Hey folks, Harry here... That guy MOUTH that used to be the Indie Indie guy a looooong time ago, well he retired due to finding a ton of rich stuff and currently lays in the lap of Luxury, psst, that's a gal he found in Vegas! Anyways, he's here with a very important thing to tell you folks... And that's about an incredibly special film... MAY. MAY will be opening this Friday in 3 cities. Austin, Dallas and San... Um, one of those San cities out in California. I'm sure it's in Quint's Interview piece that is coming up next. Here's Mouth, who lets slip a few spoilers. Here ya go!
MOUTH SPEAKS about MAY...and whispers naughty things about House of 1000 Corpses
Well fellow Goonies and geeks, it's been a long time. I'm sorry about the lack of information, or contact. I'm one of those weird loner moviegeek types (I'm sure as some of you may relate) that as much as I loved writing regularly, simply found himself without the time and energy to review 20 tapes a week to get to that single gem I wanted so badly to tell all of you about.
I was overwhelmed by everyone's submissions and support every time I wrote; if I never said it, thank you all. Your support has helped me enter a new stage of actually being involved in film and video related productions instead of only writing about them.
So to repay you folks out there, I writhe my way out of the woodwork to give you the Word of Mouth regarding May. I attended BNAT4, after missing a year (*sniff*) and had a blast. You were a great crowd to be around. I met some truly interesting people, and in particular, I have to thank you, Harry, once again, for a fine showing of films.
Anyway...that's now that that has been said, I believe I came to talk about May.
I know some of you movie lovers would describe yourself as someone who likes "weird." Whether it's weird people, something weird wednesdays, weird science, or "Keep Austin weird"...
This movie IS weird.
But how WEIRD do you like it?
MAY
May is a movie that I never saw coming, and it blindsided me with it's brilliance. Like others before it that I have written to you about, it is quirky, and lovable, yet somehow romantic...but this time there's a really, really dark sick horror streak applied. I want this movie to show you its dark streak. I want May to show you her crumbling innocence...and then rip your heart out.
A friend said to me this morning over coffee, "When it comes to men, the really weird ones don't need to advertise." She was referring to the fact that really odd people will surprise you at random with the unusual parts of their lives, and most of the time, that's okay. I reflected on this and knew it to be true. Most of the people in my life are pretty odd, in one way or another...but then again, so am I. I'm a filmgeek with Boba Fett's red skull insignia tattooed on my left shoulder and a 6-foot tall Alien Resurrection movie standup in my bedroom...I've got a few H.R. Geiger books that are fun at parties, and I've been known to respond "Jedi"' when asked for my religion.
The point of all this was, she said, more or less, "I like weird," and because of May, I shivered even though I knew this person's intentions are not nearly as demented as the outcome of this movie...or are they? Demented is weird, and weird is good. Isn't it?
Evidently director Lucky McKee believes so, as May thoroughly explores the weird side of love. As a result, it's the perfect horror-romance. Unfortunately, you shouldn't know beforehand the extent of it's dark side.
The idea here being...many things that are horrific in real life, e.g. real serial killers and such, don't foreshadow to all their evil beforehand. That's why their actions are HORRIFIC. The surprise. That everything is somewhat normal or maybe just a little off, until the hammer drops squarely on your head or you have a blinding flash of pain as someone you think you know (maybe even care about) viciously stabs you in the back...May is like that. The trailer already ruined the film for most people, whereas I was lucky enough to see the film knowing nothing beforehand, as I believe most people SHOULD see it.
I would like to formally ask, if whoever is responsible for editing May's trailer is reading this or can be reached by this review...can I get a chance? There should not be a "Mr. Movie Voice" trailer for this movie. The mood is all wrong. The feel is all wrong. Have it start quaint and meek, and then let it break...and end. The pace is ALL WRONG for the delicately, intelligently twisting tension of May.
This sort of trailer mishap happened to "From Dusk-Til-Dawn"...for some reason, distributors don't like to surprise people like a good filmmaker would, like any good novelist would, or any other type of independent storyteller. To some degree, I can see their point. This film is scary. I screamed at one point, and I am not an easy one to muster in a horror flick. But hey, isn't surprise supposed to be part of the package sometimes? (More on Lions' Gate's inadequacies regarding films of this type to come.)
If you read my review of Cicadas or Some Place New, you know I have a penchant to recognize films that I feel accurately portray offbeat relationships, and view the film as a whole through those characterizations. As a friend says often, "Your focus determines your reality," and I think this is truly the case with the ever-shifting make-believe worlds we invent in film, on TV, in music, and on the news. None of us sees the big picture...and it is the talent of filmmakers and actors to work together to define what that reality is on the other side of the screen, "Through the looking-glass," or "Taking the red pill."
May creates a world around this perfectly flawed individual, May Canady, played by an astonishingly creepy, sexy, lovable, painful but somehow familiar Angela Bettis. Poor May grew up with few friends, because of a single physical flaw, her lazy eye. Her mother, seemingly obsessed with perfection, drew so much attention and focus to this flaw, by overcompensating in an attempt to hide it, that May grew up continually striving for a perfection she could never attain.
Given a doll in a glass case by her Mother, she is told, if you can't find a friend, make one...and so this doll becomes a symbol of physical perfection, the ideal that her mother wishes her to become. This doll becomes her best friend. Her only companion. Her other personality, almost. Withdrawing into her creative passions for sewing for and dressing dolls, she surrounds herself with friends, until one day she has grown up and realizes that she wants a real friend. Not a doll. Not a symbol in a glass case. A real friend. A companion...a mate.
She's a cracked egg in a world of cinderblocks. Delicate and untouched, yet so carefully damaged, she can't find a world that loves her or a self to realize. There is always something she's missing, always something wrong with her, or so she believes. So easy to do in our world of conflicting definitions of love and companionship. Understandable. Something that could happen to you or I...?
What starts out as a mildly unsettling weirdness in association with her doll, grows and festers, not unlike a seething rash or ever-pustulant boil, until it consumes the bearer. May is quirky, confused, and innocently attractive. This attractiveness is evident to both sexes, as she attracts two different companions at once, played by Jeremy Sisto (Suicide Kings) and Anna Farris (Scary Movie). As she explores the depths of these people, she discovers that not only is she weird, she likes that she is weird. This admission further forces her to examine the world of love and attraction where "There are so many beautiful parts...and so few perfect wholes," not unlike pieces of cloth that become a dress, or doll parts that become a friend.
The tension of wanting to be wanted and longing for the perfect living companion builds up, spurred on by a descent into delusion, embodied by the essence of perfection carried within her "perfect childhood playmate." Continually relating to what she sees as the untouchable perfection, as opposed to the imperfect person she sees that she has become, more and more of both herself and her alter-ego, the doll, cracks...until one day, both are shattered... which is something you just need to see for yourself.
Then the gore flows...most beautifully, I might add. When you see the scene involving milk...oooh, it gave me shivers,
Ultimately, May is well shot, well acted, well directed, and (most importantly, for a horror film, I might add) well-edited. Horror and comedy are no different in this respect, I believe. It's all about timing, buildup of tension, climax, release of tension, and so on.
Want to really scare someone? Bring a friend. Tell them it's a quirky romance film...and let May's true horror rear it's hidden head.
I wish I could be writing to you in regards to Rob Zombie's House of 1000 corpses, which followed May at BNAT4.
Okay, a blurb, if only to make a point. This is really more pointed towards Rob Zombie himself (hey I can hope) and thusly those who have not seen it will not know what I'm talking about in the next paragraph. (just keep reading...)
First and foremost, I am a HUGE Rob Zombie fan, but alas, I've lost the strength arguing with other horror fans and Rob Zombie fans that the movie was definitely Rob-level creepy and gory, but could have been assembled much better. I feel the distraction could have been mostly in the editing, and obviously there were lower-level single-chip dv reshoots thrown in with 35mm footage, and even if it was for effect, this was no Natural Born Killers. Show a SINGLE character filming with a single-chip dv video camera, and then it becomes "Otis' crazy cam" or whatever... Maybe make the cop the sympathetic character by putting some music of your OWN in that painfully long hesitation before he is shot. Plus, if you're going to partially use Oliver Stone's mixed media for the look of the film, why not look to Trent Reznor's soundtrack album as a manual for how to mix other people's music with your own as well?
I hate to appear negative in this fashion, but feel I should underline the contrast in these two films.
Both of them are about serial killers. One is scary. One is not.
Whereas H1000C could have been so much more, and so much potential was misused...May was a complete surprise and had many fewer resources, less backing, and I imagine a substantially lower budget.
Why am I focusing on how these films differ? Why not just say "May is awesome" and leave it at that?
Lion's Gate is distributing both of these horror films, along with a second independent horror film, Cabin Fever, which some of you may have seen or heard of. I have seen all three, and would definitely put H1000C at the tail end of my list of which is the best film. However, as it turns out, Lion's Gate is planning on betting most of its chips on the Zombie flick...which I think is a serious mistake. May is getting a "limited release," and Cabin Fever seems slated for the same (or, god forbid, a lesser) fate, whereas Zombie's "House..." will likely be getting full theatrical support.
My advice as a horror film fan, who has seen all three of the films, and an unbiased observer who, although limited and tangentially, has a working knowledge of the film industry...is to release Cabin Fever and May fully and theatrically, and go straight to DVD (after a full re-edit) with House of 1000 Corpses.
Simply put, House of 1000 corpses, after all of it's releasing nightmares and buildup, will be purchased in masse on DVD by horror fans and Zombie fans, if it never makes it to the theater. No problem. The people that are hardcore enough Zombie fans will buy it without seeing it...I've argued how poorly the film struck me with many many undying fans who have NOT EVEN SEEN the film... the House of 1000 Corpses talkback board deleted all my posts, and seems to have banned me from posting further comments after I only mentioned that I had seen the film, and that it was unfortunate that it could not be recut. There is a select group of people that will enjoy it, no matter what. They'll view the H1000C disc as they would the new Zombie album...and maybe allow Rob Zombie to recut it to full-tilt gore which this film is screaming to have done, but cannot do because it's slated for an MPAA-approved "R" because of theatrical release. Why not market directly to them instead of taking away resources that could be slated to two independent, creative, and original horror films that, if marketed and released properly and internationally, will build a following well above and beyond the numbers of existing Rob Zombie Fans?
Unfortunately, it seems as though Lion's Gate has decided to take resources away from both May and Cabin Fever because of their theatrical plans for House of 1000 Corpses. May has already been slated for "limited release," which means if it comes out in your town...GO SEE IT!!!
I love May. This is the first movie I've felt this way about in a very long time. Support well made, independent film. Please go see it.
That's the word of Mouth for now.
Lick Mouth at this point
