Scar was released in 2007 by Jed Weintrob. If you are unfamiliar with the name, join the club, as he has never really done anything of note, and sadly this movie sort of falls in that category. So why are we looking at it then? It’s one of the few Angela Bettis movies where her character, Joan, isn’t on the more quirky side. We are treated to a straighter, albeit damaged, character instead.
The opening credits treats us to this wonderfully-chilling score that always reminds me of something out of the original Resident Evil game. In fact, the score is one of the highlights in this film. Somber and chilling, which perfectly encapsulates the mood of the movie. Right from the start, we meet Joan through a series of quick flashbacks and learn that she has survived quite an encounter, the kind of which would haunt anyone. It is clearly still taking its toll on her.
Immediately, we are introduced to a few side characters who aren’t the best actors and actresses, which does take away from the movie a little bit, but thankfully Angela’s charisma and presence more than makes up for their lack of any. These are sort of the things you expect from lesser-known horror movies.
As the movie progresses, more flashbacks flesh out Joan’s traumatic past, but so does the rest of the movie, which sadly lacks for quite a while. Joan isn’t overly prominent in the first half of this movie as it plays out like a cliché horror movie, revolving around some teen characters. This is where the problem with this movie lies. The talent of the film is simply not present as it plays out like a typical slasher film. It is easy to see why this movie never went anywhere.
Cherish the time you get with Angela because they are some of the only redeemable areas of this flick. The flashback scenes can be brutal, in almost a visceral Saw-like way, but they lack Angela, as it is a younger actress playing a young Joan in the flashbacks.
[relatedArticle-0]The scenes we get with Joan for a majority of the movie are short and they refuse to give her breathing room, or anything to work with for that matter. The whole movie is a battle for her to get some screen time, which she desperately needs to help flesh out her otherwise ordinary character more. We get to learn more about flashback Joan than present day Joan, where Angela has her crying or having some kind of panic attack most of the time. With about 30 minutes left, we finally get to hone in on Angela, but again she isn’t given much to work with aside from some hokey final girl routine.
You keep thinking that this movie is going to give Angela more to do and it just doesn’t. To be honest, it seems like she phones in a lot of this movie, but I think the direction was just poor. There is a good movie underneath all the fluff and lack of Angela, but we will just never see it.
The Good
The climax is engaging and the original score is fantastic.
The Not-So-Good
Simply not enough Angela and poor direction overall.
4.0/10
Angela Rating: 4/10
The movie lacks charm and they fail to use the greatest asset they have to her finest potential. The twist is pretty predictable, but it actually plays out very well with the climax being quite satisfying, but at the end of it all, it just doesn’t seem worth it. This film is worth a single viewing for the flashback scenes and the ending, at least. We came to see Angela and Scar just never quite delivers.
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