Wow! Director Richard Bates, Jr. comes out of the gate swinging with his first feature, EXCISION, and the results are pretty amazing. AnnaLynne McCord stars as Pauline, a trouble teenager who slowly breaks down emotionally. Think DONNIE DARKO meets MAY. The supporting cast is great (albeit kind of all over the place, casting-wise):, Traci Lords (who is REALLY terrific as the domineering mother!), Roger Bart, Malcolm McDowell, Matthew Gray Gubler, Marlee Matlin, Ray Wise, and John Waters (as a priest!).The film is unflinching in the way we’re introduced to Pauline’s daily life – subjugated by her mother, her dad an emotional void, her sister slowly dying from Cystic Fibrosis… She doesn’t fit in in school, but somehow she’s convinced she is destined to become a surgeon. As things get murkier and murkier for her, a plan is created and the resulting last act of the film is astounding (and visually beautiful). Throughout the film, we have dream sequences that are like high-glossed Stephen Sayadian (aka Rinse Dream) meets Helmut Newton. Visually stunning, thematically brave, and acted with aplomb, EXCISION is a creepy, engaging, and powerful film. Recommended!
4 out of 5 stars
~ Thom Carnell
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