BA_Harrison Scrapbooking, a hobby that has increased in popularity in recent years, is, according to Wikipedia, 'a method for preserving a legacy of written history in the form of photographs, printed media, and memorabilia contained in decorated albums'. In Scrapbook, a low budget indie horror from director Eric Stanze, serial-killer Leonard (Tommy Biondo) blends polaroids, news cuttings and handwritten journals from his victims to produce a detailed account of his career as a killer: a scrapbook twelve years in the making and a labour of love which he hopes will one day make him famous.Leonard has only one more victim to document until his project is complete: Clara (Emily Haack), a chubby bird with a very bad haircut. He subjects her to days upon days of degradation, rape and violence, whilst forcing her to add her comments to his sick journal. But Clara plans to survive her ordeal, and plays mind games with her captor, until, one day, she turns the tables on him and wreaks revenge.Now I've watched a fair amount of 'underground' horror in my time, and witnessed all sorts of celluloid depravity, but in my opinion Stanze's Scrapbook goes just that bit further than most in an effort to shock. A nasty, misogynistic catalogue of torture, it seems that this movie's purpose is to offend, and in that it definitely succeeds. Use it as a yardstick to measure your tolerance to disturbing imagery, but don't ever call it art.Biondo spends 95 minutes abusing Haack's character in every manner possible, with no detail spared by Stanze's camera. Haack, an 'actress' with obviously no shame, willingly degrades herself at every opportunity; exactly what makes someone want to perform such acts on film, I shall never know.I tried to view this film as an intense study of psychotic behaviour (ala Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), but Biondi's Leonard is so OTT, he is hard to take seriously. I tried to view it as a hard-edged 'rape/revenge' movie, in which the viewers sense of satisfaction at witnessing the victim's ultimate retribution justifies earlier scenes of violence—but the payoff is too weak to qualify it as such. And its story and level of acting is not good enough to make it a truly gripping tale about survival against the odds. In the end, I accepted it for what it really is: an effectively repugnant little movie designed purely to illicit a reaction—good or bad—from those who watch it.

rosietx1 Wow. Seriously! I could go off about the bad acting, poorly delivered dialog, etc. but that would definitely do this film an injustice. I would NOT call this film a psychological *thriller* however it is extremely psychological. Psycho. Clever. Sick. Twisted. And brilliant. I found nothing *thrilling* nor suspenseful about this film except for the few times I thought Clara might get away. And we, as viewers, can play the armchair victim, coaching the screen, but they did a great job of showing what a victim of this magnitude might actually do when completely overcome by their trauma, confusion, likely starving & dehydrated. YES! Some of the acting was very bad. Many of Leonard's tantrums were childlike in that his demeanor would shift to that of a naught little boy slapping his sister as he noncommittally would slap or spank his victim, but it was subtle. All of that could have been what added so much to it. It was HARD to watch. Sometimes because it moved so slowly, but mostly because the constant nudity & almost complete lack of traditional props, furniture, clothing, etc. in addition to the bizarre surroundings (body parts, bugs, absence of food or drink and other 'normal stuff') insists that the viewer remains uncomfortable. The sex is raw, brutal, & blatantly abusive. Some scenes were almost porn-like for the sexual deviant which also added to the discomfort as a viewer. But all of that was intentional!! I was uncomfortable through almost every scene which, quite possibly, might be the *thriller* argument. On the edge of disgust, yet unable to look away. Again, brilliant.The credits start to roll w/ 20 left to go. Don't turn it off! Stick around for the-making-of Scrapbook!! // From the very beginning of the film it's obvious it's a low budget movie. For some, that's a turn off. For this tiny budget film with a cast of 6, shot in 13 days, I believe, it was a major plus because it really added to the overall outcome.This film made me think more, feel more, object more, and squirm more than most Hollywood blockbusters and to me, that is worth applause.

Linsley Holmes Scrapbook wasn't the easiest of films to watch but I can't say it was a bad film. It was very graphic a lot more than I expected. Most serial killer in films take their victims behind closed doors and leave it to your imagination for these kind of scenes. Its the best 'into the mind of a serial killer' film I've scene. The acting from Emily Haack was brilliant, it can't of been an easy role to play. The home movie style filming added to atmosphere of the film. It didn't need a big Hollywood if it had one it would not have been so gritty.I read a few of the reviews on here to help me write this one. Some people say its poor with WWE style violence and there was nothing shocking about it. I dread to think what these people watch with their popcorn.I thought it was shocking, not just because it wasn't quite what I expected but also because you know that these things happen in real life.

groucho_de_sade Wow, what a disappointment. After watching the director's ICE FROM THE SUN, I thought I'd give this one a shot. If you've ever seen ICE FROM THE SUN, feel free to laugh up your sleeve at my naiveté for thinking this one would be even better. SCRAPBOOK is a truly awful pseudo-movie, all the more stunningly awful because the mise-en-scene at least indicates that a modicum of talent resides behind the camera. Tommy Biondo, who "wrote" the "script", plays a serial killer who keeps a scrapbook of all the women he tortures and kills. Why? It's never made clear. He kidnaps a girl and tells her that she must maintain an account of her torture in the scrapbook. Why? It's never made clear. The killer has a deep-seated resentment of women, and is sexually maladjusted. Why? It's never made clear. As a matter of fact, the only thing that's clear from this stupid movie is the filmmakers' desire to "make something really disturbing"; their miserable failure comes from the fact that without subtext, scenes of violence and torture are simply demoralizing, not to mention boring. Maybe the film could've at least been uncomfortable to watch, but all the torture sequences -- the film's bread and butter -- are so ineffectively staged that all their violence is rendered completely useless. The acting in this movie is so bad: how hard could it possibly be to act out blinding pain? The girl in this movie is so stupid; through the whole thing, she simply cries and whimpers, rolls up into a little ball, says "Please" a lot. I'm not ordinarily the type to watch a movie and say, "If I were there, I'd do this...", but in this case we're talking about a dumb weepy girl who isn't even tied half the time, and through all the rape and debasement, never once a raised hand, never a kick, not even a cross word! I know girls who would eat this psycho-killer prick for breakfast. I'm not the sort of person who thinks that gore and graphic sex disqualify a film from greatness. I just find it insulting that this movie is intended to be "thought-provoking". The only thought it provoked in me was "What an idiot I was for spending $25 on this horse-s__t." If you want to see a truly disturbing and thought-provoking horror film that has a point beyond the lovingly-detailed (and poorly rendered) torture of a severely stupid young woman, watch IN A GLASS CAGE, HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE, or LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (that's right, even LAST HOUSE wasn't this bad). Some people here have called SCRAPBOOK offensive and nauseating; I'd argue that this is giving the "film"-makers too much credit. SCRAPBOOK is stupid, boring, and pointless; I wouldn't even do the cast and crew the favor of getting sick at this stupid, boring, and pointless movie. I could go on and on about how terrible it is, but just see for yourself. If you found this movie stimulating, I have three words for you: READ A BOOK!