Movies
[Sundance ’12] Anchor Bay Acquires Coming-Of-Age Horror ‘Excision’
Anchor Bay Films announced today the acquisition of all North American distribution rights to director/writer Richard Bates, Jr.’s debut feature film, Excision (review), which made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month. Produced by Dylan Hale Lewis, the horror film features an all-star cast including: AnnaLynne McCord (“90210”), Traci Lords (Cry Baby), Ariel Winter (“Modern Family”), Roger Bart (“Desperate Housewives”), Jeremy Sumpter (Soul Surfer), Malcolm McDowell, Matthew Gray Gubler (“Criminal Minds”), Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God), Ray Wise (Good Night, and Good Luck) and John Waters.
“ ‘Excision’ is the story of Pauline (McCord), a delusional teenage outcast. Pauline picks scabs. Pauline dissects road kill. Pauline fantasizes about performing surgery on strangers. Her fascinations disturb her schoolmates and her parents, Phyllis (Lords) and Bob (Bart). No one understands Pauline except for Grace (Winter), her younger sister who suffers from cystic fibrosis. An outcast at school and at home, Pauline is convinced that the best way to repair her estranged relationship with her family is to perform a risky operation to save her sister’s life.”
Ryan Daley had this to say in his review of the film: “It’s like a Shakespearean tragedy without the Shakespeare. In the end, all of the subconscious craziness in ‘Excision’ is just an unnecessary afterthought tacked onto an insightful coming-of-age story.”
Keep up with all of our Sundance coverage here.
A job at a marijuana farm turns nightmarish in director Ariel Vida’s Trim Season, and Blue Harbor Entertainment has released the trailer just in time for 4/20 this weekend.
Trim Season will open in theaters and on demand June 7, 2024.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker and production designer Ariel Vida, Trim Season stars Bethlehem Million (Sick, “And Just Like That…”) as Emma, an adrift, jobless, 20-something seeking purpose. Along with a group of young people from Los Angeles, she drives up the coast to make quick cash trimming marijuana on a secluded farm in Northern California.
“Cut off from the rest of the world, they soon realize that Mona (Jane Badler) – the seemingly amiable owner of the estate – is harboring secrets darker than any of them could imagine. It becomes a race against time for Emma and her friends to escape the dense woods with their lives.”
The cast also includes “Scream” and Hell Fest‘s Bex Taylor-Klaus, Starry Eyes, “Midnight Mass” and Doctor Sleep‘s Alex Essoe, Ally Ioannides (Synchronic), Cory Hart (“Fear the Walking Dead”), Ryan Donowho, Marc Senter and Juliette Kenn De Balinthazy.
Michelle Swope wrote in her review that Trim Season is “a suspenseful, uniquely crafted story highlighting pain and sacrifice that should spark some powerful conversation around women and gender. Mesmerizing performances, an innovative story, beautiful stylistic choices, and a little bit of witchy weed make Trim Season a must-see horror film.”
Aaron B. Koontz of Paper Street Pictures and Sean E. DeMott of Execution Style Entertainment produced. Paul Holbrook of Hlbrk Ent. produces in addition to Badler on behalf of MeJane Productions. Leal Naim executive produces while Cameron Burns co-produces.
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