​FILM GUTTER REVIEWS: EXCISION (2008)

Dir. Richard Bates Jr, 18 mins, USA

I'll be honest from the get-go – this review is purely me indulging myself, and I'm not even going to make any apologies for that. Those of you who have been long-time readers might remember just how much I raved about the extended version of this one back in March of 2016 (you can check out that review at https://gingernutsofhorror.com/film-gutter/excision-2012 if you fancied taking a look) and it's been on my mind for a while to take a look back at the short film that inspired it in the first place. In these instances where it goes 'short first, longer second' it's always fascinating to compare and contrast the two, so I was pretty excited to check this one out.

Excision certainly follows the plot of its longer cousin, although it doesn't have any of the actors and actresses involved in common. Tessa Ferrer plays the lead role of Pauline here – and does it well, but differently, coming across a little more rational than the darker display that Annalynne McCord gives in the 2012 take. That’s quite a significant difference, but I feel as though both work just fine. Pauline's younger sister Grace lives with cystic fibrosis, which dominates much of the family's life, leaving Pauline feeling awkward and left out very often. Pauline has an obsession with surgery, which also bleeds into some very strange sexual dreams that inhabit her sleeping hours. And it's that obsession that leads her to a dark and dramatic conclusion to cure her sister once and for all...

As a short piece in its own right, it's very effective, and there are certainly areas where this feels like an advance on its longer incarnation. It has a slightly 'found footage' feel that works really effectively, and the soundtrack is also very good. It's another very strong lead performance, as previously mentioned, although some of the other acting displays around her don't match up to the feature-length version – Traci Lords in particular seems to be an advance on the mother in this take, and while Carly Hobson is serviceable as Grace the character itself just isn't as developed here. The hints of what Pauline has in mind throughout are subtly dropped, and the opening scene for me has a great impact and sets the tone for the whole piece. Where it feels like a slight downgrade is in the dream sequences, which are realised with a strange golden quality rather than the clean, clinical look of the movie – in my mind it just better suits the milieu of Excision.

Without knowing the story, it's hard to know exactly why Ferrer didn't get the role in the feature-length – based on this I wouldn't have said that she needed replacing, although Annalynne McCord's performance has plenty of merit too. There may have been any number of reasons for that, but you wonder how different things could have been. I don't think it's a matter of McCord having more name value – she had some credits, but nothing much to give her a serious star power to amplify the movie's visibility.

If you liked the original, this is well worth a look as an item of curiosity. However if you want to get what I would consider the true experience of this story I would suggest the feature film, ultimately because it explores things more deeply and gives more basis and more gravitas to what is definitely an interesting story.

RATING: 8/10. Lots to enjoy here, and a really intriguing, truncated version of what is a story I've always loved – it remains one of my favourite horror features of all time, and this is very good without quite reaching those same heights here. There is plenty that is as good, even a handful of things that might be a touch better, but enough that seems a downgrade to rate this a bit less highly than its extended cousin. So 8/10 seems like a very fair rating for this one all told.