Excision

Description from Netflix:
AnnaLynne McCord stars in this odd horror flick as Pauline, a disturbed teenager who aspires to work in medicine likes to dissect roadkill.  The one person who understands Pauline is her little sister, who suffers from cystic fibrosis.

Notable actors: AnnaLynne McCord, Ariel Winter, Traci Lords, Roger Bart, Malcom McDowell, Ray Wise, John Waters

My thoughts:
This was a bizarre and disturbing movie.  For starters, this is how the movie opened:

What you have is two AnnaLynne McCords in the same room.  One of them is vomiting blood.  The other one is aroused.
Maybe "bizarre" doesn't quite cover it.

This movie takes place in two worlds: the real world, and the crazed world of depraved fantasies inside the head of Pauline.  Each of these fantasies revolves around blood.  Lots and lots of blood.

In the real world, Pauline is an outcast at school and at home.  Her mother desperately wants her to be normal.  Or, at the very least, to not act like a sociopath.  Her father seems distant, but he at least seems to feel some sort of affection for her.  Her sister (Grace) loves her, but doesn't seem to fully understand what is going on inside of her head.
Pauline talks very matter-of-fact about everything.  She tells Grace, "I think I am ready to lose my virginity," as if were something that her 14-year-old sister has been wondering about.

This film alternates between being profoundly disturbing, deeply uncomfortable, and darkly hilarious.  Against my better judgement, I found myself laughing a number of times, normally in response to something Pauline or her father said.  Here are a couple of my favorite quotes that I wrote down:

"Can you contract an STD by having sex with a dead person?" - asked in class
"Please sterilize that.  It's my favorite thermometer."
"I thought she was a retard.  I was just trying to be nice." - said by a guy who asked Pauline to dance
"I'm not one to advocate violence, but something people like Natalie need to be punched in the face."

Those lines are good, but the delivery was perfect.

The comedic stylings of Pauline

This was a visually disturbing - yet still kind of beautiful - film.  It's hard to classify it as a horror movie (it wasn't really scary, nor was it trying to be), but it can't possibly be classified as anything else.  It was not easy to watch, and I doubt I'll ever watch it again.  But it was a very well-done film with some great performances.  I'm glad I watched it.
For me, the movie boiled down to this central question: If you felt like an outcast - even in your own family - how far would you go to try to fit in?

Rating: 4/5