“Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” – William Congreve (English Playwright and Poet, 1967, in The Mourning Bride)
Revenge flicks can be good. If they have enough of a plot, decent acting, and some cool ways for the victim of the initial offense there is something to be said for this type of flick. But when they lack those things or when those things are deficient at the most basic levels… well, then you have a movie like SCORNED. SCORNED is a recent independent Blu-ray release from Horse Head Pictures but this is one that should have stayed in the can.
SCORNED is the story of Sadie, over- and terribly-acted by AnnaLynne McCord. Sadie is in love with her beau, Kevin (played by Billy Zane) but when she finds out that he has been cheating she completely loses her mind and plots a revenge weekend with both Kevin and his lover, Sadie’s best friend Jennifer (Viva Bianca from the new SPARTACUS television show). Jennifer and Sadie have apparently been seeing each other for a while, so what was supposed to be a romantic weekend turns cold-blooded as Sadie realizes her revenge.
The premise is fairly simple but what is so disappointing about SCORNED is the lack of initiative and originality. Indeed, the film even makes a mockery of other similar genre films like MISERY (with the much, much better Kathy Bates as the signature crazy. It is a decent parallel especially when you consider the fatal flaws of our leading lady – wherever Ms. Bates was understated and terrifying in her resolve, SCORNED instead relies on the (much lesser) talents of both Zane (who appears old and a little out of shape) intends the movie to be some sort of dark comedy on the state of relationships.
Even the music that accompanies SCORNED is cheesy and significantly without merit. I’m glad a movie like this could get some songs written and even recorded, but the end result is a movie that feels more like a hodge-podge of things we’ve seen before a million times than an original move or take on the genre as a whole. Finally, the script is awful which leaves very little endearing about this romp in revenge-porn.
SCORNED feels like a movie made for late night Cinemax (perhaps you’ve heard of Skin-emax?) that probably just didn’t make the cut. I know there is an audience for a movie like this but SCORNED just isn’t original enough and the acting is plain dreadful. Billy Zane was a decent choice for the boyfriend though they shouldn’t have had him do anything physical because there he finally showed he really isn’t capable of it. Viva Bianca actually looks like Meryl Streep when she’s put next to AnnaLynne McCord, who over plays the crazy like she’s on stage in High School. Recommend avoiding this one at all costs.
Video: (1080p Widescreen 1.78:1) SCORNED looks like a low budget flick, even in High Def. The picture immerses you in the b-movie plot when the filmmakers used natural light but when they moved inside
Audio: (English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) The audio is immersive for SCORNED and was put together with much more care than the actual movie overall.
With zero in the way of special features and the overall poor quality of the Blu-ray, SCORNED is easily one of the worst movies I’ve seen in a long time.
