Summer Scars

As someone who found The Last Horror Movie to be overly violent and obnoxious, my expectations for Summer Scars, which were non-existent, dropped when Julian Richards' name appeared. Was this going to be another ultra-violent film where the protagonists hector you about your involvement in their crimes? Thankfully, the answer was 'no'.
 
Set on the outskirts of an unnamed Welsh town, possibly Cardiff, the film involves a group of friends, two of whom nick a moped and take it to the woods where the rest of their friends are hanging out and enjoying time away from school. Taking the vehicle for a spin, two of them crash into a strange man and promptly leg it back to their den. The man, Peter, obviously has some military training and tracks them down and is surprisingly friendly, just wanting to make sure they are ok. When a couple of older kids show up and nick their beer, Peter defends the group of youngsters and ingratiates himself with them.
 

When a play-fight goes badly, Peter lashes out at one lad and produces a gun, forcing the boy to flee and Peter proceeds to hold the others prisoner and his disturbing behaviour escalates into outright menace.
 
Richards shifts the tone quite well from playful to threatening as everything happens naturally and believably. His collaborator from The Last Horror Movie, Kevin Howarth, does a much better job in the lead with a convincing performance and the child actors, picked from local academies and other small institutions, belie their lack of experience. Their characters are plausible and empathetic, despite being truants and petty criminals, and it's easy to root for them in such a situation.
 
Reeling off a whole host of films that influenced the project, including Stand by Me and Deliverance, Richards adds a personal touch as he had a similar experience as a child and this feels like a much more convincing film than The Last Horror Movie.
 
Summer Scars is not the best coming of age film as I didn't really get the impression that the kids had learned much by the end, nor is it particularly terrifying, though the tenser scenes are reasonably impressive. It looks and feels like a debut film (despite it being Richards' fourth feature), albeit a notable one, due to the low production values, short running time and inexperienced actors.
 

The Disc

 
Extra Features
The commentary with Julian Richards and producer Sabina Sattar is relatively informative as they chat about the filming experience and the difficulties of the inclement August weather. Richards dominates this and Sattar doesn't really get a word in edgeways despite the occasional dead air.
 
The half-hour 'Making Of' features interviews with the cast and crew and b-roll footage and is worth a watch, though nothing spectacular.
 
Richards' short film Pirates, about a drug smuggler, is something he made at film school and is an accomplished student film. 
 
Also included is some DVD-ROM material, the screenplay, finished transcript and a press pack, all in PDF format,  which is a welcome addition.
 
The Picture
I am relatively sceptical about shooting in HD, with some films looking very good and others terrible, but this is one of the former with good colours and definition. There is remarkably good depth of field and the woods look suitably imposing when the mood changes.
 
The Sound
Just a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track, but this isn't a film that requires a 5.1 mix as there is very little action. The dialogue is clear and the score is well presented. Richards obviously thinks that all teenagers listen to hip-hop as that dominates the soundtrack, but not enough to become annoying.
 
Final Thoughts
Summer Scars looks like a low budget film and is perhaps too short at 73 minutes to be sufficiently menacing and really crank up the tension. The young cast acquit themselves very well and their on-screen relationship with Kevin Howarth is convincing.
 
It's not the most expensive of DVDs and fans of Richards' work would do well to buy it. For everyone else, a rental is probably the way to go.