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When SCRAPBOOK isn't busily slapping you about like a prison bitch with
it's in your face grand guignol cum cinema verite style, it's making you
wonder what in the hell is forcing you to sit there and take so much
abuse. If any film deserves that overused ad slogan "To keep from
fainting, keep telling yourself 'It's only a movie.'" it's this one.
SCRAPBOOK is the story of Clara (Haack), a young woman abducted by a
killer named Leonard (Biondo) who has accumulated a large collection of
mementos from his previous victims. Clara, as Leonard tells her, is to
be the final chapter in his "book", before he turns all of this over to
the public, who will in turn make him a star. Leonard brutally rapes
Clara and puts her through an obscene amount of mental and physical
anguish in an effort to break her spirit. In the tradition of all
classic rape and revenge flicks, we know what happens next. Or do we??
I am rarely shocked by anything, but SCRAPBOOK caught me off guard. I
had already seen an Eric Stanze film called I SPIT ON YOUR CORPSE - I
PISS ON YOUR GRAVE, so I knew I wasn't in for the latest Freddie Prinze
Jr. movie, but man, this one put me through the ringer. Stars Haack and
Biondo (who also wrote and executive produced, but sadly died mere days
after post-production) are electrifying, especially since much of the
film's dialogue was improvised by the actors and director as they went
along.
It's this approach that makes this shot on video feature not only an
impressive film, but an eerily realistic one. There are moments in
SCRAPBOOK where I literally felt bad about watching what was going on,
especially in the extremely realistic rape scenes in which the actors,
er, didn't hold anything back. Haack was so believable a victim that at
times you can see the uncomfortable body language of Biondo, as if he
isn't sure this is an act at all!
The film's greatest strength; it's spontaneous and explosive run and gun
style, unfortunately highlights the film's deepest flaw, and that is the
scripted dialogue. There are moments of absolute hysteria that are
terrifyingly convincing, but suddenly interrupted by wordy monologues
from Biondo that come off like a Ted Bundy movie as scripted by Kevin
Smith. This is a small gripe, and I only point this out because the
rest of the experiment works so perfectly.
While SCRAPBOOK is definitely not for everyone, fans of "revenge"
thrillers will have a field day with this one, but still, I have to warn
you that this film is extremely violent, and features unsimulated sexual
acts that are not for the kiddies. Hell, keep the elderly away from
this one too! However, if you are up to the challenge, watch this one
and prepare to see a horror film like nothing you've seen before. This
one makes I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE look like a Nickelodeon movie.
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