Film: Nurse
Starring: Paz de la Huerta
Directed by: Doug Aarniokoski

It has been a long time since a movie found its way into the mainstream that perfectly balanced gratuitous nudity and gratuitous violence in such a way that it was embraced with open arms by the general public. Nurse, otherwise known as Nurse 3D for its limited theatrical release, toes this line of moral ambiguity and arthouse drama with an exorbitant amount of confidence that genre fans will want to revisit again and again.

Starring and narrated by unique Boardwalk Empire beauty Paz de la Huerta, Nurse opens with Abby Russell telling viewers about her vigilante style of moral justice. She takes down the cheating boyfriends and husbands of the world in ways that save their families from ever having to know the monsters they thought they knew (usually as violently as possible). Her reasoning behind this is a bad childhood memory involving her own father’s wandering eye, but that’s a story saved for a bit later in the film.

Abby sees herself as somewhat of a mentor for younger nurses, and in the opening moments of the film we meet the young woman she feels the universe is telling her to train (played by 30 Rock star Katrina Bowden). Her name is Danni, and like many young minds fresh out of nursing school she is hoping to make friends with senior staff members. A night out with Abby soon follows, but trusting a woman she’s known for only a few hours throws Abby’s entire world into a tailspin of death and bloodshed she never sees coming.

It’s hard to shake thoughts of films like Single White Female and Basic Instinct from the mind when watching Nurse, but believe me when I tell you this film is in a league all its own. Abby is an endlessly fascinating (and horribly broken) central character, and even though you can feel where the story is headed early on, the entrancing performance of Paz de la Huerta keeps you on the edge of your seat. Even Katrina Bowden, who previously lead such disastrous indie horror efforts as #HoldYourBreath and Scary Movie 5, finds the talent within herself to make the audiences care about something more than the amount of skin on screen.

There is nothing subtle about Nurse

Speaking of skin, there is a lot of it. Huerta goes all out from the opening moments of the story, baring all and – when applicable – allowing herself to be playfully bathed in the blood of her victims. Ms. Bathory would be proud.

There are a few cracks in the otherwise high-gloss brutality of Nurse, but to the film’s credit they are few and far between. The story itself, while fun, takes a bit too long to find momentum given the feature’s 84-minute runtime. Also, the development of supporting characters beyond Danni’s boyfriend Steve (Corbin Bleu) is minimal. The film chooses instead to lean on familiar stereotypes, including the ever-popular sassy black nurse and super-sexist head surgeon. They’re likable enough, but it’s hard to not feel like their stunted nature causes the film to miss several opportunities to create its own, fully realized universe.

When Abby’s web of lies and bloodshed finally comes to a head, Nurse offers some of the most beautifully violent moments in recent cinematic history. The storm living within her soul is unleashed upon an unsuspecting world with zero thought or care for the innocent that stand in her way. It’s brutal, haunting, terrifying, and yet somehow wonderful thanks to gorgeous cinematography from Boris Mojsovski. Horror fans will be talking about this film’s final minutes for years to come.

Nurse falls short of perfection, but comes far closer to bridging the gap between sexy, scary, and artsy than any other recent entry into the world of independent film. It’s sexy, smart, stylish, and a hell of a lot of fun. Paz de la Huerta could very well be horror’s next female icon and I, for one, will gladly line up to see whatever feature she puts her name on next.

Finally, a horror film for adults that delivers in [almost] every way.

Score: B+

Written by: James Shotwell Follow @utgjames

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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