John’s Horror Corner: Nurse 3D (2013), a stylishly culty exploitative delight

MY CALL:  This film is well-executed, often cheesy, stylishly produced, gory, exploitative cult film fun.  MOVIES LIKE Nurse 3D:  There are a few movies like this that come to mind for different reasons.  Single White Female (1992) has all the serious and none of the satire, American Psycho (2000) has all of the satire but none of the serious, American Mary (2012) is closest match but expresses its sexuality via body modification.

I walked into this expecting something like a more seductive version of American Mary (2012).  What I got was more like a stylishly shot and scored “Fatal Attraction to a Single White Female American Psycho” cult film.  Complete with cheesy lines, abduction, spewing gore, an epically destructive hospital catfight, death-by-defibrillator and plenty of nudity, this will surely please lovers of shock, schlock and exploitation cinema.  This also has the production quality and star power to please those who like a stylishly different horror/slasher film from time to time.  Writer/director Douglas Aarniokoski (The Day) has done us well with his leading lady…

Meet the sultry Abigail Russell (Paz de la Huerta; Boardwalk Empire), medical professional by day and sauntering sexual sociopath by night.  Her hobbies include wearing sexy lingerie, dabbling in lesbianism, blackmailing and seducing her co-workers, and killing adulterous married men looking to two-time their wives.

Abigail works with the cute, insecure newbie Danni (Scream Queen Katrina Bowden; Piranha 3DD, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Hold Your Breath) and immediately becomes obsessed with her, wanting Danni to leave her boyfriend so they can to be together.  When Danni doesn’t share this whim and tries to distance herself, Abigail aims her deep-seeded instability at the people in Danni’s life.

Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss… Try explaining that to a sociopath, though.

At times, Abigail is perfectly sociopathic and sexy–especially during the opening sequence which includes her narration.  But her execution sometimes walks the line between sociopathic emotional emptiness and stale acting–which I believe to be the fuel to the fire of most negative reviews.  In general, I find her flat mood appealing and it especially suits her as she obsesses over Danni.  It smacks pretty hard of Single White Female (1992) with just a culinary dash of American Psycho (2000), but she’s more about sexual fixation than trying to “become” the object of her desire.  Abigail targets men who she perceives to have wronged Danni, along with anyone else who stands in Abigail’s way. The finale brings us a brilliant admixture of an epically brutal catfight interspersed with a punctuated killing spree that ravages a hospital staff with a staggering body count.

This movie is just plain cult film fun done well.