The Scribbler is yet another one of those films that I’m not sure when or where I picked it up. I have a lot of those films (not as many as my friend Cerpts who I mentioned in the first post of the month) that are put aside in “The Pile”. Movies that I will watch sometime is what they really are. So that means I knew nothing about The Scribbler when I started watching it. I was surprised that the first thing I learned is that this is based on a graphic novel. The movie, like the graphic novel, is written by Daniel Schaffer. The film is about a woman who has split personality disorder and is in a mental institute.
The woman, Suki, is deemed cured enough that she can move into this weird hotel that serves as a sort of halfway house for mental patients cured enough to be allowed out of the asylum. Starring as Suki is Katie Cassidy who I know as Black Canary in the Arrowverse but she has also starred in the remakes of both Black Christmas and Nightmare on Elm Street. Also living in Juniper Tower is Suki’s friend (with benefits) Hogan. Hogan, played by Garrett Dillahunt who has starred in TVs Fear the Walking Dead and No Country For Old Men, is the only male resident and fakes his mental illness in order to stay in Juniper Towers so he can enjoy the fruits of being the only man around.
The building is home to some really strange people. Also starring as Alice is (in her final film role) Michelle Trachtenberg. Michelle also starred as the little sister to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was also in the Black Christmas remake. There appears to be a serial killer living amongst the residents. One by one women keep getting killed at Juniper Towers. Suki is questioned about the murders by Detective Moss. Moss, played by Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos and Goodfellas), is helped in the investigation by Dr. Silk, a criminal psychologist. Silk is played by Eliza Dushku who you might know from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show or maybe you’ve seen her in Wrong Turn.
I wanna say something about Suki and Kate Cassidy playing her; Cassidy doesn’t look anything like she normally does here. The entire time I’m watching the film getting Elisha Cuthbert vibes. That’s who she looks exactly like. To me at least. But I digress. One of Suki’s other personalities is The Scribble who is a superhero who only communicates with Suki by writing backwards. Basically “scribbling” words backwards everywhere someone could write. It’s up to Suki to figure out who the murderer in the building is. Even if the murderer might be one of her other personalities.
While not a great movie, The Scribbler is able to set itself apart from just about every other movie simply by being weird. This is one of the oddest films you will watch and although not really a film about a superhero it’s a film with a superhero in it. I hope that makes sense because I have a hard time doing that sometimes. So it’s an interesting film with lots of odd characters in a very murky story. I found myself asking “WTF?” several times and then having to rewind so I knew what I just watched. Oh, I forgot to mention that the film is directed by John Suits who has mostly directed poorly rated science fiction action flicks like Breach and 3022. I guess you can call this a step up for him as I found it different enough while still being entertaining. I will give this three and a half talking dogs out of five. It’s a head scratcher but not in a bad way.
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