of thing you *don't* easily forget; the ending is not that surprising but it's pretty devastating just the same.

Seven out of 10.

First I thought this movie would be purely splatter and gore but it turned out to be quite good yet tragic film. AnnaLynne McCord and Traci Lords gave strong performances that really carried the movie, particularly Lords who successfully left the Adult Industry and became a credible actress. I mentioned it was tragic as I really felt for the family struggling with a delusional elder daughter and a dying younger one. Kudos to the makeup artist(s) who worked on McCord making her character (Pauline) look like a really out-of-sorts teenager. There were scenes (in the Unrated version) where a lot of blood was involved coupled with some perverted scenes, but it worked in looking inside the mind of Pauline.

Film about an 18 year girl called Pauline and her rather shocking dreams or fantasies of sex and death. She is also desperate to lose her virginity. AnnaLynne McCord plays the role and considering she is a model the make up team have done a good job of making her look, frankly, pretty ugly. Traci Lords, Malcolm McDowell & John Waters, a few famous cult names, also help make up the cast. Hard to classify this type of film. My TV guide, Wikipedia & IMDB all describe it as horror and it certainly has a lot of nightmarish stuff and gore going on. But it's also a teen drama, a black comedy and dare I say even a bit of an art movie. But whatever genre you want to label it as it's a shocking, strange but also riveting watch. Perhaps experience would be a better word. Certainly not for everyone & a strong stomach is advised but credit due for pushing the boundaries.