by: KFear
Posted on 05.19.10 in All Horror Films > Comedy > Slasher
Release Date: 2002

There is something that is so painfully real about Angela Bettis’s portrayal of May.  You could say that there is a little “May” in all of us because May is ambitious, curious, shy (her dominant personality trait), and vengeful.  Bettis also gives what is perhaps the best female performance, ever, within any genre of horror.  Will her performance be as memorable as Jamie Lee Curtis’s roll in the first Halloween?  Probably not…but it deserves to be.  I can say this because the character and the life that Bettis brings to May is so real, and three dimensional, that it is impossible not to relate to her on multiple levels.  True, we probably felt THAT shy in grade school, but for some people, like May, that shyness never really goes away.  Bettis is exactly the female version on myself of when i was in 3rd grade…but really…this film is excellent.

May is a young woman that leads a fairly interesting but yet non-eventful life.  She has a full-time job as a vet assistant, she goes home everyday to greet her best friend, of whom is a porcelain doll, and she spends most of her free time sowing her own clothes.  Does that draw you in?  No?!?…well, while May is very lovable, she is also PAINFULLY shy and more than just a little awkward.  In social settings she is a complete wreck, yet her fellow patrons excuse this and tend to see her as a very sweet and sensible young woman.  Bettis displays all of May’s traits brilliantly and never fails to make every conversational frame the most awkward and unnerving segments of the film.  To the films advantage, these segments are welcomed and at often times funny and entertaining.  These qualities are amounted by Bettis’s performance.  It will draw you in, guaranteed, and you will be biting your nails the whole way through.

The key to this film is how May’s friends and coworkers relate to her.  Some are turned on by her innocents, some think she’s a freak, and some feel she’s just too “weird”.  May also wants nothing more than for her piers to see her for who she really is.  Who does May think she REALLY is?  Or better yet, what kind of person  is she capable of becoming???

Throughout the film, it’s as if May is feeling love and friendship for the first time, and throughout most of her personal encounters with other wonderful characters, she reacts to her complete ignorance in the most frustrating and violent ways.  It soon becomes more than May can take, and that is exactly where the film turns into a common slasher, but only at a first glance.  While May seems to take part in a rather tiresome plot switch to slasherhood, our director, Lucky McKee, has an even grander trick up his sleeve.  It isn’t until the films final moments that the pieces literally fall into place.  What we’re left with is a horror film that is incredibly original as a slasher, a drama, and a dark comedy.  More importantly, it is highly entertaining and very thought provoking.

See this film.  It has climbed into the ways of my top ten.

• ★★★★★

  Acting:

• ★★★★★

  Blood:

• ★★★★★

  Violence:

• ★★★★★

  Partying:

• ★★★★★

  Language:

• ★★★★★

  Humor:

• ★★★★★

  Predictable:

• ★★★★★

  Girls:

• ★★★★★

  Gore:

• ★★★★★

  Sexuality:

• ★★★★★

  Torture:

• ★★★★★

  Overall:

It's one of those films that can be recommended to almost every kind of audience. It's such a wonderful character study. More can be said about the films direction and how the world is presented in such a taunting and realistic fashion. To see May actually climb her way into it is almost unbearable to watch. Talk about NO social skills. Still, there is something wonderful about May. I see it...even though nobody else seemed to.

Now this sounds interesting. I've seen this movie on the shelves, but couldn't really tell if I would like it based on the description. I'll check it out