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Rating: Country: USA Release Date: April 11, 2006 Distributor: Anchor Bay Director: · Robert Kubilos Cast: · Steven Hill · Jenna Lewis · Bob Guiney · Trish Schneider · Trishelle Cannatella · Reichen Lehmkuhl · Jonny Fairplay Related Sites: ·IMDb: The Scorned ·SirLinksalot: Reality Television ·The Fishbowl
Grade: C+
Cheaters beware! The ghost of Raina will come after you.
Fortunately, of all the reality shows there were to pick from to cast "The Scorned", none of the cast of Cheaters showed up. But there were plenty of Survivors, a couple of Bachelors, a Big Brother or two -- even an American Idol -- all trying to make sense of the supernatural murders going on in their Real World.
Matt (Bob Guiney) and Raina (Trish Schneider) are engaged to be married. But they've already begun arguing. And when Raina catches Matt sleeping with her best friend Nichola (Trishelle Cannatella), things proceed to a violent and bloody ending -- for Raina.
Several months later, the Malibu beach house that was the scene of the crime is now being rented out to a group of friends who are ready to drink, party, and sleep around. Among them are our two former lovers, Oliver (Steven Hill) and Kirsten (Jenna Lewis), who flirt around with renewing their relationship -- but won't, because Kirsten believes Oliver cheated on her before. Meanwhile, Oliver's roommate, Seth (Reichen Lehmkuhl) is constantly hit upon by girl after girl as he struggles to stay true to his girlfriend, Jennifer (Tonya Cooley). And ditzy clown DQ (Jonny Fairplay) is all too willing to get jiggy with just about any female-shaped piece of flesh in the house, despite having a girlfriend in Trish (Stacie J, aka Stacie Jones). As each person cheats on the other, they find themselves vengefully taken down by the angry spirit of Raina. Jenna Morasca is dragged into the ground, and Jonny Fairplay is launched down a flight of stairs.
Oliver and Kirsten look on as Murry communicates with the
comatose Raina. L-R: Hill, Zohn, Lewis, Schneider
Enter Murry Ellis (Ethan Zohn), a twitchy nutjob psychic who comes across like Rain Man on speed. He can hear Raina's spirit, feels her hurt. It's him who initially leads our heroes to Matt, where Oliver and Kirsten learn a version of what happened to Raina. But -- Holy "Just Like Heaven", Batman! -- Raina's not dead after all! She's in a coma. But her spirit is nonetheless disassociated from her body -- and until someone helps her come to grips with what happened to her, the unfaithful will continue to meet a gruesome demise.
To be honest, this isn't the kind of script that's going to win an Oscar -- not even one for special effects, which is usually the only hope gorefests have. It's a show by reality stars with reality stars for fans of reality stars. Produced by Josh Souza, Eric Mittleman, Rob Cesternino and Scott Zakarin, and directed by Robert Kubilos, "The Scorned" answers the question "What if all the biggest names in reality television tried to make something decidedly un-real?" The result is something akin to a high-school stage play, put on at the last minute with little preparation. Surprisingly, there are some performances that rise above the subject matter. Ethan Zohn shines in his craziness, and Steven Hill is most believable when he's just being himself and not having to react to weirdness.
Of course, this unrated edition differs from what ran on television in terms of language and nudity. For those who remember Joe-Bob Briggs and his boob counts, this movie scores a four with nude shots of Jenna Lewis, Trishelle Cannatella, Tonya Cooley and Stacie J. For the beefcake lovers, there's a butt-shot of Reichen Lehmkuhl.
Some of the reality actors of "The Scorned" have already
become stars here at The Trades. Click on a link below
for potential articles featuring your favorites.
This two disc set is full of bonus features for reality fans. The first disc's bonus is the running commentary, where Kubilos, Souza, Mittleman, Cesternino and Zakarin talk about the various scenes in the movie and what they had to do to cajole the actors into performing their various scenes.
The second disc is where all the featurettes are kept. Robert Kubilos talks about the various actors and their challenges, by way of interspersed text-display questions. Rob Cesternino walks us through the set and bumps into some of the reality stars along the way. See actors flub their lines; see Jonny Fairplay get bent out of shape over a sweatshirt; see Stacie J. get lectured about being a diva; see Tonya and Jonny argue about sex. When reality stars make a movie, the behind-the-scenes extras are reality shows unto themselves. Rob Cesternino reads a poem that takes us through reality shows from the very beginning up through present day, then walks us through the audition footage of several of the actors.
The menu extends onto a second page, where we start out with an uncensored sampler of the E! show, "Kill Reality", which was really an extended "making of" featurette for "The Scorned". There's nearly a half-hour segment from TheFishbowl.com radio program, illustrated with still slides, some previews of upcoming films, and a special links page with a password for a lifetime membership into "The Scorned" online for even more deleted scenes, downloadable individual commentaries from the actors, and private message boards.
Previews on this disc (accessible through the bonus features menu) include "Reality Unleashed", "Mind Meld", "The Sid Caesar Collection" and "Coming Out Party".
The Scorned Disc Guide
Disc One
Main Feature (optional commentary with Kubilos, Souza, Cesternino, Mittleman and Zakarin)
Disc Two
Interview with the Director (20:31)
VIP Set Tour (9:33)
Uncensored Outtakes & Fights (18:02)
Rob C's History of Reality TV (7:19)
Real Auditions (11:45)
Kill Reality Promo (9:25)
TheFishbowl.com Radio Show (22:30)
Sneak Peeks
Unlock the Secret DVD Extras
