Excision

Today, our "best of 2012" turns to Jeff Allard.  Jeff has been writing for us for quite a while and I respect his work, moreover, his opinion.  If you've been following our year-end lists this week, you might have noticed a pattern in our selections.  Well, Jeff is here to break things up.  We'll begin with his "honorable mentions."  Head inside for his "top 5."  - Ryan Turek, Managing Editor

Honorable Mentions:  Shark fans should give Bait a look as it’s one of the best examples of the shark sub-genre; The Collection was the gnarliest slasher pic of the year; Tim Burton made one of his best recent films with Frankenweenie, a true love letter to Monster Kids; and although it probably would’ve worked better as an installment of an anthology show as the story felt padded out to feature length, Sinister nonetheless achieved some of the year’s best scares.

2012, in horror, has had its ups and downs.

I found that a lot of the titles that I wanted to consider for the list were initially released in 2011.  For that matter, three of the titles that did make the list were in the can for some time before finally receiving distribution or US distribution in 2012. 

Head inside for my top five horror films of the year!

Look for a "best of 2012" list from each of Shock's contributing writers throughout the week!

Optimism has been renewed.  Things might be looking up for horror.  For the last two years or so, I always frowned at the task of creating a year-end “top 10” list.  It got to a point where I felt compelled to par back and draft only a “top five.”  This year, however, I break the norm and present eight films.  I’m happy to say coming up with top five was all too easy and I really didn’t want to leave three titles behind, so here are my “top eight horror films of 2012.”

Over-all, the year was a mixed bag – as each year in the genre tends to be - although I’m always hopeful that we’ll soon have 12 months where the good far outweighs the bad.  Speaking of “bad,” let me take a moment to fire off some of the titles that would have made a “worst of 2012” list had I created a separate article.  You ready?  The Devil Inside (atrocious, not to mention incomplete), House at the End of the Street (inept), The Woman in Black (generic), The Raven (predictable), Silent Hill: Revelation (boring) and Smiley (nonsensical drivel).

This year proved that the big studios still don’t know quite what to do with the genre, so we get clunky fare like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter or Dark Shadows, the aforementioned The Raven or The Apparition.  Three of the films that made my top six this year were studio release; out of that group one was long-delayed and another was made through a smaller company yet given a wide release.  This further reinforces that the studios in the Hollywood system are slightly misguided about the genre and for quality and diversity, horror fans should turn their attention towards the direct-to-DVD or VOD market.

In anticipation of tomorrow's DVD and Blu-ray release of Excision, Anchor Bay has forwarded along a new trailer.

The film follows a disturbed and delusional high school student, Pauline (AnnLynne McCord) who has aspirations of a career in medicine and goes to extremes to earn the approval of her controlling mother (Traci Lords).  While dealing with being an outcast teenager and obsession over curing her sister’s cystic fibrosis, Pauline becomes continually deranged as her fascination of the surgery and the human flesh grows into something abysmal and demonic.

Read our interview with writer-director Richard Bates here.  Head inside for the preview!

Excision is going to divide audience reaction and director Richard Bates knows this.  Hell, even his mother feels strongly about the film's odd, often grotesque, nature.  Still, one will not deny that it is certainly this season's most unique release - a skillfully told portrait of a high school misfit portrayed by AnnaLynne McCord (Nip/Tuck, 90210) in a, "Is that really her?" role.

McCord plays Pauline who has aspirations of a career in medicine and goes to extremes to earn the approval of her controlling mother (Traci Lords).  While dealing with being an outcast teenager and obsession over curing her sister’s cystic fibrosis, Pauline becomes continually deranged as her fascination of the surgery and the human flesh grows into something abysmal and demonic.

This week, in anticipation of the film's DVD and Blu-ray release October 16th, we spoke to Bates about how his feature effort differs from the short film Excision is based on, how the story is personal one for him (much to his chagrin) and the lengths McCord went to so she could land the part of Pauline.

Shock Till You Drop has an exclusive clip from one of this fall's more unusual DVD/Blu-ray releases, Excision.  

Peppered with grotesque imagery and dream sequences, the film follows a disturbed and delusional high school student, Pauline (McCord) who has aspirations of a career in medicine and goes to extremes to earn the approval of her controlling mother (Traci Lords).  While dealing with being an outcast teenager and obsession over curing her sister’s cystic fibrosis, Pauline becomes continually deranged as her fascination of the surgery and the human flesh grows into something abysmal and demonic.

After the jump, you'll find the clip which gives you a bloody taste of what Pauline dreams about.  Not for the squeamish.

John Waters, AnnaLynne McCord and Ray Wise take the spotlight in two new clips that have been released for Excision, the film coming to DVD and Blu-ray that definitely has Shock Till You Drop readers talking.  Why?  Because it looks so damn weird.  Plus, McCord makes a fascinating transformation.

Based on a short film of the same name, Excision follows a disturbed and delusional high school student, Pauline (McCord), with aspirations of a career in medicine, goes to extremes to earn the approval of her controlling mother (Traci Lords).  While dealing with being an outcast teenager and obsession over curing her sister’s cystic fibrosis, Pauline becomes continually deranged as her fascination of the surgery and the human flesh grows into something abysmal and demonic.

Anchor Bay has forwarded on the first clip from Excision, the gnarly new horror film starring 90210's AnnaLynne McCord.

This snippet is called "bird surgery."

Based on a short film of the same name, Excision follows a disturbed and delusional high school student, Pauline (McCord), with aspirations of a career in medicine, goes to extremes to earn the approval of her controlling mother (Traci Lords).  While dealing with being an outcast teenager and obsession over curing her sister’s cystic fibrosis, Pauline becomes continually deranged as her fascination of the surgery and the human flesh grows into something abysmal and demonic.

Look for the film on DVD/Blu-ray October 16th.

Anchor Bay Entertainment has released the cover art and handful of new images from Excision, the company's October 16th DVD/Blu-ray release.

Based on a short film of the same name, Excision follows a disturbed and delusional high school student, Pauline (AnnaLynne McCord), with aspirations of a career in medicine, goes to extremes to earn the approval of her controlling mother (Traci Lords).  While dealing with being an outcast teenager and obsession over curing her sister’s cystic fibrosis, Pauline becomes continually deranged as her fascination of the surgery and the human flesh grows into something abysmal and demonic.

We spoke to co-star Matthew Fahey two weeks back who told us the film will "leave you saying, 'What the f**k?'  It's going to surprise a lot of people."

Matthew Fahey, who appears on MTV's hit show Awkward, walked the red carpet at last night's premiere for The Possession and we grilled him for more details on his turn in Excision, the Richard Bates-directed film starring AnnaLynne McCord, Traci Lords, Roger Bart, Jeremy Sumpter, John Waters and Malcolm McDowell.

Excision hit the film festival circuit earlier this year and is making its DVD/Blu-ray debut on October 30th from Anchor Bay Films.

"I play a friend to Jeremy Sumpter's character and one of the guys who gives AnnaLynne's character a hard time," Fahey told us.  "And, I guess in a way, we force her to go nuts.  She's already nuts, but we push her over the edge a little bit.  It's a smaller role, but a great movie."

Fahey went on to talk a bit about his reaction to the film's script and what we can expect.

AnnaLynne McCord stunned her fans last month when the trailer for Excision hit the web.  The blood-covered preview found the actress with a new look and we were definitely curious to see more.

Anchor Bay Films is bringing the film to DVD and Blu-ray on October 30th.

Based on a short film of the same name, Excision follows a disturbed and delusional high school student, Pauline (McCord), with aspirations of a career in medicine, goes to extremes to earn the approval of her controlling mother (Lords).  While dealing with being an outcast teenager and obsession over curing her sister’s cystic fibrosis, Pauline becomes continually deranged as her fascination of the surgery and the human flesh grows into something abysmal and demonic.

Bonus features on the Excision Blu-ray and DVD include an audio commentary, a behind-the-scenes featurette and collectable O-card packaging (for the DVD).  Check out the trailer within.

Fantasia Film Festival kicks off tomorrow in Montreal, Canada and Anchor Bay Films have announced four of their movies that will be playing there, starting with Casey Walker's A Little Bit Zombie (reviewed here) getting a gala premiere on Saturday, July 21; actor Michael Biehn's The Victim screening on Monday, July 23; Richard Bates Jr.'s Excision (which went over like gangbusters at this year's Sundance) on Saturday, August 4; and Jennifer (Surveillance) Lynch and Damian O'Donnell's Chained premiering the following day.

Update: After being asked to remove the trailer, Archstone Distribution has now informed us we can re-post.  If you missed this the first time, enjoy...

AnnaLynne McCord - who you probably know for her turns in 90210 and Nip/Tuck - drops the "glam" and shares some screen time with Traci Lords in Excision, a horror flick which played to Sundance Film Festival audiences earlier this year.

We've got the trailer for you and, honestly, I'm not sure what we're looking at, but the preview works, touting an offbeat cast and a track from Nine Inch Nails. 

Synopsis: Life sucks when you're seventeen. Alienated teen Pauline (AnnaLynne McCord) struggles with the pressures of fitting into high school, pleasing her parents and a burning desire to lose her virginity. With a grotesque curiosity for the darker side of life, Pauline is considered a social outcast by everyone around her. Enticed by flesh, she retreats into her own fantasies and hopes to become a great surgeon...that is if she doesn't go mentally insane first.