...and "Excision" is no exception; tyro auteur Richard Bates Jr.'s feature debut---expanded from his identically titled short four years earlier (and, yes, it would have been nice to have had that as a DVD extra)---is a decidedly uncomfortable peek at a seriously disturbed young woman's descent into homicidal psychosis. I am unsurprised that it failed to find theatrical distribution as it is by no means a feel-good film. It leaves the viewer feeling somewhat abused, much like films like "We Need To Talk About Kevin" or "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" do.
Bates' mostly tight script, some nice lensing by Itay "movin' on up" Gross, excellent art direction and production design, and a cast loaded with brand recognition all combine to concoct a psychodrama that transcends its lo-fi nature with a sure hand. Complaints are duly noted elsewhere as to the general unlikability of the protagonist, and they're hard to argue with, but I still found this demented character study to be compelling. I'll throw AnnaLynne "90210" McCord a round of props for her excellent portrayal of a femme psycho-geek, even as I reiterate how much I'd like to have seen what the original short's actress (Tessa "Grey's Anatomy" Ferrer) did with the character (mostly to see if she could subsume her natural beauty as effectively as McCord did--extra major props to the makeup crew!). Tracy "The Tommyknockers" Lords deserves mention as well for playing the straitlaced mother way against type. Various other notables appear, lending much credence to the project; maybe their casting was a deliberate ploy to gain "cult" recognition, maybe not. It certainly didn't hurt the tone of the film.
"Excision" topped off a week of under-the-radar films and was by far the most successful of them overall. If you like stuff like "May" and so on, you'll enjoy "Excision."
Bates' mostly tight script, some nice lensing by Itay "movin' on up" Gross, excellent art direction and production design, and a cast loaded with brand recognition all combine to concoct a psychodrama that transcends its lo-fi nature with a sure hand. Complaints are duly noted elsewhere as to the general unlikability of the protagonist, and they're hard to argue with, but I still found this demented character study to be compelling. I'll throw AnnaLynne "90210" McCord a round of props for her excellent portrayal of a femme psycho-geek, even as I reiterate how much I'd like to have seen what the original short's actress (Tessa "Grey's Anatomy" Ferrer) did with the character (mostly to see if she could subsume her natural beauty as effectively as McCord did--extra major props to the makeup crew!). Tracy "The Tommyknockers" Lords deserves mention as well for playing the straitlaced mother way against type. Various other notables appear, lending much credence to the project; maybe their casting was a deliberate ploy to gain "cult" recognition, maybe not. It certainly didn't hurt the tone of the film.
"Excision" topped off a week of under-the-radar films and was by far the most successful of them overall. If you like stuff like "May" and so on, you'll enjoy "Excision."