Summer Scars (2007)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Julian Richards

Writers:

Julian Richards (idea)
Al Wilson (writer)

Release Date:

14 December 2008 (Portugal)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Their innocence is their downfall

Plot:

A group of teens are faced with a life-changing experience when they meet a deranged drifter.

Plot Keywords:

Season In Title | Tension | False Imprisonment | British | Forest

Awards:

7 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Kevin Howarth	...	Peter
Ciaran Joyce	...	Bingo
Amy Harvey	...	Leanne
Jonathan Jones	...	Paul
Darren Evans	...	Jonesy
Christopher Conway	...	Ben (as Chris Conway)
Ryan Conway	...	Mugsy

Runtime:

UK:73 min (25 fps)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:15 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

South Wales, Wales, UK

Company:

Prolific Films

First in a new wave of disturbing thrillers involving British youth.

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.