Indie Horror Movie Review: MARY HORROR (2011)

SYNOPSIS OF “MARY HORROR” VIA IMDB:

“Mary Horowitz is a normal high school senior who has just moved from Salem Massachusetts to a small corrupt town in New Jersey.  Mary’s life has not been going the way she planned.  Her grandmother has passed away, her best friend Kelly has been missing for almost two weeks and she suspects her boyfriend of cheating on the eve of her homecoming dance.  A distraught Mary comes home to witness her family being brutally murdered.  Being the only one to survive, she is put in a psychiatric prison to be “protected.” As two years pass by, Mary realizes what really happened that night wasn’t what she thought.  As the plot unravels, so does Mary. Her time in the ward has changed her into something evil, a member of the walking dead.  She realizes the truth and takes revenge on the town and on everyone that wronged her. Follow the life of Mary Horowitz, as she becomes Mary Horror!”

My Review:

I don’t know how to review this movie.  I will start off by saying that I met the director, Ryan Scott Weber, at Monster Mania this past March and not only was he incredibly nice, he was one of the most honest directors I’ve met.  He gave me a copy of “Mary Horror” and told me that whether I loved the movie or hated it he would love to have it reviewed.  I unfortunately cannot give this movie a good review but I can say it has a lot of heart and soul.

“Mary Horror” tells the story of Mary Horowitz as she moves from her home in Salem, MA to New Jersey.  Her grandmother gives her a spell book before she passes away and Mary becomes increasingly attached to this book.  As the movie progresses we witness horrible tragedies happen to Mary and then the subsequent consequences to those who have ever hurt Mary.

This movie has A LOT of things going on.  A lot of different stories, a lot of different plots, and a lot of different characters all intertwined.  I feel as though this movie was a cross between Scream and Carrie with a dash of Lizzie Borden thrown in for fun (with cameos from Llyod Kaufman, Ernie Hudson, and Patricia Quinn – I don’t know if there was a point in having all those cameos).  I honestly don’t understand what the end game of this movie was because SO much was going on. The acting was rough and a lot of the time the sound kept going in and out so that you could barely hear the actors when they spoke.  However, there were some actors that stood out among the rest: Joe Parascand (Sheriff Tom Walker) was great.  He really has a presence and stood out among the rest of the cast.  Also, the main actress, Susie Duecker, was able to hold her own and I enjoyed watching her as Mary Horror.

I don’t know what else to say I really don’t – the movie was very disjointed and all over the place with new character and plots added throughout the movie.  I watched the end credits and it seemed like the actors and the directors all had a fun time making this film which shows there was a lot of heart and soul and passion that went into this.  Also, being a Boston girl (born and raised), I love that they used Salem as part of the story and even had images of Salem – it brought back a lot of great memories for me.

In conclusion, I have to give “Mary Horror” a 2 out of 5 stars.  However, with that said, I do not think Ryan Scott Weber is a lost cause.  I have heard great things about his TV series “Zombies Incorporated” and I’m incredibly interested in his newest film, “Pretty Fine Things.” I look forward to seeing more work from Mr. Weber as well as following his career.  I wish you nothing but the best!

Shannon McGrew
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