SCRAPBOOK

Produced by Jeremy Wallace
Directed by Eric Stanze
Written by Tommy Biondo

Clara - Emily Haack
Leonard - Tommy Biondo

There has been no shortage of critical praise surrounding Wicked Pixel’s SCRAPBOOK and every word of it has been well deserved. Even I could gush like the Nile and heap on the accolades about how brutally intense and powerful the film is. It’s raw, passionate, and honest in its depiction human depravity. Of all the things I could say, the one thing you won’t hear come from my lips is that I liked it. For me, it’s too brutal, it’s too raw, and the most frightening of all - it’s too honest.

To admit that I liked this film is to admit that on some level I found the 90 minutes of rape and violence the tiniest bit pleasurable. If you can find anything in this movie pleasurable then I strongly plead with you to seek help. I know this great doc…er tailor…who would just love to fit you for a nice, new white overcoat with shiny silver buckles. And I hope to hell that he locks you away for the rest of your days, you sick bastard.

I’ve seen Mondo videos and those Banned From Television tapes where real people are photographed blowing their own heads clean off, but I never saw anything in those videos that would upset me enough to keep me away from the dinner table. I wish I could say the same for SCRAPBOOK. I tried to watch it over a month ago and had to turn it off. It’s taken me almost 6 weeks to build up the courage to put it back in the VCR.

The only thing more difficult than watching the movie is writing about it. That means I’ve got to think back and reflect on what bothered me so badly. Trust me, I would much rather forget everything I saw, but the sad, horrible truth is that I know I won't. SCRAPBOOK haunts you for days afterwards and there’s really no escaping it.

Screenplay writer Tommy Biondo takes on the role of Leonard, a character he spent 5 years researching. Biondo wanted to be sure he captured the true sickness of a depraved killer's psyche. Emily Haack is Clara, Leonard’s latest victim. She’s raped, beaten, humiliated, tortured, starved, and raped some more.

Leonard keeps a scrapbook filled with Polaroid snapshots and writings from his victims. He wants to experience his actions through their eyes. By having them capture their anguish on paper, he’ll always know that someone else’s pain was at some point worse than his own. He’ll know that at some point he was in control, that he was the dominant one. And it guarantees that he’ll never forget the act. The only hope Clara has is to use her writings in the scrapbook to manipulate Leonard into feeling sympathy for her.

I could sit here and blow smoke up Stanze’s or Biondo’s butt all day long, but the truth of the matter is they would have never been able to pull this movie off without Emily Haack. No Hollywood, girly-girl actress would have allowed herself to be subjected to such a barrage of cruelty. As an actor, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone more open, brave, and strong. Without Haack as the resonate core holding the picture together, SCRAPBOOK would just be some sort of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE knock off.

No, SCRAPBOOK is not a knock off. I’ve never seen anything like it and I hope to God I never do again. Powerful filmmaking can be a beautiful thing, but I’ve never known to also be so ugly.

DVD Review

Since the original review above was written, I've learned that SCRAPBOOK screenwriter and star Tommy Biondo died on a movie shoot only days before he was set to see the finished film, a movie he spent 5 years researching before it was shot and then sat for year before Director Stanze could finish the edit. Stanze recounts the story at the start of new dvd commentary and you can hear in his voice that the incident still bothers him all these years later as it often does when friends don't get a chance to say goodbye.

The commentary also reveals that I'm not the only one who has trouble watching SCARPBOOK. The commentary marks the third time Emily Hack was able to get through the entire movie, and the fifth for Stanze and producer Jeremy Wallace. All three admit how brutal and ugly the movie gets. It's hard for even the makers to get through. But even with all the grime on screen, the group has nothing but good things to say about the production. They are a smart bunch who knows it's better to look on the brighter aspects of life.

The rest of the disc is lacking the extras department. Viewers will find a Biondo bio, a still gallery, trailers for other Wicked Pixel Productions, and a short behind-the-scenes featurette which details some of the more complex shots in the movie. Considering that this is the best title in the Sub Rosa catalog, one would thing SCRAPBOOK would be treated to the kind of fluffery that made RAVAGE or MARI-COOKIE such great discs, but I can understand why it's not loaded. Does a filmmaker really want the presentation to overpower the movie, especially when it's as good as SCRAPBOOK?

Sub Rosa Studios
Wicked Pixel Cinema

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