Summer Scars

An inexperienced cast don't always make the most of a slippery, unsettling script by Al Wilson, but Amy Harvey's nuanced portrayal of tomboy Leanne - all braces and bolshie attitude up front, yet shy and vulnerable underneath - is a stand-out.

The writing is perfunctory, the performances are amateurish. And you couldn't care less if the whole lot of them are sliced and diced by the mad tramp.

Richards opts for grimy realism over stalk'n'slash, but he doesn't appear to possess the cinematic chops to make it work.

Summer Scars develops into something altogether more disturbing, with a climax as brutal as any Hollywood slasher.

A smart, sharp British psycho-thriller.

Summer Scars packs more suspense into 68 minutes than most big budget thrillers do at twice the length.

Despite the snappy running time, Scars is occasionally unfocused - until its fiercely sadistic final 20 minutes, which coil the uneasy mood into something unexpectedly distressing.

Unfortunately, writer/director Julian Richards quickly runs out of ideas with his story, which scratches rather than scars.

Creepy, atmospheric, low-budget British thriller that maintains tension throughout.