May

[Ghostboy]

I think the best horror film in recent years is Lucky McKee's 'May.' It's a really beautiful indie film. Lions Gate gave it a woefully small theatrical release this summer, and today it finally comes out on DVD. The movie is brilliant, and I'd strongly suggest blind buying it, because it's that good. Has anyone else seen it?



I'd suggest ignoring the cheesy tagline, and also the really badly cut trailer that's been on a few recent Lions Gate DVD releases. They sell the movie precisely the wrong way.

Here's a link to my review: www.road-dog-productions.com/may.html

And to Roger Ebert's four star review: http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/wkp-news-may06f.html

[markums2k]

Oh dammit, this sounds a little too close to something I was writing... why does that always happen?

I'll probably check it out... never ever heard of it before.  Lions Gate is a fate worse than death.

[Ghostboy]

Lions Gate usually does okay with the films it picks up at festivals (where this won several awards). I saw it last year before they had picked it up, and was expecting them to give it at least equal treatment to House Of 1000 Corpses...but oh well.

[Gold Trumpet]

The movie is brilliant, and I'd strongly suggest blind buying it, because it's that good. Has anyone else seen it?

Would you kill me if I rented it first? I've always given serious consideration to your recommendations and no doubt this movie will be the next movie I rent.

~rougerum

[Ravi]

It is already on DVD?  I thought it was released a few days ago.

[Ghostboy]

Yeah, it just opened in Dallas this past Friday for a one week engagement. The last leg of its theatrical life, I think.

GT, please do rent it. I certainly hope you enjoy it.

[chainsmoking insomniac]

I wonder if Blockbuster's going to get it.  Off to check it out....

[Cecil]

i will rent this for sure

[cowboykurtis]

*spoilers*

the scene with teh blind kids was great, i mean really wonderful -- i thought the most tense part of the film was the anticipation of the glass case breaking on may's doll -- there was so much emphasis and care adressed regarding her doll -- when it was slwoly cracking,i was so engaged -- when it finally shatters that felt like the climax of the film to me -- the rest of the film after that fell into  boring genre devices -- the 3rd act was really disapointing.

[Derek237]

Even though I don't want to see a movie with anyone even remotley involved with that horrible TV movie Carrie, May looks interesting...to say the least...I'll look out for it.

[Ghostboy]

Angela Bettis is awesome. She did an interview for AICN where she openly dissed that Carrie movie, and said that if she hadn't actually been in it she'd have hated anyone involved with it. People need their paychecks, I guess.

[Gold Trumpet]

I just saw the film.......

*spoilers may be present*

While watching the movie and seeing the storyline evolve, I kept on noticing similarities to the book Perfume: Story of a Murderer in killing a number of people to collect something of believed perfection. My problem with this movie is I felt there was too much of a stand still in the plot. Too much focus on the day to day activities and examples of May being ostracized from society. It just got a little too repitive. I wish the film would have searched for more dramatic scenes and ideas of embarassment that could have been more impactful on first showing so maybe the movie didn't need to rely so heavily on just repeating little occurances.

Also, the transition from her being upset of being isolated rejected to actually killing people seemed too casual. I wish the filming would have shifted to much weirder and intense filmmaking to show her state of mind and spend more time in showing the horror of what her project was to be. Maybe even more time talking about it so it would have brought out more disgust to what it represents. I was just looking for a transformation more nightmarish so the ending could have been more impactful. I'm glad I did rent the movie though, I likely wouldn't have on just first glance of the box. I also may be too tough.

~rougerum

[Ravi]

I just saw this a little while ago.  There couldn't have been more than 6 other people in the theater.  I think one guy walked out in the middle of the film.











I thought it was an interesting enough film, though after she stabs the punk in the head, I felt the film wasn't quite as interesting.  Rather mechanically, May kills and dismembers people, and while it was disturbing, that's about the only reaction I had to those scenes.  Maybe reading more reviews and opinions will shed some light on the film for me.  Not to say that May is a bad film.  I just had some problems with the end.

I am not extremely familiar with horror films, but it seems to me this type of story might have been done before.  Anyone know of similar "neo-Frankenstein" films?

[MacGuffin]

Blind bought this because of Ghostboy and Ebert's rave on his show.

I am in love with May. Angela Bettis's performance is spot on. She plays May with so much sympathy. She gives the right facial expressions and uses her eyes to tell you who May is, since her character is not much of a talker. She's a fully fleshed out character who you never laugh at, although there is so much humor.

Don't be fooled by it being called a horror movie. It's not a slasher film (in the end a bit). It's really more of a character study, and heavy on the black comedy. I can see why some wouldn't like the movie, since May is a freak. But "I like weird" so, of course, I loved this film.

[Ravi]

Don't be fooled by it being called a horror movie. It's not a slasher film (in the end a bit). It's really more of a character study, and heavy on the black comedy. I can see why some wouldn't like the movie, since May is a freak. But "I like weird" so, of course, I loved this film.

*SPOILERS*



What is cool about the film is that before we see anything extremely bizarre, there is this undercurrent of a horror movie lurking beneath the surface.  This keeps growing until May kills for the first time, so we are prepared for it.  First, the doll is very creepy looking.  Then we hear May's story about the man's dog's stitches breaking and the guts on his porch.  Then May is cutting her thumb with a knife.  But the big one comes when she kills the cat.  By the time the first victim sees the cat in the freezer and says "no" to May's question about being her friend, we know that she's going to kill him.  She'd been rejected by Adam and the girl played by Anna Faris (forgot the character's name), and this guy was the last straw.  The more I think about it, the more I want to see the film again, so maybe the film is better than what I thought about it in my previous post.

I also liked some little things about it like the scene where they're sitting in the car eating chips and salsa and May having the Gatorade on their date.