May

Rating:
Summary: A sad and lovely movie
Review: Thanks to an excellent performance by Angela Bettis, "May" is a compelling and sad character study. It's also a horror movie in the true sense of the word, because it follows a character who is so damaged and lonely that we feel HER horror.

May had a difficult childhood. Her massive eyepatch and emotionally distant mother kept her friendless, and now, as a young adult, she craves companionship. Unfortunately she's also got a few loose wires and, well, a lack of social skills that's almost matched by her lack of squeamishness.

So when May meets and falls instantly in love with Jeremy Sisto, a local auto worker who has a goth-like attraction to disturbing images and horror movies. A couple of encounters make it pretty clear that her dark side trumps his, though, so he bails, leaving May open to the wiles of her lesbian co-worker. That doesn't quite work out either, so then...

A lot of viewers might complain that the story is predictable. It is - the filmmakers aren't trying to shock you with twists. What happens is inevitable from the first frame. This is why "May" is less of a horror movie than a sad, strange nightmare. I don't know that I need to watch "May" again, but I'm glad it's out there. Horror movies are often nasty, cynical little chop fests, where people mowed down like video game targets - it's refreshing to see one that knows that true horror stems from sadness that has turned into madness. "May" tells a simple tale, tells it with a touch of humor, a dash of surrealism, and a lot of pain.

Rating:
Summary: Unique, disturbing, and somehow sweet.
Review: I watched this movie expecting to see a horror movie. It's not. Not for until the last 20 minutes or so anyway. This is our generation's "Carrie". It's about an outcast girl trying to make friends, but unable to acclimate herself to society. Each rejection drives her deeper into a psychotic abyss and is symbolized nicely by the glass case around her best friend, a doll, cracking little by little with each subsequent incident. I truly enjoyed this film. May is so relatable that it's disturbing. This movie is for all of the outcasts who have felt socially powerless,totally alone and just wished for one true friend. Angela Bettis is so adorable as the title character I wanted to reach into the screen and pull her out. I felt a twinge of all-too-familiar frustration each time she came so close to finding a friend and then does something that freaks the other person out and sends them running. Even as she prepares her grisly solution her so-beautiful-it's-creepy smile just lights up the screen. But don't expect a good-time teen flick about awkward social situations. This movie will make you cringe and squirm more than once. I don't think I'll ever get the image of a classroom full of blind kids crawling over broken glass and painting the floor with their blood out of my head. This is an utterly disturbing portrait of an innocent young girl driven to madness by her inability to be accepted for who she is. The result is so twisted that only someone who sees the world from May's point of view could truly appreciate it. If you grew up idolizing "Carrie", this might be the movie for you. If you don't like twisted imagery or are looking for a staight horror film, pass it by.

Rating:
Summary: Great Angela Bettis
Review: May is an adorable little girl in the body of an adult in a world of adults.Angela Bettis makes the movie. She's simply great. The story is kind of weird, the characters are kind of weirdos but with a reasonnable production, a good cast, it finally works very well. All the questions you could ask to yourself are not answered and it's a very good point. This is the perfect example that you don't need a bid budget to make an interesting and disturbing film. Angela Bettis is a future star without any doubt.

Rating:
Summary: I Would Have Given This Zero Stars If That Had Been A Choice
Review: This is among the Top Three Worst Movies I Have Ever Seen. It's just horrible. It's not scary, it's not freaky, it's not funny, it's just stupid. It's supposed to be a modern day take on the Frankenstein myth with an edge because they made the villain a skrawny freaky girl with a lazy eye. Although she is well acted, she draws no sympathy from the audience as she really doesn't have anything to work with except for an unintentionally hammy and predictable script. Some really good actors really wasted their time when they agreed to be in this movie. The only saving grace this movie has at all is that the beautiful Anna Farris looks sexier than I've ever seen her, vamping it up as a raven-tressed lesbian, but even she can't save this piece of poop from being a complete and total waste of your time.

Rating:
Summary: Wow!!!
Review: I'm a movie lover, but this takes the cake, "May" has got to be one of the best movies I've seen in months. Angela Bettis does a stunning performance in "May". I would highly recommend any one this movie!

Rating:
Summary: It was alright.
Review: The technically strong Lucky McKee may become a great director one day, he
might make films that don't reek of cliches and artsy shock but keep the
rest of his talents intact. May is a good film that suffers from being
obstructively unoriginal and at times even vexing. The cast is small but
strong in that mostly their characters were written and directed with very
careful hands.

May is a very quirky and awkward girl with a "lazy eye" that has sort of
fallen into her own little world of self-hatred so deep she can't even
detect it anymore and neither does McKee. May falls deeper as she attempts
to build relationships with people that falter in trust and cause May to
suffer further. She is given a doll by her Mom when she is young and as we
lay in wait for the doll to spring to life this never happens because quite
simply May is not that kind of horror film, the doll is her only friend and
possibly the darkest side of her warped mind. It is a film about a girl who
finds something to actually live for and she goes all out to get it...as
disturbing as that may be when you see what it is.

Anna Faris (from Scary Movie) co-stars along with Jeremy Sisto and former
Hanover High School alumni Nichole Hiltz. Surprisingly we may
see Ms. Hiltz take on more heavy roles in the future as she did quite well
here and looked even better...good for Nichole, I always thought those girls
who talked about her in High School were just jealous (j/k). Anyway, May is
played by possibly one of the most overlooked talents in films today. Her
name is Angela Bettis and we will probably see a lot of her in the future.
I hope Angela decides it's best to take on roles like this....she literally
carried this film and it would've been a far lesser film without her.
Anyway, the only thing I know her from is the television remake of Carrie
which is ironic because I just mentioned this in my review of Depalma's
version of the Stephen King story. The parallels with Carrie and May have
come up and I'm here to tell you they are completely unjustified. Bettis'
performances in particular are light years apart. Angela Bettis is oddly
attractive and the only way to describe the way she looks is kind of cute
but profoundly scary looking. She was perfect for the role but I suspect
the performance was more her work than McKee's.

Personally, I don't think we'll see McKee conquer filmmaking or even put out
another good independent film. May borrows from a bevy of independent films
and the style of his music being off beat with the film's true guise is a
Todd Solondz staple for sure as is the unexpected humor in the first hour of
the movie. My major gripe with May was the unusual "Halloween make-over"
that the major character took on in the last twenty minutes of the film.
All of sudden she goes from being this insecure and frail little weirdo to
being this confident and sexy killer. I didn't miss anything here I can
assure you, it was as cliche as you can get and her attitude change hurt the
film tremendously. It made the horror of the last half seem so
unbelievable. Sure, this flaw can be explained away but it just didn't sit
right with me. She seems to drift right back to herself by the films end
too as though some other character took her over...I don't doubt that was in
fact the film's intention but the lead character was already fully capable
of these horrific actions in the first place. Anyway, May's flaws aside,
what happens here could rarely be pulled off by any other movie that takes
itself seriously and for that I recommend it. If you like horror this
little movie is totally worth your time as it's scare tactics are unexpected
and deeper than most and it is utterly unforgettable by it's end.

Rating:
Summary: Look at the one star reviews!
Review: You can tell how good this flick is by looking at the one-star "I hated it!" reviews. The people who didn't like it found it too horrible, too scary! "It made me want to poke my own eyes out!"!!!

Much empathy is developed with the main character, and then it gets a bit surreal in the last half. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: just the cutest little psycho ever!
Review: Dispensing with issues of originality - the world through the eyes of a serial killer has been done numerous times, and the "assembly" aspect was exploited in 'Pieces' and other flicks - 'May' is probably the most painful and subtley creepy film I've seen in a long time. Think of 'Pieces' meeting 'Willard' and 'Carrie,' and you can get a pretty good idea of the story.

But that tells you nothing about the film itself, which is pretty spectacular. 'May' re-affirms my personal notion that the best horror movies are done independently, or at least with a small budget. Without money to pay for huge amounts of effects or stupid sound tricks (the American version of 'The Ring' was particularly abusive in that department), small-budget horror movies tend to focus on plot, mood, and the essential elements of scary. Too often, major studio flicks give you gore, loud sudden noises, blood, a couple of ddark corners to peek around, a cop chase, and some idiots who you actually want to buy the farm (screaming, bleeding, and dismembered all the way). What you get with 'May' is a story that's sometimes painful to watch because it's so simple and touches on little aspects of wanting to wanted in that everyone can sympathize with.

Angela Bettis does an excellent job portraying the shy, pretty, and agonizingly akward May, a social outcast from childhood due to an eye condition. Our protagonist makes halting attempts to connect with other people but is often thwarted by her insecurities and social ineptness. It doesn't help that the people she interacts with most are a blustery foreign vet and a loopy lesbian tramp (boss and coworker, respectively). Her best friend is a doll her mother made, part of a huge collection that she uses to stimulate real relationships. Her behavior would be endearing on a seven-year-old, but May is obviously in her twenties, so it's just creepy.

When she does make a connection, she wrenches the works by simply not knowing where the line that divides attractive eccentricity and plain weirdness ends. It's painful to watch her try so hard and creepy to see what she simply accepts as acceptable. You know she just doesn't know any better, so you sympathize - but you can't help but feel grossed out. Because of your sympathy with her, you are drawn into the rhythm of her spiraling breakdown. You can almost hear the "snap!" that takes her over the edge and down the dark bloody path that she walks for the last twenty minutes of the film.

You cringe, you blanch, and you stare in horrified bemusement - but you just can't hate this girl, even though you know she's not right in the head. Because she just wants to be seen, to be loved - and we all know what that's like. Pick this up if you're tired of the regular Hollywood pandering and take a little ride into a strange little world. May's waiting for you, and she's already deciding what parts of you she likes.

Rating:
Summary: Macabre character study
Review: "May" is the creepiest film I've seen in a long time. Mostly, it's a character study of a strange, isolated girl who works at a veterinary clinic, makes her own pieced-together clothes and talks to a doll. At first she seems to be nothing more than a shy, awkward, wounded soul desperately looking for love and approval. You feel sorry for her, you relate to her, you root for her. About halfway through the film, however, you start to realize that May isn't just strange, she's really nuts. Her character is slowly revealed to be a real psychotic with a taste for blood, and when it happens it's completely unsettling. We haven't seen a character like this since "Carrie"; a seemingly benevolent misfit pushed over the edge with horrifying consequences.

The performances in this film are all really quite good, which is a nice surprise, and rare for a horror film. Angela Bettis' performance as May is a genuine tour de force; she convincingly shows May both at her most awkward and grasping and at her most sinister and bloodthirsty. Jeremy Sisto is perfect as the pretentious slacker who May falls for, and Anna Farris (of "Scary Movie" fame) is hysterically deranged as the (...)coworker obsessed with May.

I'd highly recommend this film for anyone who isn't too squeamish or easily disturbed.

Rating:
Summary: angela bettis rocks
Review: Talk about a good horror movie. This is not your typical hollywood movie folks. No hollywood-esque chilling sounds here, just whispery quiet and it works big time!! It's funny and chilling at the same time. Not as scary as The Ring but highly recommended. The actress who played "May", Angela Bettis probably gave one of the best performances in a horror movie for an actress in quite awhile...probably since Sissy Spacek in Carrie. This Angela Bettis can really act!