Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Scar 3-D (2008)
Director: Jed Johnson
Movie review
From Time Out London
To make a 3-D ‘torture porn’ movie is at best opportunist; to make one with flat, boring torture scenes is unforgivable. An odd mix of ’70s slasher-movie plotting and modern charnel house depravity, ‘Scar’ lacks the tongue-in-cheek fun of the former and the gruesome visceral power of the latter. As producer Norman Twain says in the film’s accompanying press notes, ‘It’s a bloody and disgusting mess.’Sixteen years after escaping the clutches of sadistic undertaker Ernie Bishop, Joan Burrows (Angela Bettis) returns to the small town of Ovid, to see her niece Olympia crowned Prom Queen. Almost immediately, copycat killings of teenagers begin. When Joan’s niece goes missing, she follows the trail to Bishop’s house, now an embalmed museum to his crimes.
Jed Weintrob’s direction is torture indeed. Flashbacks to Joan’s original ordeal arrest forward momentum, the suspense-free chase scenes are laughable and the torture scenes are ugly and banal. Spotting the killer is easy. Caring about what he does to a traumatised woman who jogs around a graveyard at midnight is harder.
Author: Nigel Floyd
Time Out London Issue 1994, 6 - 12 November 2008
User reviews of this film
-
- pete, wimbledon said...
-
Posted on Feb 11 2009 13:57
I'm a lover of horror movies and more than willing to give even the worst of movies a break. However, this is
a very poorly made slasher movie, even the fact that it
was shot in 3-D can't save it from a one-star award.
I guessed the killer as soon as he appeared on screen.
Do yourself a favour and give this a miss. Rent Eden Lake or Donkey Punch instead, fantastic movies :o) - Report as inappropriate
-
- Pete, Wimbledon said...
-
Posted on Feb 11 2009 13:52
I'm a lover of horror movies and more than willing to give even the worst of movies a break. However, this is
a very poorly made slasher movie, even the fact that it - Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Jed Johnson
Cast: Angela Bettis, Kirby Bliss Blanton, Richard Devon full cast
Genre(s): Horror
Rated: 18
Duration: 90 mins
UK Release: Nov 7 2008
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now