Excision is definitely one of those movies I walked away from feeling uncomfortable for liking it. And one I will NOT forget.
I’m not going to beat around the bush on this one. Excision will make the audience uncomfortable through many sequences of the film. The topics addressed are done so in a graphic manner that will make even seasoned horror fans squirm. Excision is full of shock value and you can tell that it was intended to be that way. However, it is a unique piece of disturbing art that those intrigued by such works won’t be able to peel their eyes from.
Excision, written and directed by Richard Bates, Jr., is listed as a Horror Comedy. But don’t be fooled by the that. There is dark humor within the movie, but it is a twisted sense of dark humor. If that hits your vein right, you will get some good laughs out of Excision, as I did. But of course, I’m a fan of some dark and demented movies.
The story is centered on Pauline (AnnaLynne McCord), a rebellious outcast teenager, who seemingly does everything in her capabilities to fulfill defiance to the max. However, this part of the coming-of-age movie stigma is presented to the viewer in such a way that makes you wonder if there’s something psychologically off about Pauline. The further you get into Excision the more that question gets answered for you.
Pauline does nothing to make herself presentable in the standards of what “regular” might be conceived of in High School. For the movie, she is made to look pimply, off-putting, and gawky on purpose. She is socially awkward and is either that way because she intends to be or because she knows no different based off her psychological state.
Whereas, in her dreams, Pauline is queenly, always the focus and center of attention of usually naked cronies doing some morbid bidding of hers. The body horror in Excision comes from Pauline’s dreams and fantasies. This is the most visually stunning aspect of the movie, and the most squirm worthy. The high contrast between the stark white of her outfit and the bright red blood, which is prevalent in each dream, is extremely pronounced. And even though the graphic scenes are unsettling and gross at times, it’s hard to look away regardless of the topic being highlighted. The twisted part about these dreams, aside from the shock value of the dreams themselves, is that Pauline wakes up feeling pleasure and ecstasy from them. In various ways, Pauline attempts to fulfill, or at least test the waters of, those fantasies in her waking hours. Reality is not like dreams, so she fumbles in these attempts.
On top of all that, Pauline’s mother Phyllis (played by Traci Lords) is overbearing and verbally abusive to Pauline. Heavy in religious belief and very prim and proper, Phyllis consistently berates and demeans Pauline for her looks, actions, everything. She signs Pauline up for Cotillion classes, typically for kids of the age younger than High School, which focuses on learning how to be "acceptable" and respectable. Also, her parents send Pauline to their church priest for psychiatric appointments instead of a true Psychiatrist. Through rebellious attitude and actions, Pauline either tries to win her mom’s affection over, or gain attention from her. These fail miserably as the two fail to connect throughout the movie. I was really rooting for them to reach some sort of middle ground at any point of the movie. But when one tried to be vulnerable and apologize for something, the other flat out denied it, which hardened the walls of the relationship.
On the offset, Pauline’s sister, Grace (Ariel Winter) can do nothing wrong in her mother’s eyes and is perfect in everything she does. Part of that may be that Grace is diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, which plays a major part in end result of the movie. Bob (Roger Bart), the father in the house, is useless in most matters as he seems to have checked out, as he too takes the brunt of Phyllis’s verbal wrath.
Given the family dynamics, Pauline’s disassociated relationship with her mother, her social ineptitude, and wild dark fantasies, Excision really paints a grim outcome for Pauline in her struggles to fit in anywhere. The ending, however, was still a stunning climax to the movie. I had a feeling where they might have been going with the story, so it wasn’t completely unpredictable. Truthfully, there might not have been any other way for them to end the already stark movie.
Excision is done with such boldness and spectacular theatrics and cinematography that it’s easy to say that they knocked this one out of the park. They were going for in-your-face disturbia and hit it on every note. I did enjoy the dark humor and the acting was really good. I appreciated the visual prowess of the movie, and like my title states, I feel wrong to say I really liked this movie regardless of the unpleasant nature of so many scenes. They do not hold back!
Excision is top 5 disturbing movies for me I believe…is it weird that I liked it? Nah! Great movie!
P.S. Thanks for recommendation Jamie!
Excision
Released: 11/2/2012
Rating: NR
Genre: Horror, Drama
Running Time: 1 hour 21 minutes
Director: Richard Bates, Jr. (Tone Deaf, Suburban Gothic, Trash Fire)
Writer: Richard Bates, Jr. (Tone Deaf, Suburban Gothic (co-writer), Trash Fire)
Stars:
AnnaLynne McCord as Pauline (Scorned, Tone Deaf, Fired Up!)
Traci Lords as Phyllis (Zack and Miri Make Porno, Blade, Cry-Baby)
Ariel Winter as Grace (Modern Family series, Sofia the First series voice)
Roger Bart as Bob (The Producers 2005, American Gangster, 72 credits as an actor)
IMDB Rating: 6.1 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 61%
Metascore: N/A
Streamable on these Apps with subscription at time of Blog Post: Vudu Free, Tubi, Plex
Rentable on these Apps at time of Blog Post: Prime Video, Google, YouTube TV, AppleTV, etc.
Excision Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzKlr1V6xzM
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