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Violence is everywhere in movies, but rarely is it ever captured on
screen with true honesty, in a way that shows how ugly and painful it
can be. When it's shown in an unflinchingly honest way, as in Wes
Craven's 1972 shocker LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, people get upset. They
don't want to see it that way. It's unsettling, and they write the
movie off as sick and depraved. They'd rather have the stylized
bloodshed of John Woo or the body count aesthetic of any run-of-the-mill
slasher movie, since that kind of violence doesn't hurt.
Eric Stanze's SCRAPBOOK is not for those people. It hurts like hell.
A young woman, Clara (Emily Haack), is abducted by a backwoods serial
killer named Leonard (Tommy Biondo) who forces his victims to write
about their ordeals in his scrapbook. Throughout the movie, Clara is
repeatedly raped, beaten, and put through such mental and physical
torture that most viewers will probably have the urge to stop the tape
less than thirty minutes into it. I had that urge. At first, it all
seemed pointless. A half hour in, I was wondering why I was subjecting
myself to this bullshit -- and better yet, what exactly was the point of
all this? It seemed like it was violence for violence's sake, a hollow
exercise in sickening sexual brutality.
But shortly thereafter, it hit me. There's a scene where Leonard leaves
his filthy farmhouse to take care of some business and Clara is left
locked in a room. Now that he's gone, there's a chance to escape. It
was then I realized how much this film was affecting me on an emotional
level. I wanted Clara to find a way out. Even though Clara had barely
spoken a word so far, I cared about her and was rooting for her. I had
a sick feeling in my stomach. I didn't know if I could stand to see
Clara suffer any more. Of course, I was in for it. Oh, boy, was I
ever.
SCRAPBOOK doesn't play around. It presents its violence honestly --
most of it sexual in nature -- and doesn't cop out and cut away. It
makes us suffer with Clara, so that it's nearly impossible not to
empathize with her. It's tough, almost unbearably brutal. This movie
doesn't shy away from full frontal nudity, either -- both male and
female -- but the nudity here is anything but erotic. It's nasty and
degrading, the kind that makes you feel sick and guilty.
Directed by Eric Stanze, one of the most electrifying and talented
filmmakers currently working in micro-budget cinema, SCRAPBOOK is often
as brilliant as it is brutal. There's a short flashback to Leonard's
childhood at the beginning -- shown completely from his point of view in
one unbroken take -- that's pulled off with breathtaking aplomb.
There's also a scene where Leonard rapes Clara in the shower and
videotapes it; the "home video" footage integrated into this scene is
extremely disturbing and realistic. And though this is basically a
two-character drama, things never drag. Stanze keeps the intensity at a
fever pitch. But kudos must also be given to his two leads. Tommy
Biondo and Emily Haack are both terrific here, in two of the most daring
and unflinching performances I've ever seen. Sadly, 26-year-old Tommy
Biondo, who also wrote the script, died shortly after SCRAPBOOK was
completed. He never saw the finished film.
Through it all, though, SCRAPBOOK has a very dark sense of humor. The
way Leonard toys with Clara, mocking her agonized cries and mugging for
the video camera while he rapes her in the shower, is surely disturbing
-- but the twisted black humor is there. Think about the pitch-black
humor of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and you might have a good idea of
the darkly comic tone of SCRAPBOOK. No, it's not funny, nor should it
be. But it does give the film a raw, nasty edge all its own. And while
SCRAPBOOK falters near the end -- the finale seems kinda hokey -- it's
impossible to deny its raw power. This is the kind of movie that gets
under your skin and stays there... whether you like it or not.
Like ICE FROM THE SUN (Eric Stanze's previous film), SCRAPBOOK is
ultimately about survival. ICE FROM THE SUN had a female lead who had
given up any will to survive, but through the course of the picture she
grew stronger and her will to live resurfaced. SCRAPBOOK has a female
lead who's strong from the start and is put through such hell that most
people would beg for release through death. It's brutal, but it can't
knock Clara's will to survive.
Well, does she? I wouldn't dream of giving it away.
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