American Mary (2012) d. Soska, Jen / Soska, Silvia (USA)
The Sisters Soska are back, following up their enthusiastic if deliberately unpolished debut Dead Hooker in a Trunk, a film which I mildly chastised for playing without a net – as though they realized that by doing a exploitation flick that wore its seams on its unraveling sleeves, this would excuse them from putting as much thought and preparation into the feature itself. Well, I doubt they made their next effort explicitly for me, but any questions raised about their level of professionalism have been put to rest and then some.
Katharine Isabelle stars as a surgical student whose money troubles lead her down a twisted path that concludes with her lending her burgeoning talents to a very specific clientele; it also provides a very specific means by which to exact revenge upon anyone who wrongs her, which certain characters make the mistake of doing. The production values are in a completely different class this time around, from Brian Pearson’s skilled cinematography to Tony Devenyi and Courtney Stockstad’s well manicured art direction; I think it’s safe to say that the Soskas are well on their way to establishing themselves among the upper echelon of rising independents. The only suggestion I would make? Lay off the accents, ladies – they don’t suit you well, your cameos constituting the only false notes.
--Aaron Christensen, HorrorHound Magazine
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