STANLEY KUBRICK’S A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) (WBHE 4K UHD Review)

STANLEY KUBRICK’S 

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) 

Label: WBHE

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: R 

Duration: 136 Minutes

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital Mono 1.0 with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 2160p UHD Widescreen (1.66:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)

Director: Stanley Kubrick 

Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Warren Clarke, James Marcus,  Michael Tarn, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates

I'm pretty sure I saw A Clockwork Orange on late-night cable TV as a kid  when I was definitely way too young to be seeing it, but too young tends to be the age that movies make the biggest impression on you, and it certainly did. From early on ans still today I count it as one of my most beloved films, sitting alongside

Ghostbusters and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. This here tale of youthful mayhem is set in a near-future dystopian England and follows the exploits of a charismatic and intelligent teen psychopath named Alex (Malcolm McDowell, If...) and his fellow "Droogs" who spend their nights at the Korova Milkbar getting buzzed on Milk++ before heading out into the city for a little of the old ultraviolence, indulging their wildest whims with fighting, theft, rape and murder. 

I remember when I first saw it I thought it was absolutely terrorizing, what I was seeing was something I'd never even thought of before, these were scary nihilistic teens embarking on theretofore unheard of destruction and law-breaking. At the time I was a pretty good kid, well, at least good within normal adolescence anyway. I couldn't make sense of why it was also steeped in black humor, the blackest, as the Droogs go about their violent business. Was it meant to be a comedy, and if so, why?  At that age I hadn't quite grasped onto the concepts of satire and parody, so it seemed to me the movie was celebrating the horror-show of it all, and It can still be argued that it is, but I think of it more as the film surrendering to the violence of Alex and the worl he lives in, more so than condoning it. Years later in my teens the movie felt like a rally cry for teen rebellion left unchecked and taken to comedic heights, it was just a kick-ass anti-hero flick, it never made me think that crime and violence were cool, but as a teen and beyond I appreciated the aggressive elements of it. 

The lines are not too well-defined to be honest, which is why the film is still rather provocational, even today in some circles When I was watching this UHD for the third time this week my wife was less than thrilled by it. She always seemed to walk-in during that scene of Alex giddily spouting "Singing in the Rain" during the rape scene - isn't that always the case - and would get irate about it, "WTF are you watching!?!". 

As the film progresses we see Alex break into a dance studio looking for some action, he ends up bludgeoning a dance instructor, the "Cat Lady", to death with a phallic sculpture, after which his own droogs, tired of his tyrannical leadership, turning on him by smashing a milk bottle across his face, which allows for the cops to apprehend him and charge him with murder. Afterward he is given a trial and sentenced to prison, where he eventually submits to a government sponsored behavior modification technique that will earn him his freedom. Returned to the world, now conditioned to abhor violence and sex after a torturous conditioning process, Alex becomes a defenseless victim of his prior victims, the tables have now turned, the teen is now the victim, as Kubrick toys with your sympathies. 

Kubrick's adaptation of Burgess's same-titled novel is an orgy of eye-popping dark delicacies, decorated with porcelain statues of naked women that dispense milk++ from their titties, there's tons of  phallic symbolism on dispay, including the sculpture used as a weapon of blunt-force murder, and music absolutely overwhelms the movie, whether it's the pulsing electronic score from  composer Wendy Carlos (The Shining) or the subverted  classical tunes from Ludwig van, and double-speed orgy set to Rossini's "William Tell Overture". It's made for shocking stuff when I was a kid, and it still packs a punch today. What's changed about for me is that I see it more for the comedy now and the violence and rape, its less shocking to me. Perhaps because after seeing Last House on the Left, Salo, Irreversible, and I Spit On Your Grave there's not much that actually shocks me these days. Now, what's the meaning of it all? Fuck if I know, I don't think that Kubrick set out or succeeds in making any sort of grand statement here, he just made a fucking cool slice of subversive cinema, and that's all I need. Now that we're in the age where turkey-baster rapists can be good daddy anti-heroes (Don't Breathe 2) I think we can enjoy this without needing a message shoved down out throats, so come viddy the ultra-violence guilt-free. 

Audio/Video: A Clockwork Orange arrives on 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment in glorious 2160p UHD framed in 1.66:1 widescreen. This is a 4K restoration performed by Warner Bros.’ Motion Picture Imaging (MPI) with the invaluable aid of Kubrick’s former right-hand man Leon Vitali. The UHD offers a more lush and refined grain field with finer detail and textures. It also benefits from a new more natural looking HDR10 enhanced color-grading that is cooler and a not as warm or bright as the previous HD releases. The ugliness of the ultra-violence has never looked better mE brothers, you can now viddy this sinny like never before with a bit of the shiny new Ultra-HD-violence.

Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround with optional English subtitles, as well as the original mono, sadly presented in compressed Dolby Digital. The 5.1 option does have it's moments, it opens up the electronic score from  Wendy Carlos (The Shining) and Ludwig van  but it can sound forced to me in my opinio. I still prefer the lossy mono track which is more direct and sounds more authentic. I have to ask, why could we not get a Atmos upgrade or at least an uncompressed mono track for this?  The lossy mono track only appears on the UHD, not on the recycled Blu-ray. 

No new extras but WBHE carry-over all the extras from the last few Blu-ray releases, which is appreciated as they are extensive and quite good. Among them is a very good commentary from Malcolm McDowell and the late Nick Redman of niche label Twilight Time, it's fantastic listen that covers a lot of ground There are also nearly two-hours worth of docs and featurettes, plus a trailer for the film. The UHD only carries the commentary, all other extras can be found on the accompanying Blu-ray disc which is predictably, but regrettably, not the new color-timed restoration, but a port of the previous Blu-ray. I appreciate the gorgeous UHD upgrade but I still feel WBHE are being lazy when they don't give us the Atmos upgrades and then recycle past Blu-rays instead of upgrading them, it just seems lazy to me. 

The 2-disc Blu-ray/UHD release arrives in a black Elite keepcase with a single-sides sleeve of artwork that brought to mind the psychedelic Jim Steranko artwork from thea particular issue of the Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. comic series, which is also featured on the slipcover that also has a 50th Anniversary sticker on it in the shape of the bowler hat/eyelash image I like the new artwork but this is a film with several iconic images associated with the original marketing campaign, and I think it was a mistake not to feature a reversible wrap and/or separate artwork on the slipcover. Inside there's a digital code for a 4K UHD digital copy of the film.  

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary by Malcolm McDowell and Nick Redman
- Still Tickin': The Return of Clockwork Orange [2000 Channel 4 Documentary] (44 min) 
- Great Bolshy Yarblockos! Making A Clockwork Orange (28 min) 
- Turning Like Clockwork (26 min) 
- Malcolm McDowell Looks Back (11 min) 

- Trailer (1 min) 

A Clockwork Orange was derided upon its release but has aged quite well, proving to be disturbingly prescient looking back at from these current times. The mash-up of violence and humor stills kicks ya in the yarbles, and the new UHD looks fantastic. 

 

ACES HIGH (1976) (Umbrella DVD Review)

ACES HIGH (1976) 

Label: Umbrella Entertainment
Region Code: Region Free (NTSC) 
Rating: M
Duration: 109 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.77:1) 
Director: Jack Gold
Cast: Christopher Plummer, Malcolm McDowell, Sir John Gielgud, Ray Milland, Peter Firth

Set in 1916 during WWI Aces High (1976) starring Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) follows a week or so in the life of a group of pilots in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), beginning with the arrival of fresh-faced recruit Lieutenant Croft (Peter Firth, Life Force) who has had all of fifteen hours of air-time prior to his assignment, much to the chagrin of squadron leader Major John Gresham (McDowell), not just because he's woefully inexperienced, but because he's familiar with the new recruit, having dated his older sister back in college. 

The film deals with the tension among the pilots, many of whom drink away their fears and worries, numbing them to the realities of war. Gresham is an experienced combat pilot, an ace pilot but also suffering from the anxiety of war, not helping is that new recruits have a week long life expectancy, and young Croft idolizes him, adding further tension to the already Hell-ish wartime scenario. McDowell and Firth were quite good, if a bit stodgy, but maybe that's just because they're English upper crust, and Sir Christopher Plummer  is also great as a reassuring veteran figure, but it's the aerial battles that are the most engaging aspect of the movie. The  air battle action is captured with vintage WWI-looking aircraft engaged in dogfights and buzzing each other with strafing gunfire was actually quite well done, I found myself craning my neck in response to the imagined g-force of the acrobatic plane stunt work, which were very well shot. Some of the most effective dramatic moments are captured in the cockpits as the pilots bare witness to the carnage of aerial battle, pilots engulfed if flames, and wing men bloodily shot my machine gun fire, with the final reel of the film being particularly powerful, both in terms of dramatic weight and carnage, with one final and haunting gut-punch. 

Audio/Video: Aces High (1976) arrives on region-free (though labeled region 4) DVD from Umbrella Entertainment framed in anamorphic widescreen 1.77:1, the source looks to be a well-worn print with lots of specks, scratches and grit evident throughout though it's the first reel that's most affected by print damage. Colors are drab and the image soft, further marred by some of the worst aliasing I've seen in the modern age on a home video release (just check out those jagged edges on the title card). The English Dolby Digital mono audio is serviceable, not a lot of separation or subtlety, and no subtitles are provided. This is a bare bones release with no extras, the film starts-up without a menu as soon as you pop the disc in. 

Special Features: None 

Aces High (1976)is not an overly powerful wartime dramatic film, but as a WWI film dealing with the tension and horror of war it's a good watch, highlighted by some truly fantastic aerial battle scenes that make up for it's dramatic shortcomings. The video presentation from Umbrella is not all that I would have hoped for, but at least I was able to check this off my to-watch list. 

SCREENSHOTS 

FROM UMBRELLA DVD

TIME AFTER TIME (1979) (Blu-ray Review)

TIME AFTER TIME (1979)

Label: Warner Archive
Rating: PG
Duration: 112 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1) 
Cast:   Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, Mary Steenburgen, Charles Cioffi, Kent Williams, Andonia Katsaros, Patti D'Arbanville
Director: Nicholas Meyer

Synopsis: London 1893 is home to a killer with a macabre nickname.and also to a visionary genius who would write The Time Machine. But what if H.G. Wells' invention wasn't fiction? And what if Jack the Ripper escaped capture, fleeing his own time to take refuge in ours - with Wells himself in pursuit?

From writer/director Nicholas Meyer, Time After Time is a marvelous entertainment of shivery suspense and sly social comment. In modern-day San Francisco, the Ripper (David Warner) finds our violent age to his liking. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) dislikes the brave new world of fast food and television, far from the utopia he envisioned. But he is cheered by the emancipation of women, particularly one irresistible banker (Mary Steenburgen). For mystery, romance and excitement, Time After Time is time well spent.

Time After Time opens in 1893 London with a deeply fog-shrouded Ripper sequence, with the dapper Victorian murderer approaching a lady of the evening for a what she believes to be a quick cash for gash transaction, however, it ends with her literally being ripped open by the infamous murderer who then flees the scenes with the police sounding the alarm. Soon after we find ourselves at the home of writer Herbert George Wells (Malcolm McDowell, A Clockwork Orange) who has gathered an array of dinner guest to announce his new invention, a time machine. Late to the dinner is a surgeon named John Leslie Stevenson (David Warner, Waxwork) who does eventually shows up. With everyone gathered the author/inventor invites his guests to the basement where he reveals to them in fine detail just how the time machine works, including a "non-return" key that proves integral to the story, a sort of homing beacon which allows the machine to return to its original point of origin in time. Of course the guests think that this is a bunch of poppycock but are nonetheless wowed by his machine. with Stevenson being the most intrigued by the invention. 

Soon after the police arrive at the scene in search of the Ripper, they're doing house by house search of the area, while making their way through the house they find Stevenson's surgical bag with incriminating evidence inside, a pair of bloody gloves, but somehow he seems to have slipped past the authorities and escaped the house. Wells realizes that his friend Stevenson is not only the infamous Jack the Ripper but that he has made his escape through the use of his time machine, with the author and inventor fearing he's unleashed a madman upon what he theorizes to be the Utopian society of the future, boy is he in for a shock. 

However, a short time later the time machine returns without Stevenson, owing to the fact that he did not have the aforementioned non-return key, which is in Wells possession. Wells gathers what valuables and money he can on short notice and hops into the time machine, setting the date for 1979, which is where Stevenson travelled to, in a naive effort to capture and return him to his own time to face charges for his hideous crimes. 

Truly, the time-travel sequence is a bit old-fashioned and quaint by today's standards for optical effects, with a series of disorienting flashing lights, it sort of feel like a less accomplished version of the 2001: A Space Odyssey time and space trip, but I like it still, it has a certain vintage charm about it that I love. Wells arrives in 1979, not in London, but in San Francisco! The move in location owing to the fact that in 1979 the time machine is part of a H.G. Wells display at a museum in San Francisco. 

He arrives a bit disoriented, first spotted by a young Corey Feldman, playing a kid at the museum with his mother, which is just a nice piece of trivia. From here we get a fun fish-out-of-time story with the awkward and inquisitive Wells tracking down his former friend The Ripper in modern day San Francisco. Of course he is bewildered by the inventions of the modern day, with the advent of motorized cars, women's liberation, phones, fast food and a violent history of World Wars. it seems this future is not the utopia the inventor has envisioned! Wells deduces that much like himself the Ripper would have had to trade-in his British currency for American dollars, to this end he visits numerous banks, eventually getting a lead as to the whereabouts of Stevenson from a foreign currency banker named Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen, Dead Of Winter) who immediately takes a liking to Wells and his overly polite peculiarities and Victorian moustache. Together the two embark on a time-crossed romance, while Wells pursues the nefarious Stevenson, though at times it does seem the search fro the Ripper takes a backseat to the budding romance. 

Eventually Wells catches up to Stevenson at a hotel, the two have a great dialogue exchange while watching modern day atrocities on the TV, with the Ripper explaining that "Ninety years ago I was a freak. Today I'm an amateur.", that he is more suited to the modern day than Wells himself, which is certainly true. There's a lot of humor peppered throughout the movie, most of it concerning Wells and his difficulties adapting to modern life, a problem which Stevenson does not have, he in fact is decked out in modern (awful denim)fashions, meanwhile Wells stays garbed in his deerstalker hat and outdated dapper tweed suit. When Wells refuses to hand over the "non-return" key to Stevenson the murderer hatches a plan to kidnap Amy to force Wells to hand over the key, which would prohibit anyone from following Stevenson through time. 

I've always loved time travel movies, and I also have a fondness for Jack the Ripper lore, and this is one of my favorites of the bunch. I love the mash-up of the storylines, the blending of the Victorian author and the murderous menace, and it still hold up well today. Malcolm McDowell is great as usual, his shy and inquisitive Wells is in stark contrast to his more menacing roles I best remember him for, surprisingly he makes an effective  romantic lead, and he plays well off the menace of David Warner's Ripper, plus Mary Steenburgen offers a nice naive but liberated love interest for him, she's always idiosyncratic in her roles, and I love her here. I've always been a fan, even her recent turn as a wine-sipping alcoholic in the post-apocalyptic comedy Last Man On Earth.  

Nicholas Meyer's film is a bit slow-paced by modern thriller standards but it is never dull, I love the fish out of water storyline, the time-hopping escapades and the genre mash-up of time travelling and Victorian thriller. Anyone familiar with director Meyer's work knows he has somewhat of a fascination with time-travel and Victoria thrillers, as he wrote Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and co wrote the screenplay for the underrated The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976) which is a team-up of Detective Sherlock Holmes with Psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, and another great watch, which along with Bob Clark's Murder By Decree (1979) are two of my favorite Holmes stories on screen.

The movie may be a touch too much on the romance side for viewers looking for a time-travelling thrill ride and Ripper gore, the time travel and gore is kept to a bare minimum, instead the story focuses on our three main characters, with the romance seemingly taking top billing over science-fiction and thriller elements, though there's a severed arm in here, but this is a largely bloodless affair. While I would not have minded more science fiction and gore the ideas and story are top-notch, and the finale is a real nail-biter. I hope this Blu-ray garners more attention for this oft overlooked gem of a genre mash-up, this is great stuff, highly recommended.  

Audio/Video: Time After Time(1979) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the Warner Archive who sourced the new crisp 2K scan from a very nice looking interpositive, the results are pleasing. Framed in the 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio the movie looks wonderful, both the shots of Victorian London and late 70s Bay Area look great to my eyes. The London scenes showcase a lot of dark wood interiors, fine detail of the woolen suits with plenty of textures, the then modern San Francisco shots are appropriately brighter and more vivid, with nice panoramic shots of the Bay Area. The image is crisp and grain is nicely resolved, skin tones look accurate and though some of the optical effects shots look dated, such as the time travelling sequences, this is a wonderful presentation on Blu-ray.  

Audio on the single disc Blu-ray comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA 2.0 track with optional English subtitles, it is crisp and clear, and while not the most dynamic stereo track but it does have good fidelity, the Miklós Rózsa orchestral scores comes through nicely in the mix. 

The only extras on the disc is the theatrical trailer and an audio commentary with  Actor Malcolm McDowell and Writer/Director Nicholas Meyer, and is a carry-over from the 2002 DVD. The track is solid but a bit weird, in the early days of DVD I recall several commentaries employing the trick of stitching together separate audio tracks to give the illusion of two or more participants sitting side by side viewing the movie, giving comment as it goes along. However, this one goes the extra-weird mile and actually inserts audio bits that make it seem as though they're having a conversation. It doesn't detract from the informative commentaries, it's just a bit weird. 

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary from Actor Malcolm McDowell and Writer/Director Nicholas Meyer
- Theatrical Trailer (3 Mins) 

Blu-ray Review: SILENT NIGHT (2012)

 

SILENT NIGHT (2012) 

Label: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Region Code: A l 1

Duration: 94 Minutes

Rating: R

Video: 1080p  Anamorphic Widescreen (2.40:1) 

Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 , English TrueHD 5.1 

Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Jamie King, Donal Logue, Lisa Marie, Brendan Fehr, Ellen Wong

Director: Steven C. Miller 

Tagline: He Knows Who's Been Naughty

Synopsis: McDowell and King star as a small-town sheriff and deputy on the hunt for a murderous Santa Claus terrorizing their community on Christmas Eve. But with the streets full of Santa's for the annual Christmas parade, the killer is hiding in plain sight. He’s made his list, checked it twice, and the naughty are going to pay with their lives.

Director Steven C. Miller came onto the scene with a little indie darling zombie feature AUTOMATON TRANSFUSION (2006) and hasn't done a whole lot that I have seen since so I was a bit surprised to him at the helm of the remake of the sleazy Santa slasher SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984). Right away let's just say that this is only a remake in the same sense that Zach Snyder's DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004) was a remake of George A. Romero's original, the basic idea is there but they keep it pretty loose and that's a good thing in both instances, DotD '04 is a pretty great film, one of the better remakes of classic horror films along the lines of THE HILLS HAVE EYES (2006) and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (2003)  - all remakes that did it right.

There's a fun cast of character beginning with Malcolm McDowell (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE) as the small-town's sheriff Cooper delivering some of the film's best lines, really rote stuff but McDowell nails each one perfectly. Then we have his deputy Aubrey played by Jamie King (MOTHER's DAY) who suffering through some personal loss and self doubt, she's sorta the centerpiece of the film but I found her character not so much unlikable as just a bit too drab in a film cast with colorful caricatures, particularly Donel Logue (GROUNDED FOR LIFE) as a cynical Santa Jim who makes children cry while they sit on his lap as he dispenses the hard truth about xmas, he also delivers the film's greatest monologue, a diatribe about how awful Christmas time really is. Those three our our main characters and then we get a dip-shit Deputy Jordan (Brendean Fehr) and the town mayor plus his slutty daughter Tiffany (Courtney Jane-White, TV's TODD AND THE BOOK OF PURE EVIL) plus a pervy priest. There's not a whole lot of character development nor likable characters  to get behind  but sometimes it's fun just to kick back and watch Santa kill a few fuckers. 

The Santa here is significantly more awesome than the original in my opinion, a hulk of a jolly St. Nick with a huge white beard and one of those creepy translucent masks covering his eyes and nose with blackened eyes, he cuts quite an imposing figure and he's a brutal bastard with no mercy for the naughty, even cattle-prodding a bitchy teen before skewering her with a wood-poker. Setting itself apart from the original film there's not a lot of character development for our slasher Santa, there are no evil nuns at an orphanage, no flashbacks to a Santa raping his mother and I really like the way they handled it, there is an origin story with a cool urban legend element to it. Something they kept from the original film that I liked a bunch was the creepy catatonic grandpa warning his grandson about Santa and his wicked ways.

As kills go we do get some nice homages to the original in the form of electrocution and impalement on antlers and if there's one thing the original did better it's probably these two kills, Linnea Quigley's impalement was a great kill in the original and the electrocution seems to me more of a lift from the second film and I think that too holds up a bit better. This Santa utilizes all manner of weaponry, we get some dismemberment, a blood splattered wood chipper massacre, a brutal head-splitting with an ax, a scythe to the groin and Santa pulverizing someones face with a set of brass knuckles emblazoned with the words "Ho Ho Ho".  The kills are the highlight of the film for me, it's definitely not a character study of a demented mind, just some totally fun psycho-Santa brutality including some flame-thrower shenanigans. 

Maybe the only thing that annoyed me was that for a Christmas-themed slasher I felt that the atmosphere was a bit inconsistent, snow sorta came and went from scene to scene but that's a pretty small gripe. This is a brutal Christmas slasher and a fun remake, perfect viewing with a few seasonal beers and definitely gonna be a tradition from here on in. This one hit the right notes for me, a stylish film with some gruesome raw gore and cool nods to the original. There's not a whole lot of substance here but c'mon now - it's a psycho Santa on the loose with a flame-thrower!  4 Outta 5 

Special Features:

- “SILENT NIGHT: Behind The Scenes” (6:14) 
- Deleted Scenes (4:50) 

                                              

 

Blu-ray Review: EXCISION (2012)

EXCISION (2012) 

Label: Anchor Bay Entertainment 

Release Date: October 16, 2012
Region Code: A

Duration: 81 minutes
Rating: Unrated

Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.40)
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 with English, Spanish Subtitles

Cast: AnnaLynne McCord, Traci Lords, Ariel Winter, Roger Bart, Jeremy Sumpter, Matthew Gray Gubler, Ray Wise, John Waters, Malcolm McDowell, Marlee Matlin 

Director: Richard Bates, Jr.  

Synopsis: Based on writer/director Richard Bates, Jr’s short film of the same name, Excision follows a disturbed and delusional high school student, Pauline (AnnaLynne McCord). Pauline, with aspirations of a career in medicine, goes to extremes to earn the approval of her controlling mother (played by Traci Lords). While dealing with both being an outcast teenager and having an obsession over curing her sister’s cystic fibrosis, Pauline becomes increasingly deranged as her fascination with surgery and flesh and blood grows into something compulsive and demonic, if not epic.

The Film: Wowie, this was a dark-hearted film, and a funny one, too but super dark and certainly twisted - nice to see some original fuck-uppedness out there. Pauline as played by AnnaLynne McCord (TV's Nip Tuck) is an outsider at school, attractive but in a dark, demented way. She's strange and no one seems to care for her, particularly not the popular kids. She doesn't really help herself with fun question in sex ed class like "Can you get an STD from a dead guy?", that's just social suicide in high school and in life after, y'know but she's an inquisitive young lady so what can you do.

She's has dreams of becoming a surgeon and believes she has natural God-given abilities with a scalpel which she hopes to use to cure her sister of her cystic fibrosis, let's just see how that delusion pans out at the end. Speaking of dreams, let me tell you this chic is festering in dark surreal nightmares, fantasies actually, she dreams of crawling naked over masses of corpses, licking mutilated body parts, bathing in a tub of blood and enduring toe-curling orgasms while straddling cadavers on the autopsy table - really bizarre stuff. A virgin at the start of the film she offers her virginity to the boyfriend of one of the popular cheerleaders and this poor douche nozzle just has no idea what he's been invited to partake of, definitely bites off more than he's willing chew.

The film has quite a cast including Traci Lords (Cry Baby) and Roger Bart (Hostel II) as her parents. Bart who plays a sympathetic and henpecked husband to Lords over-bearing but well-meaning mother. We also have some great cameos from Ray Wise (Twin Peaks) as the school principal and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) as Pauline's teacher (how fucked-up a school would that be?) plus a brief cameo from trash-master John waters (Serial Mom) as a priest who futilely attempts to bring the demented Pauline closer to God whom with Pauline speaks regularly about pre-marital sex among other things, very funny. 

Hard to believe this is a first time feature for Richard Bates, Jr., it's very well directed, definitely a guy with vision and a beautiful film too with tons of grotesque and surreal beauty. Hats of to McCord for her performance, very solid and some might think casting an actress as gorgeous as her in the role as some sort of stunt-casting ala Charlize Theron in Monster (2003) but she's got the chops, not a character you will soon forget, totally unhinged and wonderful. 

The film is pretty twisted, if you're a fan of Todd Solondz' twisted coming-of-age film Welcome to the Dollhouse (1999) with some Cronenberg-esque body horror (think Dead Ringers) elements soaked with a wickedly dark wit then this is a film for you, highly recommended. (4 Outta 5)