taramason | 20 Oct 2012 | 726 Views | 5 Likes | 0 Dislikes

Toronto After Dark 2012: American Mary

Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2012 American Mary

It was no big deal for dedicated horror fanatics to line up outside in the fall's first cold rain for the Canadian Premiere of American Mary at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival - most Toronto genre film fans have had the night circled on their calendar for months. The second screening on the first night of TAD helps break a bottle of... really evil champagne on the ship that is this year's nine-nights-of-crazy-cinema festival.

Written and directed and introduced live by Jen & Sylvia Soska (aka the Twisted Twins) American Mary follows a broke medical student - Mary Mason, played by Katherine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Freddy vs. Jason). Harassed by student loan collectors, she decides to apply for a job at a strip club only to get sucked into the world of underground body modification surgery. Not particularly surprisingly especially when I summarize the plot in text, that's when things take a horrible turn for the worse.

Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2012 American Mary

Walking into the theatre I wasn't sure what to expect but walking out I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It's a dark, twisted and surprisingly dry and sarcastically funny film, and Katherine Isabelle was the absolute perfect choice for the lead role. She carried the whole thing incredibly well.It wasn't particularly scary in a "jesus jump out of your seat" kind of way, but it did have enough torture gore to creep the crowd out.

Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2012 American Mary

The screening began when Festival Director & Founder Adam Lopez took the stage to introduce a very special guest to say a few words, comedian Sean Ward (aka Toronto Batman) in full costume growling his classic line "MY PARENTS ARE DEAD" to get the crowd pumped up. Shortly after, director Bruce William Harper took the stage to introduce the featured short of the night, Trudy, starring Canadian up-n-comer Caitlynne Medrek as a neglected teenager hopped up on goof pills. She has a bad trip, and her paranoia becomes deadly when she starts to believe that there's a stranger in the house. The film itself was interesting to say the least and Medrek's performance reminded me a lot of Chloe Webb's performance as Nancy Spungen in the 1986 film Sid and Nancy.

Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2012 American Mary

Overall it was a great opening night of the 2012 Toronto After Dark Film Festival and I'm really looking forward to seeing some new great horror films. Next up, [REC] 3: Genesis and Cockneys vs. Zombies tonight!

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