VISIBLE SCARS is another cheap indie psychological horror film set in and around a cabin in the woods. As a horror film it forgets the actual horror and instead plays out as a dull character drama. A down on his luck Tom Sizemore continues his career trajectory downwards, playing an abducting psychopath who takes a couple of kids into the woods and keeps them there in the early scenes. However, the story then jumps forward in time and gets very dull as precisely nothing happens until the closing credits.

The film starts out simply and develops levels of complexity to propel it beyond your typical feral child slasher film. Mike Gillis (Tom Sizemore) kills a prostitute (Hanna Hall) and goes "Raising Arizona" with her twin daughters. His wife (Carol Abney) loves the children, but they have to be kept locked in the basement(is their home a trailer?) There is also an element of cannibalism that is alluded to as part of their diet. A fire destroys the home, and the area has a reputation of being haunted.

Years later Stacy (Jillian Murray) comes to this area as a retreat from her abusive boyfriend Brad (Jonas Fisch). Unfortunately she mentioned where she was to her drama queen shallow girlfriend Kelly (Deja Kreutzberg). Soon she has company which include Kelly's boyfriend Chris (Timothy Ryan Cole) who supplies us with the voice of reason.

Most horror slashers would stop at this point, but this film develops another character, retired Detective Black (Dave Parke) who is working on the cold case of the disappearance of the prostitute and her daughters. Her sister (Diana Costa) is still alive and wants closure. Also in the woods are two herbalists who use the story to scare people away from the area and their crop.

While there is an abuse theme, the viewer is not overly exposed to it. We briefly see bruises, and Stacy getting pushed to the ground. This aspect was under developed so time could be spent to create complexity. The production is not without plot continuity issues, but then again most horror film have them.

The film interjects light elements from time to time. The acting wasn't bad, but at the same time it doesn't make you take notice. While the film exceeds expectations of a dull "B" slasher, it won't be a classic horror film either. The gore factor is slightly less than a classic slasher,

Parental Guide: F-bombs. No nudity. Couple getting dressed after sex.

If you want a horror movie that is a perfect example of so bad its good, this is it. This movie was $1.60 and it was worth every penny. The dialogue is line a minute hilarious and quotable, the story is awful but still better than some mainstream horrors, the acting isn't that horrendous but still pretty b-level. The most ridiculous flaws that stood out actually were the wardrobe decisions! the main detective's outfits always seemed several sizes too small and his ties were never done right. People wore wigs that had absolutely no reason to be wearing wigs and just the entire cast all looked strange and unnatural.

This whole thing was all just a big basket of poorly made crap that is absolutely enjoyable til the totally shitty end.

watch it.

this has been a review of Visible Scars.