Scrapbook (2000)

Its a little hard to write a review of a film like Scrapbook. Its not that it has me especially conflicted or unsure (I enjoyed it) its just that its rather difficult to qualify ones enjoyment of what is really nothing more than a near plot free exercise in unpleasantness. Its pretty much a two hander, the tale of Leonard and Clara, Leonard being a jabbering lunatic into the whole kidnap/rape/kill bit, Clara being his latest victim. There are a couple of other folk, but they aren't really around for long and one is superfluous to all intents and purposes. Being a two hander, performances and chemistry are pretty much the essentials and whilst the film has problems in these areas it manages to pull through with one great turn and just about enough nastiness to keep things moving. Emily Haack as Clara is the great performer here, fearlessly throwing herself into her characters plight she is convincing in her degradation and naturally sympathetic. Tommy Biondo is somewhat less successful as Leonard, he nails the brutal and pathetic jerk sense of the character, but is generally too over the top to be much of a figure of fear or especially convincing as a killer, moreover the film itself does little to develop his character. Lack of development is the greatest general problem with the film actually, there isn't anything going on outside of the situation at hand but neither character has any real depth and the most potentially interesting aspect of the film (that would be Leonard's penchant for keeping records via a scrapbook of his victims last thoughts and a few taped in souvenirs) is brought up and more or less let down, becoming important only in the climax. This all combines with the overstretched length to make for a fairly patchy watch, at nearly 95 minutes things simply take too long and a bit of judicious pruning would have really boosted the general effect. The film does somewhat overcome the mentioned problems through sheer force of meanness though, Clara really goes through hell with humiliating nudity, some rough simulated rape shenanigans and a standout scene performed for real. The ending is decently twisted as well, a fine capper. None of which really qualifies Scrapbook as a "good" film, but it does well in terms of down 'n dirty exploitative goods, which were what I was looking for, in fact all I was looking for in watching it. And when a film does what it sets out to do, thats praiseworthy in my book. All in all I had a decent time with this one but I seem to be one of the few, its definitely offputting and pretty hard to recommend. I'd say its worth a look if you dig the cinematic territory as its bright spots are pretty impressive, but still something to approach with a bit of care.

Scrapbook wasn't the easiest of films to watch but I can't say it was a bad film. It was very graphic a lot more than I expected. Most serial killer in films take their victims behind closed doors and leave it to your imagination for these kind of scenes. Its the best 'into the mind of a serial killer' film I've scene. The acting from Emily Haack was brilliant, it can't of been an easy role to play. The home movie style filming added to atmosphere of the film. It didn't need a big Hollywood if it had one it would not have been so gritty.I read a few of the reviews on here to help me write this one. Some people say its poor with WWE style violence and there was nothing shocking about it. I dread to think what these people watch with their popcorn.I thought it was shocking, not just because it wasn't quite what I expected but also because you know that these things happen in real life.

Based on most of the comments I've read, I have to say that 'Scrapbook' is an either or movie. The comments either appreciate it (it's hard to say 'like') or are overtly negative. That stated, I found this movie to be somewhere in between those poles. This movie is extreme in its depiction of sadism and misogyny, and left me feeling very confused and disturbed after watching it. There is an intangible aspect to this film that makes it difficult to determine why I felt this way; I can't simply place it on the violence, and I can't place it on the context in which the violence is presented, or any other specific aspect of the film. Some of the comments and reviews of this film attribute audience reaction to its objectivity, but I would argue that it is due to its ambiguity. It could be argued that the film's conclusion (possible, but unlikely, spoiler) supports an 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em' mentality, but it could just as well be viewed as a fight or flight survival instinct--we aren't given enough information, based on where and how the movie ends, to guess what Clara's intentions are. She seems to have found some redemption, and even enjoyment, in torturing her torturer; is she limping off with the scrapbook in hopes of returning to the safety of the world she was abducted from, has she been turned on to Leonard's p.o.v. (remember, he was abused before he became the abuser,)and is there a possibility that she will continue the scrapbook as its new author?

It's true: this movie is disturbing and will shock you with some scenes of depravity and torture that you've never seen before, but despite all that it's still just not very good. Among my main complaints: - Some people extol the fact that the production quality was very low, giving it a grim "snuff" film look to the movie. But seriously, I thought it just made every scene look that much worse because of the image quality, shaky camera movements, and muffled sounds.The acting, though pretty good at times (the female lead whose name I forget must've gone through hell to make this movie) is still suspect throughout much of the movie. They try hard but in the end... it's just not very good.The special effect. I know a movie with such a small budget can't be expected to have Hollywoood quality special effects, but seriously, a lot of the corpses and body parts looked like discarded parts from Halloween costumes.The premise of the movie was great but the execution was just bad. Blame it on the small budget, the neophyte actors, or whatever, but in the end it boils down to this movie just not being very good. There are much better, scarier, gorier, "shock-ier" movies out there. Don't get taken in by the hype.