AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

bmoviep "Scrapbook"markets itself as being shocking and edgy, which it would have been had it not been so poorly executed. It's essentially just an hour and thirty five minutes of the creators trying to come up with different ways to torture some woman to make the audience feel uncomfortable. Pretty standard for this type of film, but unfortunately, not only does this movie fail to also include a compelling or interesting story, it also fails to shock. Clara, the victim, is raped, beaten and humiliated over and over, all the while doing little to nothing to actually save herself. For the majority of the film she isn't even tied up, and she never actually tries to fight back against her attacker. The obvious argument is that she was scared of what her kidnapper would do if she fought back. However, the kidnapper isn't armed throughout most of the attacks and to be honest, she looks like she could over power him. There's a stupid sub plot about the kidnapper creating a "Scrapbook" of all his victims, detailing each of his assaults. Clara analyzes the Scrapbook to convince Leonard (The kidnapper) to let her tie him up because overall, he desired to be submissive, or something like that. The writers attempted to make Leonard seem interesting by giving him a traumatic past and a bunch of mental illnesses that cause his depraved actions and his hatred of women. He ends up looking like an idiot man child attempting to be as edgy as possible. I half expected to see Leonard posting on Reddit about what an edge lord he thinks he is. The rape and torture scenes, as well as the humiliation that Clara undergoes, serve as nothing more than cheap gimmicks intended to distract you from the fact that there is virtually no story being told. If you're looking for a psychological thriller, then this isn't the film for you. If your just looking for torture porn, then there are still better options out there for you. This movie fails to satisfy any of their intended audience.

Paul Andrews Scrapbook starts as a young woman named Clara (Emily Haack) is kidnapped by deranged loner Leonard (special effects man, production designer, executive producer & writer Tony Biondo), he takes her back to his isolated farmhouse where he keeps her locked up in a filthy room half naked. Leonard rapes, tortures, abuses & humiliates Clara whenever he feels like it, Clara learns that she is just the latest in a long line of victims that Leonard has kidnapped, abused & eventually killed. Somehow Clara must find a way to escape Leonard or end up dead just like the others, nothing but incoherent writings in Leonard's scrapbook that he keeps to document his evil acts in order to make sense of them...Edited, executive produced & directed by Eric Stanze there are films that are so unrelentingly worthless that it makes you question just how low filmmakers can go, just how bad a film can possibly be & make you question whether you actually want to take a chance on another film ever again. Scrapbook is a good case in point, it's a film that is so bad, so vile, so worthless & depressing to watch that I really do wonder what the makers of this crap were thinking. Scrapbook is a virtually plot less 94 minutes of abuse, rape & bad dialogue. Seriously, what else is it? Forgot anyone who tries to claim that Scrapbook is a powerful film that doesn't glamorise rape or promote it & is some sort of masterpiece of unflinching study of violent human behaviour or some powerful portrayal of bleak & brutal realism because it's not, it's crap exploitative rubbish made by complete amateurs who don't seem to know anything about making a film, telling a proper story & populating it with human beings that you can relate to. Next to nothing happens, the entire film is set in the same filthy house, there are only two people in it of any significance & the opening featuring a teenager trying to seduce her younger brother really doesn't help explain anything or give Leonard any sort of motivation worth thinking about. Scrapbook is a deeply unpleasant film, both visually & thematically with a rather random ending in which Leonard lets the women he has just raped, beaten & mutilated for the previous hour tie him up. I guess Leonard isn't the brightest serial killing rapist about is he?To go along with the grubby little story the visuals are similarly terrible, shot on what looks like a camcorder (my mobile phone camera can producer sharper video footage) in a squalid little house. There are constant cuts to close-ups of vile objects or rotting food in Leonard's house & the whole film looks & feels really cheap, nasty & dirty. I suppose that may be a recommendation for some but believe me it's meant as one. There are a couple of rapes, Leonard slaps Clara around a bit & chops her toes off, there's some full frontal nudity from both Leonard & Clara if that's your thing but don't expect anything erotic as the grubby nature of the film is a real passion killer. Take it from me.Apparently filmed in just 13 days on what must have been a budget so low they couldn't afford outside sound recording this was shot in Missouri. Although the opening claims Scrapbook is 'Based on True Events' I would take that with a pinch of salt. The acting sucks, no offence to the actress here but Clara is one ugly chick. No wonder Leonard couldn't get stiff in that scene. Half the time she looks like a man with her butch figure & short hair cut. Not good.Scrapbook is an awful film of absolutely no worth whatsoever, I'm sorry but this is not powerful realism or innovative indie filmmaking, this is pure crap from start to finish that is an absolute eyesore to sit through. I would struggle to describe Scrapbook as a film, it's a worthless 94 minutes of torture. That's torture for us the viewer by the way & not a representative statement of what happens in it.

goregirl6 Okay...you are going to hate this film and here is why...there is a very low body count...there is no real chase scene or exciting action...it is obviously shot on video with no budget...But then again from most of the independent review I've been reading...you're probably missing the point...Here's why. The movie is a claustrophobic mind screw about the relationship that develops between a killer and his victim...it's not fun...it's not funny...and when the victim is truly helpless it is not exciting...seriously how much crap are you going to give an abductor when you are beaten and tied down? The Movie is brutal in that you have to get into the mind set of the victim...the problem with modern horror is that we have lost that..thank you House of 1000 Corpses...now people only want to be able to relate to the killers and cheer for them...Scrapbook is not about that...you might also have to be a little educated on the idea of Stockholm Syndrome...to understand the victims emphasizing with the killer and how the ending of the film comes about...it's not mention but it is assumed that most people have heard of Patty Hearst or have taken Pysch 101..but this too is a problem with independent horror is that it might expect too much from it's audience. Scrap book is not your traditional horror film...it is also not an over the top Gore feast like the August underground Films...what it is is a Psychological investigation into a killer and his last victim...it's not bad...maybe over ambitious...and the being shot on video actually adds to this film as it makes the experience more real and takes away the fantastic element that the film quality adds...that can be unnerving for some people...and I think that is in part...a factor of Stanze's decision to go that way.

DVD_Connoisseur In short, this film really knocked my socks off. I went into it with an open mind and soon became really wrapped up in the plot. It's been a long time since I've actually hollered at the screen but I found the suspense in the film extremely effective. This film has atmosphere in spades.My only complaint was that the early video footage of the sister had (deliberately?) poor sound quality and the penny didn't drop with me until after I'd finished watching the movie.The version I watched was the new 2005 US release and its extras include a short documentary on the making of "Scrapbook". It's a real tragedy that Tommy Biondo passed away at such an early age and that he never viewed the finished movie.While this film definitely won't be to everybody's tastes, I found it a very convincing and emotional roller-coaster. The cast did a marvellous job and most of the scenes were very realistic. There were a few instances when the make-up / effects looked a little amateurish but this wasn't off-putting. The set dressing for the serial killer's home and the scrapbook itself were brilliant.I'd give it a thumbs-up!