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[Blu-ray Review] ‘American Mary’ Is Intentionally Sculpted
Everything about American Mary is intentionally sculpted for the realm of horror where the writer/directors – the Soska Sisters – reside. It is a simple realm where style rules over plot. This means everything is on purpose – from title character Mary Mason’s black surgical gloves to the length of her bangs.
Mary Mason is a struggling medical student who can’t pay her bills. She turns to stripping but is immediately forced into the “shady world of underground surgery and body modification”. From the get go, the movie is a bit far fetched and sporadic. Mary’s professor is immediately dropping f bombs left and right, (I didn’t go to medical school, but I maybe heard one f bomb in the two years I was in grad school), she dresses seductively, and doesn’t seem to run when asked to make an emergency surgery in the skeevy basement of a strip club. Next thing you know, a woman shows up at Mary’s doorstep. And this woman, Beatress, has had a massive overhaul of body modification in order to look like Betty Boop. Without much to go on except the promise of a lot of money, Mary agrees to make Beatress’ fellow friend look like a doll in her female regions. Then, Mary is asked by fellow surgeons to meet at a party for drinks, and she shows up in a dress better suited for a sleazy nightclub.
It is more than obvious something bad is going to happen to Mary, and it does.
Soon a cop is after her (he’s British, by the way, complete with British accent), in regard to the disappearance of f bomb professor because, American Mary, underneath this superficial surface of style, is simply a rape revenge movie. We are given many music cues for things like gratuitously long dance scenes in the strip club with Mary in slow-mo, sometimes pouring red liquid down her boobs. And when you don’t think the movie is planted with enough of this style, the twins themselves show up. But they have German or Swedish or Romanian accents or something. And they want body parts swapped. I’m going to just stop there. The breakdown is simple: Style is emphasized while a cohesive storyline is thrown out.
Despite all of this, Katharine Isabelle is perfect in the role of Mary. She plays the roll very similar to how she played Ginger in Ginger Snaps – transitioning easily from the innocent to evil. The quality of the blu-ray is great – visually and sound wise. The film itself is nicely shot and edited. There is a commentary track with the Soskas and a ‘making of’ for special features. And, as stated in the credits of the blu-ray, Canadians films are lucky to have the Canadian government funding part of their production. (Side note: The Soska’s parents apparently remortgaged their home to get funding started for the film.)
The setup of American Mary is promising but soon the film meanders through side stories that never fully pan out to make a feature length story. American Mary only ever fully delivers on the visual of a hot chick (in that horror subculture where the girls have that stylized look) running around scantily clad and occasionally splattered in blood while people with body modifications get cut up. I think people see something different with this film simply because it was made by women. I don’t think there really is much beyond that. It is an already seen concept packaged as something innovative and new. It’s just a reinvention. If that’s your bag, you’re going to love the hell out of this movie and should purchase it. If you are seeking much of anything beyond that, skip the blu-ray.
Scream Factory brought Frank LaLoggia’s 1988 Halloween movie Lady in White to Blu-ray several years back, and now Vinegar Syndrome gives the film a 4K Ultra HD upgrade.
Vinegar Syndrome’s Lady in White 4K release is available now and shipping now!
Watch the trailer below and grab your copy from Vinegar Syndrome today.
This limited edition 4-disc 4K UHD/Blu-ray x 3 set comes with a spot gloss hard slipcase + slipcover combo (designed by Dylan Haley), includes a 40-page perfect bound book and is limited to 8,000 units. It is only available on their website and at select indie retailers.
The full Special Features package includes…
- 4-disc Set: 1x 4K Ultra HD (High Bitrate BD100) / 3x Region A Blu-ray
- 4K UHD presented in Dolby Vision High-Dynamic-Range
- Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative
- Presented in three versions: 126-min Pre-Release Director’s Cut (UHD+BD), the 118-min Extended Home Video Cut (BD), and the 113-min Theatrical Cut (BD)
- New group commentary track with writer/director Frank LaLoggia, alongside actors Lukas Haas, Joelle Jacobi, and Len Cariou for the Pre-Release Director’s Cut
- New commentary track with Frank LaLoggia, moderated by Scott Neumyer for the Extended Home Video Cut
- New commentary track with authors Emma Westwood and Stephen A. Russell for the Extended Home Video Cut
- Archival commentary track with Frank LaLoggia for the Extended Home Video Cut
- “Learning How to Fly” (10 min) – an interview with actress Karen Powell
- “A Snapshot in Time” (9 min) – an interview with actress Lisa Taylor
- “Human Touches” (6 min) – an interview with actress Lucy Lee Flippin
- “Still Relevant” (16 min) – an interview with actress Rose Weaver
- “75% Listening, 25% Editing” (9 min) – an interview with editor Steve Mann
- “Welcome to Willowpoint Falls” (6 min) – a location featurette hosted by Benjamin Scrivens, founder of Fright-Rags
- “Dream Talking: Looking Back” – a visual group commentary for the Pre-Release Director’s Cut with Frank LaLoggia, and actors Lukas Haas, Joelle Jacobi, and Len Cariou (103 min)
- Deleted Scenes with introduction and optional commentary by writer/director Frank LaLoggia (36 min)
- Behind-the-scenes footage with introduction and optional commentary by writer/director Frank LaLoggia (16 min)
- Extended behind-the-scenes footage (73 min)
- Introduction from the 20th anniversary dvd release
- Promotional ‘industry sales’ trailer (7 min)
- 40-page perfect bound book with essays by film historians Molly Henery, Mark H. Harris, and Heidi Honeycutt (limited edition only)
- Multiple radio spots
- Theatrical trailer
- Multiple TV spots
- Workprint trailers (7 min)
- Still gallery
- Reversible sleeve artwork
- English SDH subtitles
1962. Nine-year-old Frankie Scarlatti enjoys a homespun childhood in a rustic Western New York town. The entire community gets into the spirit of Halloween, but then two bullies prank Frankie by locking him in his school cloakroom, leaving him trapped for the night. Alone and afraid, his slumber is interrupted when the ghost of a little girl appears, and Frankie witnesses the specter of her murder by an unseen assailant. Later, while recovering at home, the girl’s ghost appears to him again. With help from his older brother, Frankie begins investigating the circumstances of her death. He soon discovers that her murder was one of several unsolved crimes connected to a local child-killer. As the town’s bucolic veneer fades and long-buried secrets and tensions bubble to the surface, all of the clues to the mystery seem to point towards a huge mansion inhabited by a reclusive woman known as “The Lady in White.”
A nostalgia-driven ghost story wrapped within an intricate murder mystery and coming-of-age drama, writer-director-composer Frank LaLoggia’s passion project Lady in White remains one of the most beautiful and original American horror films of the 1980s. Featuring acclaimed actors Alex Rocco (The Godfather), Len Cariou (Executive Decision), and Sydney Lassick (Carrie, The Unseen), it boasts the first starring role by Lukas Haas (Mars Attacks, Inception) as well as breathtaking photography by Academy Award® winner Russell Carpenter (True Lies, The Lawnmower Man). Vinegar Syndrome is honored to bring this genre masterpiece to 4K UHD, newly restored from its original 35mm camera negative and presented in three versions: its pre-release director’s cut, its extended home-video version, and its original theatrical version, along with an abundance of both new and archival extras.
Paul Lê wrote here on Bloody Disgusting back in 2023, “Over the years, fans have described this film as gateway horror, but they liken it more to The Watcher in the Woods than, say, Hocus Pocus or Casper. There are chilling moments that warrant its PG-13 rating.”
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