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17 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
"Stand By Me" meets "Deliverance", 17 February 2008
Author: Steve Carver from London

Anyone who recalls misspent summers of youth will understand well how a single day can echo down the years. Like the similarly resonant stories of Rob Reiner's Stand by Me, or much of Shane Meadows's work, Summer Scars captures fragile youth at a turning point, with cracks opening up to the darker adult world.

Six friends bunk off school to spend the day in the woods. Armed with a few cans of beer and some very inadequate barbecue skills, they're free to do just what 14-year-olds do best: show off, swear, fight and spend the day just hanging out together. The first reel of Julian Richards's low budget drama is spent solely in the company of these six. Like most real kids they're certainly no angels, and might qualify as 'hoodies' in a cruder film.

Riding a stolen moped around the bumpy woodland paths, two of the gang collide with a lone adult, Peter (Howarth). They fear the worst, and leg it from the scene, but Peter is unharmed and soon emerges to join the group. Attention turns to this unknown quantity, and the focus of the group shifts. Peter seems to be 'down with the kids'. He's sympathetic, and is soon leading the gang into new scrapes.

But Peter can't be pinned down – one minute he's offering life lessons to his young charges, the next he seems more sinister, playing divide and conquer, and easily exploiting tensions by turning friends against one another. As the afternoon wears on, events take worrying turns, and it appears Peter's agenda may be closing in on the gang.

This low-budget indie thriller makes all the right moves with an engagingly 'real' cast of youngsters. Never patronising and edgy throughout, it's a heartfelt picture of fragile adolescent faiths.

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14 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
First in a new wave of disturbing thrillers involving British youth., 9 July 2008

Author: dekalog666 from United States

This new feature from Julian Richards the director of THE LAST HORROR MOVIE boasts another 'volcanic' performance by Kevin Howarth. It would spoil the fun of SUMMER SCARS to reveal what exactly happens, but this morality tale, which takes place entirely in a forest, is an unsettling film about abuse, mental, emotional and physical.

This is a film that has resonance with a youth crime phenomenon in Britain. As knife crime dominates London and teen suicide dominates Wales, the best screen villains are now not serial killers or zombies but contemporary British youth (although In SUMMER SCARS the teens are more anti-hero than villain).

The irony, of course, is that SUMMER SCARS works precisely because of this social context, and not despite it. It is beautifully shot and intensely acted, and it's queasy approach to youth culture gives it a fascinating attraction.

We've had troubled youth movies in the past, everything from BULLY to MEAN CREEK, but this bold marriage of topicality and slick genre formatting is startling and defiantly un-Hollywood.

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
much ado about nothing, 6 October 2008

Author: movieman_kev from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

A group of rebellious kids find themselves in over their heads when one of their gang accidentally hits a man with the bike they stole. The man, Peter (Kevin Howarth, The Last Horror Film, Razor Blade Smile) at first seeming friendly to the gang, has more sinister motivations.

I found myself engaged with the film up to a point and Howarth brings a fairly good performance, but the kids, as hooligans, aren't really that likable (not to say that the situation they find themselves in isn't tense, it is) But that coupled with an ending that seemed rushed and a tad bit anti-climatic made the film seem less then the sum of it's parts. Sadly this one is a well-intentioned misfire.

My Grade: C-

DVD Extras: Director's commentary; A 30 minute Making-of feature; Stills gallery; Original trailer for this film; and trailers for "Dante's Inferno", "Hell's Ground", "Pistoleros", & "the Living and the Gead"

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4 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Nice try, 4 March 2009

Author: kosmasp

I could've also written "Down and dirty" as a headline, but I chose the nice try one. It is actually a really nice movie. It has dark drama and psychological subtext to it. Some very disturbing scenes and feels very "real".

The actors enhance your impression of the rawness and the realness of the movie. Whethere you think that is a good thing or not, is entirely up to you. Which will also be leaning your likeness for or against the movie. That some sociological problems are brought up to, is another good point for the movie. Entertainment this ain't, especially because it's not afraid to pull punches ... Which is also it's downfall at any given moment. Still worth a look!

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The Ultimate Movie Review! - http://tss5078.blogspot.com - @tss5078, 11 March 2013

Author: Tss5078 from United States

When a group of friends in Wales decide to cut school and hang out in the woods, they meet a drifter who will change their lives in the shocking true story, Summer Scars. Writer/Director Julian Richards claims that this actually happened to him as a child. At 67 minutes long, this is one of the shortest films you will ever see and still it felt like it was too long. What happened was unique and defiantly worthy of a film, but it seems to me like Richards decided to tell the entire truth of what happened in painstaking detail. What this film needed was some fiction thrown in to make the story more interesting and to space out the events of what happened. As for the cast, it was almost completely full of newcomers, some of which were horrible, but others like Darren Evans, showed some real skill and a bright future. The only veteran actor was Kevin Howarth, who played the drifter and he was terrific. The veteran horror actor really showed us in a short period of time, what this guy must have really been like and he was really amazing. It's the performances of Howarth and Evans that make this short, creepy film worth watching. Summer Scars was an interesting story, but jumped around so much and had a hard time finding direction. For long periods of time nothing happens, but when it finally does, it comes at you so quickly that you're just confused. I liked this film, but with the story they had to go with, if they had had a better cast, and spread things out a little more, Summer Scars could have been so much more than it was.

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Inferior derivative, 1 November 2009

Author: Jasha Hirsh from Stuttgart, Germany

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

(Spoilers) One of the several derivations of this movie is clearly the superior "The Boys Club" (Canada,1997), in which three somewhat younger boys, about 14, encounter in the woods a wounded man who manipulates them in brutal fashion similar to Summer Scars through lies and flattery. In the process of derivation, however, the director of "Summer Scars" has lost the original's tightness of story -- in fact there is almost no plot development and little character development. (At one point, one hopes the director is creating a character in crippled Ben whom we can cheer for, but inexplicably, he wastes the opportunity, choosing instead to plod ahead with his predictable agenda of mild sensationalism.) Thirdly he has neglected to cast, or could not afford, child actors with adequate experience, which results, among other things, in the greater part of the dialog among the children being indecipherable. On the DVD, this is complicated by the fact that there are no subtitles. The viewer might wonder if there are no subtitles because no one can figure out in fact what was actually being said.

In the case of derivative movies, one would hope to introduce improvements over the original, not defects.

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Strangely unsettling look into the minds of youth, 1 November 2008

Author: Anthony Pittore III (Shattered_Wake) from Los Angeles, CA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

When six high schoolers skip school to play in the woods, they come across a mysterious drifter named Peter (Kevin Howarth). At first, all goes smoothly as Peter joins in with the kids' games. Soon, however, he turns and begins to play with the kids in more twisted ways. As the day progresses, Peter starts playing his own games. . . until he goes too far. . .

This really is a difficult film on which to comment. From one view, it seems that it's a very uneventful story about a crazy guy screwing with some kids. On the other hand, however, it's an interesting and chilling look into a madman toying dangerously with a group of adolescents in order to teach them a series of lessons. 'Summer Scars' will definitely the type of film that will evenly divide the viewing base between boredom and intrigue, but I'm definitely leaning towards the intrigue. When looking at the film from a technical point of view, it's very good. The script is fantastic, though, as I said, seemingly uneventful. The dialogue flows well and maintains a steady realism throughout, and the realism is enhanced by some good performances from the kids and a great performance from Kevin Howarth (from director Julian Richards's previous film The Last Horror Movie). The direction & cinematography utilize the forest setting well and, even when the group is just sitting around for a period of time, never rests with exploring the area visually. Adding to the atmosphere visually, the lack of a soundtrack really helps to keep things downbeat and believable (think No Country for Old Men). On a deeper level, the film attempts to play almost like a real-world fairy tale. . . do something wrong, reap the consequences, but still come out better (mentally) when it's all finished. In the end, 'Summer Scars' is not for those looking for a plot-driven film with any real amount of action. It's a character-driven thriller that toys with the minds of the youth (and the viewers) and focuses more on lessons of morality than violence and action. If that's what you want, give this one a look.

Final Verdict: 7/10.

-AP3-

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3 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Summer scars - my review, 11 June 2009

Author: sally-bridgman from United Kingdom

Before i watched this i wondered how this film would turn out considering the subject matter but i have to say it was very watchable. It did have a few funny moments and i very quickly warmed to some of the characters. The kids in this film were very believable and enjoyable to watch. Kevin Howarth was very convincing as Peter, the drifter who gets the kids confidence and very quickly becomes someone they really will wish they had never met. Peters actions do make you feel uncomfortable in places but the whole film keeps you gripped wondering what will happen next. This was brilliantly shot and thoroughly enjoyable, another great film by Julian Richards.

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0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Holds Ones Interest Yet Unsatisfying, 21 August 2010

Author: drpakmanrains from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

As another reviewer stated, "Summer Scars" is nearly identical in theme and mood to "The Boys Club", a little known but far superior Canadian film from 1997 about a small group of rather tough acting adolescent boys who encounter a stranger, who at first seems very cool to them, earning their admiration, but in reality turns out to be extremely dangerous, and puts them in a situation where they realize they are in way over their heads. The problem with this film is that the stranger's motivation is never explained or fleshed out, so we are left to guess if he is just a psycho-drifter. The running time is less than 70 minutes, so while it moves along, there is not enough time spent on the increasing danger or the climax, which leaves the viewer with a letdown feeling. The performances are mostly good, and the script (often undecipherable due to heavy Welsh accents) is believable. Unfortunately, none of the kids are very likable, although a couple are decent. OK as a rental, but as a DVD to add to your collection, probably not. Rent "The Boys Club" first if you can't decide.

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0 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
A must-see film, 11 June 2009

Author: danielle_shade from Antwerp, Belgium

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

It has six 14-year-olds playing truant in the woods where they are befriended by a drifter (Kevin Howarth). First he gains their trust by joining in their games but they realize too late they are being held prisoner and when Peter acknowledges he has gone too far, things really get out of hand.

I was impressed by the film. Very good performances from Kevin Howarth and the young cast, a thoroughly believable group of teenagers and their interactions are good. Summer Scars is a well acted and frequently tense (most notably the scene with the girl at the end) film.

A film that everyone must see!

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