Body Modification Images

I don't usually do this sort of thing, but staying quiet makes me part of the problem rather than the solution. I've been seeing a lot of images of body mods going around Facebook with a rather negative connotation - whether it be something to do with mental issues, personal choice, or if you feel like fucking these people based purely on their appearance.

People in the body mod community are constantly being attacked, instead of educating ourselves, we choose to point and laugh. Something is different from our main stream, so we tear it down. What is the fucking point in that? I know members of the body mod community and they are wonderful, kind, patient, and sound individuals. They have to be spokesmodels for education because they are constantly explaining themselves.

If you aren't into body modification, cool, that's fine. But please don't delight in ridiculing people based purely on their physical features. You are robbing yourself of having an opportunity to truly know an individual. 

-Sylv

List Film Talks to the Twisted Twins

Can you briefly explain the plot of American Mary? 

Sylvia Soska: American Mary follows the story of Mary Mason, played by Katharine Isabelle, as she grows increasingly disenchanted by her medical school and the surgeons teaching her and the allure of easy money and notoriety sends Mary into the messy world of underground surgery and body modification which leaves more marks on her psyche than her freakish clientele.

Jen Soska: I love it when she does that.

What interested you about the world of body modification?

Sylvia Soska: I was looking on the internet one day and we found this April’s Fool’s prank, at the time we didn’t know it was an April Fool’s joke.

Jen Soska: We actually didn’t know it was a prank until we were filming and we mentioned it and our body mod consultant laughed in our faces.

Sylvia Soska: But the story goes there were two identical brothers and one of them had his arm sawn off and grafted onto his brother’s chest and the other had his ring finger removed and grafted onto his brother’s hand to have an elongated finger, because they were genetically identical you can do limb swaps with twins without rejection. That didn’t disturb me, or even the photos, as much as these big long love letters about being one half and having this connection and I thought it was very creepy and felt very scared and thought what is wrong with the world? But every time something scares me I become obsessed with it so went online, onto message boards and I would pretend I was going for all this surgery, it was just for shits and giggles.

Jen Soska: It was not originally intended for a film, it was just something that fascinated us, we’ve seen a lot of things in our lives and we’re not really phased by much, we were raised in a very open way. I mean when we were 12 we watched Hellraiser and it wasn’t a big deal, our mom would watch horror movies because she loved horror movies and she didn’t want to watch shitty kid’s shows so we watched them with her and she would explain them to us.

Sylvia Soska: Then later we were trying to sell our first film, Dead Hooker in a Trunk, and we had no money for food or rent and we were going down to LA to try and get into mainstream filmmaking and every time we did we’d meet these horrendously awful human beings.

Jen Soska: As you do when you are in Hollywood.

Sylvia Soska: I blame Penthouse, people take identical twins in the worst way possible, [laughs] anyway we met a great producer and he said 'why don’t you focus on your next script what else do you have?' At the time we had nothing so I lied, I was like ‘I have so many scripts I don’t even know what you want to read.’ And I made up a bunch of things I knew we could make up in a couple of weeks so I went ‘this one and this one and this one about a medical student’ and he goes ‘yeah the medical student one, I just want to look it over,’ so we wrote it in two weeks and everything we had been through accidentally went into the script. I didn’t even realise how personal it was until people were pointing it out and I started getting very uncomfortable.

Jen Soska: It’s very much an analogy of our own misadventures in the film industry, we used mainstream medicine instead of Hollywood and the body mod community in place of independent film and the horror community. We were always so embraced by the horror community our first film, Dead Hooker in a Trunk, most people said a title like that it’s got to be a shit film but the fans loved it so much that it became this online cult phenomenon so we managed to get distribution.

Sylvia Soska: And that led to the opportunity to make this one.

READ THE WHOLE INTERVIEW HERE!

-Sylv

The Twisted Twins on Jennifer Blanc-Biehn's Scared Stiff

AMERICAN MARY Directors The Soska Sisters – Scared Stiff (#101)

"Hello Horror fans! I’m Jennifer Blanc-Biehn - welcome to my new show, SCARED STIFF, on theStream.tv! For our kickoff episode, I was so excited to welcome the smart, sexy, sassy directors of AMERICAN MARY and DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK, The Soska Sisters (Jen & Sylvia Soska, aka “The Twisted Twins”). 

It was a freewheeling discussion covering the gamut from body modification to practical gore effects, fan worship, forked animal penises, and their uniquely ribald approach to casting. We also fielded a fistful of great questions from you, the fans. If you haven’t seen AMERICAN MARY, it tells the tale of a young surgical student (Katharine Isabelle of GINGER SNAPS) who gets sucked into the underground world of body modification for quick cash. 

The film also stars Antonio Cupo, Tristan Risk, and Twan Holliday. AMERICAN MARY has been hailed by FANGORIA as “a modern horror masterpiece” - I totally agree! If you haven’t seen AMERICAN MARY, you can watch it right here on theStream.tv! 

Follow the link below, click the banner at the top of the page, and watch AMERICAN MARY on your computer or iPad! http://thestream.tv/scared-stiff What did you think of my first show? Follow us on Twitter (@ScareMeStiff) and Facebook (facebook.com/ScaredStiffShow) and spill your guts!"

WATCH IT HERE.

-Sylv

Biff Bam Body Modification

"Their names are Jen and Sylvia Soska and they’re the future of horror filmmaking. 

I say this not as a piece of hyperbole that the sisters can put on a Blu-Ray case (though feel free, ladies), but simply because, with their new film, American Mary, they managed to create a fantastic piece of horror cinema that literally left me in disbelief of what I was watching. The film freaked me out. It made me edgy. It made me squirm. It made me turn it off when my wife walked in the room.

But, most importantly, American Mary kept me engrossed. And to think, I almost didn’t watch the film."

Read the whole piece here!

-Sylv

FEARnet Talks to Mary

FEARnet: Was it hard to keep that dark atmosphere once the cameras started rolling? It sounds like you were all one big happy family. 

Katharine Isabelle: We were. We only had 15 days to shoot. Everyone was there for little to no money, everyone was busting their asses to do what they could for the girls. The moment you meet them, you just fall head-over-heels in love with them and you want to do everything you can to help them. But I don’t think the movie is that dark, or depressing or upsetting. I think it is charming and hilarious! If people don’t laugh, we get upset! 

F: Oh, I agree with you. I just think that the subject matter is something that people are so uncomfortable with. 

KI: Yeah. I remember at the beginning, in a production meeting, Sylvia stood up and, in a very commanding voice said that not a single person, whether it be the dancers or the body modders, they were generous enough to work on our film and allow us into their subculture, not a single derogatory statement was to be made or even thought about them. No matter what the person’s position was, they would be off the fucking set sooner than you could snap your fingers. There was absolute, zero-tolerance for that. If you read the script and had any kind of asshole-ish thing to say, you probably wouldn’t have done the movie. No one was disrespectful. 

We were rehearsing the dance sequence stuff in an old strip club in Vancouver. Tristan strips down to a thong and nothing on top, and the poor crew guys are trying so hard not to look! “Oh yeah, look at this nail in the corner, we really have to jam it back in!” Tristan is fabulous and she wouldn’t have been offended, but everyone was trying so hard to be respectful. 

F: Creative, entertainment-types - especially in horror - are much more relaxed about that kind of thing. 

KI: They are definitely not a repressed group of people. The girls and I... we don’t know where our offensive limits are. We don’t know what anyone could do to offend us. They treat everyone with so much respect that no one ever felt anything but completely loved and accepted.

READ THE WHOLE RAD INTERVIEW HERE.

-Sylv

New York Times Talks Body Modification and Twisted Twins

Hey New York friends - could you do me a big favor and grab a couple copies of the New York Times, there’s two pieces that are going to run pre-Sunday June 2nd: one on body modification in film and the other is a profile on Jen and me. 

Also, if you see Spider-Man in NY, make sure he gets a copy. Tell him I’m a babe and he should so hook that shit up. Thanks.

-Sylv

Adult Content Exclusive Clip On Bloody Disgusting

Exclusive American Mary clip on Bloody-Disgusting featuring Samantha Mack and Russ Foxx. It is adult content, so underage people, lie about your age on the site so you can watch it. Tell more underage people to watch it too!

WATCH IT HERE.
-Sylv 

Dread Central Talks to Mary

Dread Central: Because of Mary's 'hobbies,' your character gets to have a lot of gory fun but also probably required you to train a little to get some of the medical procedure techniques right I would imagine. How much preparation did you have to do going into American Mary and did you enjoy getting messy for the role?
Katharine Isabelle: Oh yeah, all that stuff was so much fun too- I had a blast doing all the gory stuff and when I bludgeoned the security guard, that's actually my friend so that moment was fun in a lot of other ways for me too (laughs). The great thing about genre movies is that they often allow you the chance to do things or experience things you never would in normal life, and that includes body modification for me. That wasn’t something I was knowledgeable about at all and the Soskas were so sweet about immersing me in this world which can be scary to people who nothing about it. The thing I also really appreciated about American Mary is that both Jen and Sylvia handled the body modification elements with such respect and a lot of filmmakers probably wouldn't have done that; at least not the way they did. 

But I did get to do a lot of suturing, that's something that Russ Foxx helped me out with. I'm a pro at suturing a turkey now (laughs).

READ THE WHOLE INTERVIEW HERE!!

-Sylv

RIP Shannon Larratt

Jen and I are deeply saddened by the passing of Shannon Larratt, the founder of BME. What he did in and for the body modification community will never be forgotten. He knew this time was coming and had prepared a final posting for Zentastic. 

For those of you that knew him or knew of him, even those of you that have never heard of this incredible man before, you won't regret taking a moment to read this. 

"As the saying goes, “by the time you read this I’ll be dead.” Caitlin has probably posted it by my request, or it’s been posted as part of a dead-man switch. I have known this was coming for years, at times even hoped for it, and most of that time I haven’t ever been afraid of it, although as it’s grown closer I’ve felt equal parts dread and relief, with a little bit of panic mixxed in. I wish I could have lived much, much longer as there is still so much I want to do and see and be a part of, although in the time I had I could not have asked for a more wonderful life. I’ve had the opportunity to do remarkable things, see my dreams made real and changed the world and the lives of many for the better, loved and been loved, and have an amazing daughter who I hope will have her own wonderful life. My biggest sadness is not being able to be a part of more of it, and I have spent many days in tears trying to figure out a way to squeeze more meaningful time out of this life. There’s just so much more I want to do — and I think everyone knows I’ve done a lot. But not enough. If I knew my live was going to be this short, I would have pushed harder, not frittered so much of it away. I wish I’d seized every single opportunity, not just “many of them”, thinking “I can do that next year.” I’ve always thought that for me the “undiscovered country” was in the Star Trek sense of the word — that is, the glorious future — but instead I’ve gotten stuck with Hamlet’s “undiscovered country”, or death: “But that the dread of something after death, the undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveller returns, puzzles the will, and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of?”"

Read the whole piece here.

-Sylv

America Gets American Mary Theatrically

The Official US Release trailer for American Mary being released by XLrator Media.

In theaters on May 31st 2013, hitting VOD May 16th. Please watch the fuck out of it, tell your friends, get the word out. 

You've already proven that there is an audience for unique films like this in the genre, let's show them that audience will go out to see in the theatres. Demand it in your city!

-Sylv

April Fools Doubled

Ever read one of Jen and my interviews where we say that a BME April Fools prank got us interested in body modification culture and was the catalyst to creating American Mary? This is the prank story.

I like the confessionals of people's reactions to it. Please enjoy a fabricated tale of two twins.

READ IT HERE.

-Sylv

Billy Chainsaw Beautiful

Jesus Novoa’s fantastic American Mary vase from Billy Houlston!

-Sylv

See You In the UK!

EIGHT!

DAYS!

TIL LONDON!!

AMERICAN MARY is coming to your town with Jen, me, Mary herself, Katharine Isabelle, brought to you by the rad folks at Film4 FrightFest before it's Universal Pictures UK DVD/BluRay release.

"FRIGHTFEST AMERICAN MARY TOUR Following its recent successful UK festival run, including the world's first screening at FrightFest back in August, we are delighted to be able to bring this stylish horror thriller to UK cinemas for a theatrical tour in January 2013. 

Writers/directors Jen and Sylvia Soska, and Mary Mason herself, lead actress Katharine Isabelle, will be returning to the UK to join Alan Jones, Paul McEvoy and Ian Rattray to introduce shows the length and breadth of the country. Kicking off at London's legendary Prince Charles Cinema on Friday, 11 January the tour will be calling at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Sheffield, Leeds, Bristol and Brighton. Full details of dates, cinemas and times can be found below. 

One of the year's most horrific highlights, American Mary tells the story of student Mary Mason (Katharine Isabelle) who grows increasingly disenchanted with the American medical school that she is attending and the doctors that she once idolised. The lure of easy money sends a desperate Mary through the gruesome world of underground surgeries, but soon finds it leaves more marks on her than the freakish clientele.
Clever, sexy, funny and utterly gorgeous to look at, American Mary features a standout lead performance from award winning actress Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps), and puts the Soska sisters, a.k.a. the Twisted Twins, squarely at the forefront of modern genre filmmaking. 

On both sides of the Atlantic, Jen and Sylvia Soska's American Mary has already been celebrated with more than a dozen international film festival honours, including Best Picture (LA ScreamFest, ShudderFest) as well as Best Director and Best actress (Toronto after Dark, LA ScreamFest, ShudderFest). 

Total Film Magazine voted Katharine Isabelle Best Actress at FrightFest back in August, whilst SFX magazine called American Mary the 'Best of the Fest'. 

Fri January 11 - 6.45 pm - Prince Charles Cinema, London  

Sat January 12 - 10.00 pm - Edinburgh Filmhouse  

Sun January 13 - 7.30 pm - Glasgow Film Theatre 

Mon January 14 - 8.30 pm - Sheffield Showroom  

Tue January 15 - 9.00 pm - Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds  

Wed January 16 - 8.40 pm - Bristol Watershed  

Thu January 17 – 10.15 pm - Duke of Yorks - Brighton"

SEE YOU LOVELY LADIES AND GENTLEMEN THERE!!!

Get your tickets and full information HERE!

-Sylv

We All Scream For Scream Magazine!

Hey Yoooooooooou Guuuuuuyyzzzzzz! Did you see that Rob Zombie is in the new issue of SCREAM MAGAZINE?!

There's also this cool article where Andy Stewart - the killer director of the phenomenal DYSMORPHIA - interviews Jen and me about American Mary. My favourite part is where we all high five.

GET YOURS HERE!!

-Sylv

Brand New American Mary Trailer

Thank you to everyone who has been supporting American Mary & sharing the new trailer. 

To those of you that haven't had a look & those who want to throw some views in - with a Youtube tally going strong - let's see how many views we can get on this thing!

-Sylv

Two Twins, One Ben

‘APPEARANCES ARE EVERYTHING’ – THE TWISTED TWINS TALK AMERICAN MARY 

When I got the call to come meet Jen and Sylvia Soska for lunch soon after they’d landed in Melbourne for Monster Fest, I spent the entire time in the car on the way over repeating to myself ‘Be cool. Don’t get nerd goo on them. Be cool. Don’t get nerd goo on them. Be cool…” That mantra flew right out of my head the moment I met them. Talking to Jen and Sylvia is like hanging out with old friends you haven’t seen in a while. Old friends who understand that you’re a little creepy and have almost non-existant social skills and for some reason like you anyway. Old friends who laugh uproariously when the waitress at the restaurant you’re dining at forgets that you’re even there and walks off without taking your order. I knew then that I had met two very special people. 

And because it was like hanging out with old friends, I spent most of my time with them talking comics and bizarre internet porn instead of, say, getting an interview with them for the Monster Pictures website. So then I had the great idea of getting my very talented and hardworking colleague Zak Hepburn to come up with some interview questions that I could then take credit for and get the sisters to answer them while they were in Sydney, Perth or Brisbane, because you know, what is there to do in those cities besides sit in your hotel room and type stuff out on a computer? Of course none of that mattered because I didn’t email them the said questions until they were on the plane headed back home anyway. Lucky for me the twins are on the ball and I found all the questions answered and sitting in my inbox before anyone could get fired *cough* and now I present them for your reading pleasure.

READ THE WHOLE INTERVIEW HERE! Also, it's no holds barred, so enjoy the brutal honesty and cussin'.

-Sylv

American Mary Has US Distribution Through XLrator Media

American Mary is coming to the US. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. XLrator Media, the team that released THE BRAWLER, will be bringing AMERICAN MARY to America.

"LOS ANGELES (Dec. 5, 2012) – XLrator Media has acquired all U.S. rights to the horror sensation, AMERICAN MARY, written and directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska (Dead Hooker in a Trunk). The female-centric surgical horror-thriller will be released on XLrator Media’s newly announced Screamfest label in Fall 2013. AMERICAN MARY follows the story of medical student Mary Mason (played by Katharine Isabelle of the Ginger Snaps franchise) as she grows increasingly broke and disenchanted with medical school and the surgeons she once admired. The allure of easy money and notoriety send Mary into the shady world of underground surgery and body modification."

READ HERE FOR THE FULL STORY!!

-Sylv

Mary, Mary

"My initial assumption was that this movie would be a horror film or "torture porn" but it was neither. It was a deliciously beautiful movie that takes a very heavy and disturbing bunch of topics (rape, revenge, body modification, underground surgery), and presents them in a manner where the viewer never feels to queasy or shows scenes that are bloody just for the sake of throwing blood around. The cinematography and music were absolutely top notch as were performances by all the actors involved with a particularly strong showing from Isabelle who was numb to anything in her existence for the last 75% of the film." - T-MAK World (full article)

"Whereas Dead Hooker in a Trunk was a furious, ramshackle donkey ride, American Mary is infinitely more measured than its predecessor. Whilst it would've been easy to frantically pile on the berko body horror shocks and pummel the audience into submission, this is not that kind of film; the Soskas have kept the action deliberate and steady to let the story unfold at a natural pace. It is a credit to their prodigious talents, too, that each and every one of the human oddities and seedy crooks on-screen is carefully etched out in three dimensions as achingly human. Even Billy, potentially a caricature of violent, manipulative masculinity at its worst, is fleshed out into a real character. It cannot be overstated just how much of a quantum leap forward the Soskas have made in honing their craft. 

Strong performances abound, with burlesque dancer Tristan Risk mixing sad vulnerability and wilful kookiness in equal measures to bring the bizarre Beatress to life. Isabelle is absolutely mesmerising. Whilst most genre fans would agree that her appearances as Ginger Fitzgerald were laudable, the required acting range extended from "slightly stroppy" to "very surly"; here she delivers a subtle, nuanced performance which captures a complex character arc without ever resorting to violently unnatural behavioural swerves." - Finbarr Heather, Digital Retribution (full article)

"For a film that focuses so heavily on the surgical aspect, one could almost be forgiven for immediately thinking that American Mary could or would become nothing more then a cheap tawdry excuse in low budget gore. One would be wrong though

. The greatest measure of praise that can be reaped upon American Mary is that it manages to defy all expectations and keep its audience on their toes at every turn. 

Just when I thought I had the film pegged, the Soska sisters somehow managed to find a way to pull the rug out and turn expectations on its head. At one point you could easily mistake it for going in the direction of a standard rape-revenge exercise. Then in the next breathe you could mistake it for becoming another entry in the torture porn catalog But in reality, what it all adds up to is a rather deliberate character study of a woman being empowered by descending into complete madness making all the wrong decisions along the way -- whilst dealing with the chauvinistic pig headed men in her life. Strangely, it is a journey which reminded me of Sion Sono’s Guilty of Romance." - Daniel M, Confessions of a Cinefile (full article)

"A provocative combination of the horrors of a feminist Frankenstein with a fetishist twist and the visceral thrills of the “female revenge” genre, the film is laced throughout with a wicked sense of humour and a darkly erotic charge. Simultaneously beautiful, repulsive, shocking and endearing, Jen & Sylvia Soska’s thought-provoking exploration into the depths of tattoo and body modification subculture seduced audiences at this year’s Film4 FrightFest, being heralded as “Absolutely superb” by Ain’t It Cool News and “Unforgettable” by Fangoria." - Andrew Marshall, Subtitled Online (full article)

"Shades of Cronenberg and David Lynch are evident in American Mary, but The Soska Sisters remain filmmakers of genuine talent, whose debut no-budget cult film, Dead Hooker in a Trunk, was obviously no fluke. Be sure to spot a sterling cameo by the twins too, which points to them as bona fide Tarantinos of the horror world, but better actors. The only mystery is why the film is called American Mary. Is it a reference to Paul Schrader’s American Gigolo, another film that American Mary owes a debt to? This film will creep you out, but it will also excite you about the arrival of not one, but two, classy female directors of the future, who also remember the importance of the past." - Dov Kornits, FilmInk (full article)

-Sylv

Interview With the Examiner

"After their successful Canadian Premiere at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, we were able to sit down with the Canadian Born directors the Soska Sisters, aka the Twisted Twins, to discuss their latest offering, the dark and twisted American Mary."

Jen and I had the opportunity to talk to the Examiner's Kirk Haviland about AMERICAN MARY, body modification, Katharine Isabelle, and Betty Boop.

"Katharine Isabelle is breathtaking in this film, a stellar performance, was she always your first choice? And how was she as a collaborator on set? 

S: The character was written for Katie. We have been big fans of her work for years, but hadn't seen her in roles that reflected the caliber of actress that she is. By the time we sent the script to her and she was coming to meet us for the first time, I loved Mary so much, I was terrified that we wouldn't mesh or that she wouldn't live up to my exceedingly high expectations of her. 

She actually surpassed my expectations. Katie is just brilliant. She gave everything to the role, she had a definitive idea of Mary and wasn't afraid to take strong choices with her. I loved collaborating with her - I tell her she looks most stunning when she is crying and covered in blood, yet somehow she and I remain very close friends. 

J: We rarely write a character for a particular actor. We usually prefer to write a character and then compile a list of possible actors who could fit that role. Katie was the exception. We knew we wanted her from the beginning. She has this immense depth to her and she can pull off so much with such subtlety that so few actors can. She's brilliant and she is such a professional to work with. You write a character that you love and of course your ultimate hope is that you find an actor that can not only bring that character to life, but bring even more to the character than you expected. Katie was very into Mary and she really thoughtfully developed and brought her to life that truly exceeded our already sky high expectations. 

Sometimes a really talented actor will hit the Canadian glass ceiling and people don't realize how truly amazing they are. It can be like if you're not in LA, you don't exist. Katie is just phenomenal and I think this role beautifully displays her maturity, intelligence, thoughtfulness, and charisma." 

READ THE WHOLE INTERVIEW HERE!!

-Sylv

Are You Motherfucking Ready for the Mod Shit?

Wicked meme by Jesus Novoa.

Two huge screenings coming up - Screamfest in LA on the 13th at 9:30pm, then the Canadian Premiere in Toronto at TADFF on the 18th at 9:45pm!

-Sylv