Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Scorned Blu-ray Movie Review

How does 'Scorned' score?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 28, 2014

They say that "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" -- it's even on the back of the Scorned Blu-ray case -- but there's a little-known addendum to that axiom, and that's that "hell hath no fury like a reviewer forced to watch a movie about woman scorned, particularly if she's part of a low budget, cliché-riddled, largely pointless exercise in bland motion picture making." Scorned is about as unimaginative as they come, a smallish-budget, paint-by-numbers Horror/Chiller movie with no real redeeming value beyond a juicy psychotic performance from its lead actress. There's nothing much of interest otherwise, no excess gore for fans of the squishy stuff, no deep character drama for the thinking man, no originality for the longtime movie watcher. At best, this is a classic time killer that's not so bad as to fall into the ranks of the movies that "insult" their audiences, though expectations should be set reasonably low for even a chance to find a smidgen of enjoyment out of this one.

Scorn this.

Sadie (AnnaLynne McCord) believes she's met Mr. Right. She has no doubts that her boyfriend of six months, Kevin (Billy Zane), is the man of her dreams, and she's doubly confident he's going to use their weekend getaway to pop the question. She confides her hopes and dreams for a happy marriage in longtime best friend Jennifer (Viva Bianca). Little does Sadie know that Kevin and Jennifer are secretly sleeping together behind her back. The weekend retreat is going smoothly; Sadie's more convinced than ever that Kevin is "the one" until she stumbles across a series of lewd text messages on his phone. She beats him and binds him, invites Jennifer to the house by posing as Kevin, and takes her hostage, too, beginning a night of obsessed torture that probably won't end well for any involved.

Scorned may be best described as "Torture Porn" with a twist, a story of a psychopath with plenty of baggage who snaps when her one and only "Mr Right" is finding pleasure in the arms of another woman. Her breakdown sees her beat, bind, force-feed, and otherwise verbally and physically abuse her boyfriend and his on-the-side fling. Sadie, the film's victim-turned-torturer, devilishly enjoys making smarmy comments and setting up her nefarious plan of action. Sometimes, it's a thrill to execute her plan, sometimes not so much, resulting in some squeamish reactions that play to the audience as much as the victims' pains. AnnaLynne McCord plays the part very well, creating an effective persona who's both focused on the task at hand and confident in her abilities to skirt around trouble -- particularly as her evening of pain evolves -- and building on a convincing psychotic foundation that pushes her towards her goal. It's not Oscar-caliber acting, but McCord finds something beyond type and produces a morbidly gleeful performance.

Despite McCord's solid performance, the story angle falls completely flat. The picture constructs a background of mental abuse and suffering for the character and uses her boyfriend's infidelity as a sort of trigger, a breaking point for the insanity that emerges. It contrasts that past emotional turmoil with a rather obsessive exterior, making for a volatile whole that understandably leads to her night of terror. Yet it all feels phony. It's as if the basic story wasn't sufficient, so the filmmakers concocted a background to explain it all away rather than working through a believable angle of simple human rage and jealousy that manifest on a dime. Those sudden departures from the norm when an individual is unexpectedly faced with an unthinkable scenario is the driving force behind any number of other, oftentimes better, movies, prime examples being I Spit on Your Grave and its remake. The generic backstory of past anguish actually lessens the violence's impact. Explaining it away rather than going with the flow is the film's biggest mistake. Scorned is otherwise a serviceable time waster despite a slew of unimaginative torture scenes that only recall the same in other films, including an admitted nod to the excellent Misery.

Scorned Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Scorned's 1080p transfer, courtesy of Anchor Bay, satisfies in all areas of concern. It's typical of modern lower-budget pictures photographed in the digital realm. The Blu-ray offers crisp, clean definition throughout. The 1.78:1 frame showcases steady, even textures all around the frame, from concrete slabs to stone wall and from faces to clothes. Image clarity is superb, and even in some lower-light nighttime exteriors and more dimly lit, warm interiors, details hold steady. Colors are even and accurate; the palette isn't remarkably vibrant by design, but a steady stream of true-to-life shades appear throughout, particularly in the best-lit scenes, notably early on during several daytime exteriors and another that ends the film. Black levels are of no cause for concern, and neither are flesh tones. A hint of banding and noise interferes in a few places, but not enough to warrant a severe knockdown in score. Overall, this is a solid transfer from Anchor Bay.

Scorned Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Scorned features a genre- and budget-typical soundtrack. Anchor Bay's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless presentation delivers satisfying musical notes throughout. The smooth beats of score and sexy mood music penetrate the stage evenly and firmly, offering a welcoming surround element and tight, suitably deep bass. Several ambient effects are realistically delivered and placed, including rainfall and light distant thunder heard near film's start. Several minor action effects hold steady and are presented with sufficient authority and realism. Dialogue -- from hushed whispers to painful screams -- comes through effortlessly and naturally from the center.

Scorned Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Scorned contains no bonus content.

Scorned Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Scorned opens with a text message exchange between lovers but otherwise doesn't explore in too much detail how the digital age has facilitated the adulterous relationship. That's too bad, because that's an interesting topic in its own right. Instead, the picture dives fully into "Torture Porn light" territory, showing the girl who's anything but a saint beating up the sinners for their crimes. It's strictly a time killer movie, a by-the-book experience that could be worse and proves largely watchable only thanks to a strong lead performance from AnnaLynne McCord. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Scorned features solid video and audio. No extras are included. Rent it.