Scar (2007)

Joan Burrows returns to her hometown for her niece's graduation, only to be confronted by the serial killer she thought she offed years ago -- after he kidnapped and tormented her and killed her best friend.

Director:

Jed Weintrob

Writer:

Zack Ford (screenplay)

Stars:

Angela Bettis, Brittney Wilson, Tegan Moss

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Angela Bettis	...	Joan
Brittney Wilson	...	Teenage Joan
Tegan Moss	...	Susie
Ben Cotton	...	Bishop
Christopher Titus	...	Jeff
Kirby Bliss Blanton	...	Olympia
Monika MarLee	...	Sandra (as Monika Mar-Lee)
Bill Baksa	...	Melvin
Carey Feehan	...	Brian
Jeryn Church	...	Party Girl
Devon Graye	...	Paul
Kristin Kowalski	...	April
Brandon Jay McLaren	...	Howard
James D. Hopkin	...	Mr. Watts
Emma Duncan	...	Principal

Storyline

While driving to her hometown Ovid, Colorado, to visit her sheriff brother Jeff and niece Olympia, Joan Burrows recalls her traumatic experience with best friend Susie when they were teenagers. Joan and Susie, smoking pot in a cemetery, decided to snoop on Bishop the caretaker at the funeral home. Joan falls and hurts her knee, so Bishop, having found them, invites the girls inside to clean the wound. Soon they are sedated with chloroform and submitted to a cruel torture - a sick game where Bishop tells each girl to ask him to kill the other to stop their own suffering. When a copycat killer starts killing Olympia's classmates, Joan tells police that Bishop is back (or someone who looks just like him) but nobody believes her.

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Plot Keywords:

torture porn | killer | copycat killer | cemetery | funeral home | 

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Genres:

Crime | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sadistic bloody violence and torture, language, some drug use and sexual content/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France] Official site [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 April 2008 (Russia)

Also Known As:

Scar 3D

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,940,153

Company Credits

Production Co:

Norman Twain Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Bishop dispenses chloroform from a clear bottle. Chloroform doesn't come in clear bottles because sunlight makes it unstable. That's why it's always sold in brown or amber bottles.

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Quotes

copycat killer: Now, you know Bishop's rules: Always start with fresh meat.

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Connections

References The Wolf Man (1941)

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Soundtracks

It's Only Crumblin'
Performed by Matt Popieluch (as Matthew Popieluch)
Written by Ariel Rechtshaid, Josh Kessler, Marc Ferrari, Lewis Pesacov & Matt Popieluch (as Matthew Popieluch)
Published by Red Engine Music (ASCAP)
Courtesy of MasterSource Music Catalog, Inc.

User Reviews

Scar? What Scar?

The rating I gave this movie may not tell it, but the premise of this movie was excellent. The execution of it was awful. The 2 rating should give you a hint of just how poorly this movie was done if I'm admitting that they had a good concept.

In 1991 a man named Ernie Bishop (Ben Cotton) captured two girls, tied them up and forced them to play a game. The game was: "If you want me to stop torturing you say 'kill her'" (i.e. kill the other captured girl). It is quite sinister and quite clever if you think about it. He doesn't ever kill anyone unless he has permission from the other captive. 15 years later mutilated bodies are popping up in the small town of Ovid and Joan (Angela Bettis) believes it's Ernie Bishop again.

But let's talk about the execution of this movie because I have many complaints--though I will limit them to a few. From the beginning it had a T.V. movie feel to it--the cinematography, the sound, the sound track, the editing, the effects and the acting. It was all around a cheap production. Even as cheap as the production was I think they could've pulled it off with better acting (I know, I know, the acting is a byproduct of being low budget) and a tighter story.

Throughout the movie we kept getting exposition through flashbacks from the main character, Joan. It was done to show how she narrowly escaped a serial killer and how she got her "scar". I put "scar" in quotes because it was barely noticeable. Never mind that it was significantly smaller than it should've been, but when they did bring attention to it the 15 year old scar looks days old. I mean, it's still red!

Just to expound upon Angela Bettis and the job she did-- I hope they didn't pay her too much. She was very much the anti-heroine. The non-make up wearing, perpetually confused looking actress looked like she belonged in a methadone clinic. I know they were trying to sell us on the effects of her traumatic experience but it was all too convenient. You know, the one character that's paranoid and happens to be right--that was her.

The exposition is all to set us up for what's happening in present day Ovid. Again, because of the obvious low budget the bloody scenes still took on a sanitized look. They weren't gritty like a "Hostel" or other films. It was more or less blood neatly placed or spattered around to give the effect of gore.

Combine the low budget look and feel to the movie with the contrived methods used to push the story along and you get a low rating. There were some ridiculous events in this movie that were absurd even for a horror movie. It says a lot about your movie when you can make "Friday the 13th" look believable.