Scrawl is fantasy horror film about a boy who writes a comic book with his best friend, and finds situations depicted in the comic book coming to life.
It’s not uncommon for a studio to release an obscure title after one of its cast members hits the big time, hoping to have the film find success on the coattails of sudden stardom. Think of He Knows You’re Alone with a Tom Hanks or maybe Mark Ruffalo in The Dentist. Never heard of them right? That’s the point. They’re ultra low budget films that gained notoriety because both Hanks and Ruffalo … well, you know. Now it’s Daisy Ridley‘s turn, the internationally famous star of the recent Star Wars films showing up in writer and director Peter Hearn‘s micro budget slasher Scrawl, a movie that is dreadfully bad in every way and because of this and its association with Ridley will very likely become a cult classic.
Shot in 2015, the same year Ridley made her first appearance in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Scrawl is pretty much an incompressible story made with nearly no money and padded out to 82 minutes even though it feels twice as long. It centers on a group of friends (and not so much friends), who find themselves at the mercy of a comic book written by nebbish pals Simon (Liam Hughes) and Joe (Joe Daly). The book tells of these people’s daily lives and their untimely murders at the hands of … actually I’m not entirely sure. Ghostly girls and evil I suppose. Either way, they are led by Hannah (Ridley), who is the puppet master of sorts in seeing overseeing the massacre.
It really doesn’t matter much what the story is as anyone tuning in for this will surely be wanting to see where Ridley got her start, this her debut after a run on TV and in short films. Naturally, she’s not in it all that much, but whatever, no one is expected her to be. What we do see lots of is Hearn doing what he can with barely anything at all to work with, trying hard to bring to life a somewhat generic idea on less than a shoestring.
Because of that, one sort of has to give him a pass, this more like a student concept film or a homemade movie hoping to serve as a proof of concept than an actual studio release. In truth, this is surely the latest edit of a few cuts he’s made to get the most of what he can from the limitations and if anything, kudos are earned for his good use of practical effects and the young cast willing to play along. Some of it just doesn’t make sense, and there are out loud laughs on hand that are of course not intended, but in all fairness, a movie like this is absolutely fodder for such and any reaction from the audience can be seen as a success.
There’s not much else to say about Scrawl, the filmmakers surely grateful for Ridley’s fame in giving the project larger light. There’s definitely some talent both in front of and behind the camera, but this is Z-grade horror fluff by any definition. That’s not meant to dismiss the work of the cast and crew who surely gave what they could, but it is what it is and now with some attention, maybe will earn them greater opportunities to make their marks.