May

Rating:
Summary: Nothing special
Review: I suspect most of the glowing reviews were written by "woe is me" high schoolers, or those who fancy themselves uniquely capable of spotting (and enjoying) an artistic or particularly insightful film. This feature is neither artistic nor insighftul. In fact, it is only unique in that it tries to shoehorn bits and pieces co-opted from Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, and Tim Burton films, into 80 minutes. It offers a poorly developed plot, an incoherent storyline, and a predictable ending. The acting is fair, but the main character is pathetic, cowardly, and mean. I think it is insulting that Lucky McKee and the producers of this movie believe that I - as a viewer - should find something unique about this film, or something about the main character that should resonate with me. One of a kind? I'm thankful for that.

Rating:
Summary: Half as clever as it thinks it is, and not that much fun.
Review: "May" is that most congenial of horror movies to the theater-goer who hates horror movies: a kind of hip, artsy "horror" flick that one can go see, feel superior and reinforced in one's pseudo-intellectualism, and come out not feeling like one has been rolling in the horror movie mud for two hours.

The movie is obviously infatuated with itself, and if the film were a fraction as enjoyable and clever as director Lucky McKee evidently feels it is it would be an entertaining ride. As it is, while "May" has some interesting concepts, there's certainly nothing here to get excited about.

With that said, one can't help but pity poor May Cannady (played effectively by the lovely Angela Bettis), the film's eponymous heroine, left friendless after her parents die because, evidently, her lazy eye (which required her to wear an eyepatch in grade school) made it impossible for her to make friends. Not to worry, though: the shy, awkward, but oddly fetching veterinary assistant has a creepy little doll she keeps in a glass box (the doll is for viewing only---look, but don't touch!).

But like most awkward teenagers, May wants a little more in the way of flesh-and-blood companionship. Alas, things don't go so well: her filmmaker boyfriend (played by an unusually poised and effective Jeremy Sisto) likes weird, but May is just a little *too* weird---after he shows her his student horror film (which brings an entirely new meaning to the phrase "I love you so much I could eat you up"), May wants to show her appreciation by making out in the true spirit of Sisto's cannibalistic little horror film.

Her perky co-worker Polly (played by the always nimble Anna Faris) seduces her, but alas: fickle creature that she is, Polly quickly finds another conquest in the leggy and hard-as-nails Ambrosia.

And when, in a moment of pique, May accidentally kills the cat Polly gave her---well, things go to pieces in a hurry, since everyone knows that when you're a shy, weird, awkward teen who lives alone and you've accidentally brained Kitty, you're just one bad hair day from going the rest of the way and slaughtering a homeless punker with a pair of scissors.

But even that's OK: May's mommy told her "if you don't have a friend, make one", and May has always been drawn to 'pieces': she loves her boyfriend's hands, loves Polly's neck, loves Ambrosia's legs, and loves kitty's fur. And she's a great seamstress, so you can probably see where this is going.

No offense to Lucky McKee: for a first-time outing, this movie shows a lot of potential. Sisto's student film gave me a good laugh, and the cinematography reminds me of Tim Burton's early work. All in all, this is a well crafted movie. The acting is universally competent, as well, so no complaints there.

But that said, craft and execution isn't everything. Horror films require a certain suspension of disbelief, but "May" doesn't even try to make its character's actions understandable. I didn't buy May's transformation from an eccentric, needy veterinary assistant to a serial killer specializing in vivisection: what, one bad date pushed her over the edge? Another of the film's pivotal scenes involves broken glass and a class full of blind children, and manages to serve up the biggest insult to handicapped kids I have seen in my life, to say nothing of the fact that it's an idiotic scene that makes no sense. Did I miss something in my 30+ years on the planet, or did blind children suddenly take a liking to rubbing fragments of glass in their eyes and skin?

But in the final analysis, "May" is simply not much fun. It's a self-absorbed and completely self-confident film that expects you to like it as much as McKee does, though unfortunately it's roughly half as clever as he thinks it is. It's painful enough to watch the first time, and I certainly can't imagine the kind of person who would want to own this thing.

If dead cats, vivisection, boring teen-angst, and instant lunatics are your thing, you might get something out of "May". If you're looking for a truly decent horror movie, then avoid this one like the plague.

Rating:
Summary: Fresh horror movie for the new millenium
Review: Though I doubt that this is a new concept as far as a horror movie goes, I have seen similar movies, but it is different than most other horror that is coming out.

First off it avoids the annoying trend of scream like movies that are too self aware. It is just a horror movie.

Second, it created a character that I was interested in. A girl who was born with a lazy eye, and parents that were supportive in the wrong ways. It was also intersting to see how she formed a bond with this creepy doll that is her main friend for her whole life. she isn't mopey and complaining about her isolation, she doesn't even seem to be aware of it. Until she finds somone that she is interested in, or part of a person, his hands. She has an offbeat quality to her that you would expect from someone that has lived in her own world her entire life. Angela Bettis did a great job portraying this.

Third, it wasn't a straight out horror. It had the qualities of a dark comedy. The characters around her are strange in personality and their actions. Her lesbian coworker, the guy she meets that likes strange but not too strange, the foreign vet she works for that only she seems to be able to understand, etc....

This is apparently one of the first few movies from this director, Lucky McKee, but I feel that it has potential and look forward to his next project.

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: this MAY be the best horror film in years
Review: We American's have been dooped. We have been forced to believe that horror movies must consist of the following.

1)Bad acting
2)Thin plot lines
3)No character development
4)A freak killer taking out teenagers one by one
5)All the teens killed are bad and thus somehow deserve it
6)Every other cliche thats been used time and time again.

May provides the Dario Argento style of horror we haven't seen here in the states for a long time. While Director Lucky McKee may not ever get to display the graphic violence seen in Mr. Argento's films he has successfuly displayed the tension and immense shock they contain but also more importantly he shows the art behind the blood. May has great acting, especially by the lead actress. The scariest thing is to make you LIKE a character before they are brutally killed. The innocent are truly the most scary of all victims. Making you FEEL for someone so when they are killed you're like "oh man they didn't deserve that."
Now this is what horror is. This movie get's pretty intense as it builds our strange yet loveable heroine/villian to her inevitable conclusion about making friends.

It'll freak you out but leave you feeling strangely attached to all the preceding events. I look forward to THE VILLAGE the next project by this great up and coming horror director. Note all the little Dario Argento things scattered through out the film. (If this is your first time hearing the name Dario Argento, I warn you his movie (OPERA) freaked me out and made me fear his name under movie titles lol. So before you seek him out make sure you can stomach intense blood and gore.) But as for Mr. McKee he has set a foundation that will give his movies great credibility.

A horror movies for people that expect more from horror movies than just cheap thrills and blood.

Rating:
Summary: "So much beautiful parts, no beautiful wholes"...
Review: Please, rent the movie before you buy it in DVD, I'd say this movie is a "one-time-worth-watching" movie for cinema fans or for those who really like blood...
I'd say the movie in itself can't be classified as an horror movie, there's nothing really scary it's just disgusting and choking scenes... Besides the first half of the movie is mainly comedy, it's reassuring to see someone even worse than me in human relationships!!!
Anyway, it doesn't worth buying the DVD...
PS: excuse my english!

Rating:
Summary: HOW COME NOBODY WANTS TO PLAY WITH ME!??
Review: This is without a doubt one of the craziest and disturbing movies I have ever seen. This movie has become a cult favorite and will probably be around trippin people out for a long time to come. May is not your run of the mill horror movie, it has that hopeless romantic teen flick feel to it, but at the same time you can tell that this chick is nuttier than squirel turds!and slowly but surely she becomes crazier and crazier but you kind of start to feel for her and at that point she just loses it killing people for revenge and for their "perfect parts" and while she's killing people they are playing some totally out of place music,but at the same time it fits the movie perfectly. I will try not to give away the ending, but it was beyond creepy, I really wasn't expecting exactly what happened, but I do have to say that it was the most perfect ending for this movie, because the director could have kept going but he didn't and that is what made this movie so good, right when you are really creeped out the movie stops, so you are stuck with that creepy feeling, and you just might find youself keeping the lights on that night!

Rating:
Summary: okay if you overlook some flaws
Review: I agree wholeheartedly with Reviewer Teep (read his review) but took a kinder view overall. The acting in this cult-campy-wanna-be is very good which made me forgive some of the irritating flaws. For a first attempt, I have to give Lucky McKee credit. The potential was there but was never realized and instead, unraveled into an unintelligent thrasher. The premise of the "different" girl (superbly portrayed by Angela Bettis - watch for her!)who had no friends with the flashbacks of weirdo mother and the creepy doll incased in glass were reminscent of Carrie with a twist and a good start to an engaging story. When we find May in the present day as an akward young adult finding her way, I was there. I even forgave the idiotic daycare scene (symbolism of broken glass = something the director never fully explained in connection with breakage of doll's case but she meant something really deep I'm sure) They even had me when May first lost it and attempted to make a real version of her doll, a best friend who could never leave her except to decompose maybe. But they lost me soon after that......the sudden cut to dismemberment was a stretch I wasn't able or willing to make. This film tried too hard and self-appointed itself with cult status without earning the title rightfully - by viewers like us. On the other hand, I didn't feel it was a complete waste of time and I did have a few laughs albeit at the movie not with it.....

Rating:
Summary: Not exactly for the weak of heart
Review: A friend of mine suggested the movie to me and a few of our friends on a movie party night. In general, we dig the indie films.

The movie started out very interesting, showing us how May's mother kept her at a distance as if she would catch something from touching her, setting up May's general character for the rest of the film. Typical romance, girl meets boy, girl likes boy, girl dates boy, boy dumps girl, girl get revenge on boy, girl finds love in her best friend in the end.

May's best friend isn't really a person, I mean this as it's not one person. I said not for the weak of heart because the movie is about May making the perfect friend, and there's a scene involving glass that could make the stomach turn.

Overall the characters are believable and adorable, and the plot flows directly into the ending. If you like the most twisted films, check out May soon.

Rating:
Summary: mixed feelings
Review: i don't honestly know what to think of this film. my friends told me it was excellent, so when i sat down to watch it, i expected something as good as something that guy who directed Pi or Requiem for a Dream did. NOT THE CASE.

when it ended, i felt...mad. i mean, surely...that wasn't it??? well, it was.

from what i gathered, this movie TRIED to be artistic and unique.

intead, it turned out to be a fairly good slasher film.

so why did i only rate it 2 stars if it was a fairly good slasher flim?

well, obviously, because that's not what it was supposed to be. some psycho girl killing people for body parts is not the least bit original. and her reason for being psycho? she didn't have any friends growing up? i mean, she seemed remotely normal for the first hour of the movie. she wouldn't have become the way she did from what happend to her. now after all that, i'll go as far to say: this movie is stupid.

so, i wouldn't bother with this one. and if your friends try to get you watch it, seriously consider getting new friends.