Body horror films are often dismissed as being good for the shock effect and little more. Richard Bates Jr.s 2012 release, ExcisionBody horror is a crucial element of storytelling. Excision follows Pauline, played by AnnaLynne McCord, as she is consumed by her cruel fantasies about blood. Various banalities form the basis of Pauline’s life and the structure of excision, from high school to the ball while taking care of her younger sister Grace (Ariel Winter), who suffers from cystic fibrosis. In these dark fantasies, Pauline is developed as a character and made accessible to the viewer. Despite the exaggerated violence in these dreams, Pauline is vulnerable through the honest expression of her desires. Her daydreams and bird autopsies could lead one to believe that Pauline is a budding serial killer, but The film uses these dark fantasies to reveal a depth in Pauline that would otherwise be missing.

Excision

Alienated teenager Pauline struggles with the pressures of fitting in at high school, pleasing her mother, and a burning desire to lose her virginity. With a grotesque curiosity about the darker side of life, Pauline is viewed as a social outcast by everyone around her. Seduced by the flesh, she retreats into her own fantasies, hoping to become a great surgeon – that is, if she doesn’t go mad first.

Release date

12 September 2012

director

Richard Bates Jr.

Pour

AnnaLynne McCord, Traci Lords, Ariel Winter, Roger Bart, John Waters, Malcolm McDowell

Duration

81

Authors

Richard Bates Jr.

slogan

Cure the disease.

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AnnaLynne McCord’s Pauline is not your average horror protagonist

Pauline is a disturbed young woman who copes with her monotonous life with delusions of becoming a surgeon and fantasies about stylized corpses. Her desire to become a doctor is inextricably linked to her twisted daydreams. Pauline has no power over her own life, as the film quickly shows through Pauline’s mother Phyllis, played by Traci Lords. Phyllis is a dominant presence in the household and refuses to send Pauline to a licensed therapist, opting instead for a priest. Phyllis enrolls Pauline in the cotillion practice despite her being several years too old, which further increases Pauline’s sense of exclusion. In the safety of her own fantasies, Pauline is in full control. She has absolute power. While in most other films, seeing a powerless character gain autonomy would be a moment to stand up and cheer, watching Pauline get aroused while poking at dead people leaves the audience feeling quite queasy. Pauline’s perverse displays of power are deliberately filmed in parallel with Phyllis’ tyranny over the house. Pauline is the protagonist, but not a heroine.

Excision mixes several familiar horror cliches to paint a complicated portrait of Pauline. The fear of suburbia and the nuclear family, the plight of the skinny, white teenage girl and the misunderstood loner. These cliches are not only staples of the horror genre, but also of coming-of-age stories. And yet Pauline doesn’t feel like a familiar character. Pauline has qualities that could make her both the “Final Girl” and the knife killer. She is the last one standing at the end, but at what cost? She terrorizes her family, her neighborhood and her school. Despite these violations Excision goes to great lengths to ensure that the audience still feels for her.

“Excision” is full of bloody, gruesome fantasy sequences

Pauline spends a lot of time dreaming about blood and guts. The aesthetics of these fantasies differ significantly from the world in which she lives. While Pauline spends her time in a typical suburban setting, her dream world is vibrant and has a particular aesthetic. The lighting in these scenes is harsh and fluorescent, leaving the actors completely exposed. The color scheme is electric blues, greens, and whites that make the bodies and blood stand out, and the soundscape is razor sharp. Combined with the visual effects, these moments are caustic. Pauline looks completely different from herself in these fantasies, which adds to the unreality of the whole thing. She wears outlandish makeup, elaborate hairstyles, flashy hair dyes, or eccentric wigs. Her outfits are skimpy and striking in their strangeness. In these fantasies, everything feels too much.

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What captures Pauline’s and the audience’s attention in these dreams is the grotesque. In each fantasy, Pauline interacts with a mutilated corpse, or someone dying, or an excess of blood. The unbridled blood in Pauline’s fantasies is the vehicle Excision used to give the viewer access to Pauline’s inner life. By expressing her fantasies through body horror, Pauline is able to exert control not only over herself but also over others. Those around her reject her or tell her outright that she is repulsive, but in her dreams, Pauline is the central figure.

All the corpses are attracted to her and she is allowed to touch whatever she wants. Pauline is a troubled teenager, not a disenfranchised one. Despite this, she is still a young person growing up and has all the fears of a person in her age group. A dream scene shows three people biting Pauline and when she wakes up, she decides to lose her virginity. After doing so, she is afraid of being pregnant, a fear that creeps into her dreams that night. Mixed with all the visually arresting gore, These fantasies are the key to understanding a character who is largely closed off from other characters and the audience. Pauline is not a cold-blooded killer, nor is she a monster unleashed on her family. She is a mentally ill teenager who is not getting help for her increasingly violent delusions.

The cast of “Excision” delivers heartbreaking performances

The cast of Excision is full of experienced Hollywood stars. AnnaLynne McCord, who has played traditionally seductive roles such as 90210is a hit as Pauline. Her performance is off-putting and awkward, but she packs a punch. In each fantasy sequence, McCord’s eyes are bright and alert, in contrast to the apathetic rejection she displays during the family dinner scenes. The film’s suburban horror hinges on the portrayals of Pauline’s parents. Phyllis and Bob, played by Traci Lords and Roger Beard, Floor Excision‘s exaggerated brutality in realistic fear. Phyllis’s staunch refusal to admit that Pauline cannot be saved with cotillion classes and Bob’s complete submission to his wife’s whims are what make Pauline so dangerous. In the final scene, when Phyllis embraces Pauline, her wail gives you goosebumps. In her pearl gown, Lords looks completely out of place in the mad scientist’s makeshift laboratory. Her suppressed anguish in this final scene is what makes the ending so chilling.

The last ten minutes of Excision puts any sympathy one might have had for Pauline to the test. She anaesthetizes her neighbor and her sister and undergoes a lung transplant in the garage. Although her desire to become a doctor is another self-aggrandizing fantasy, it’s clear that this attempt at surgery stemmed from Pauline’s impulse to love and care for Grace. Throughout the film, Pauline looks at Grace with only genuine love and affection. On the most basic level, body horror reminds the audience of the need for a body. Grace’s illness does the same to Pauline. Her sister’s body fails, forcing Pauline to act. Pauline’s fantasies break with reality, fooling her into thinking she has the situation under control. While the reminder of her powerlessness might elicit some sympathy, the aesthetic of the scene does Pauline no favors. Dressed all in white, with a shaved head, and splattered with the blood of two young teenagers, Pauline looks exactly like the crazy doctor she always wanted to be. This back and forth between Pauline’s perverse urge to help her sister and the dark memory of how her fantasies became reality leaves the viewer torn as to whether to feel sorry for the protagonist.

Excision uses its moments of shocking erotic violence to teach the audience how to view Pauline. Her interest in the macabre is not unusual for a horror antagonist. Still, Pauline is not written as a villain. Their actions are evil, but through these complex dreams, Excision makes it clear that she is not malicious. Without the blood-soaked fantasies, Pauline would be a two-dimensional, stereotypical character. The film would not be as exciting as it is. These fantasies are charged and jump out at you with bright colors and shocking motifs. Watching Pauline sink into a bathtub full of blood is shocking, but also informative and important to understanding her motivations in the scenes that follow. Once the audience gets used to all the blood, Excision pulls the rug out from under them one last time. The final scene is devastating and completes less of a character arc for Pauline than character development.

Excision is available to stream on Prime Video.

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