Scrapbook
 (2000)
review by Head Cheeze

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 Dogme 95 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 interupted 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.

Scrapbook is currently available on VHS from www.wickedpixel.com, but should be coming to DVD in the very near future. 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.