Ali Catterall and Jane Giles direct John Waters, Stewart Lee and Adam Buxton in this documentary remembering the fabled short life of the sleazy Eighties repertory cinema in King’s Cross.

A solid chance for some quirky talking heads to hang out and reminisce. I was just that bit too young to ever go to the Scala. Still scanning the shelves of my corner videoshop as it was shuttered up. The name was part of the British movie fan lexicon. I remember articles in Empire about its legal battles after showing A Clockwork Orange illegally. The documentary itself is a strange beast. Stephen Woolley is given minimal screen time and credit which is distracting given all that he grew out from of establishing the fucking place. What happened there? As a delivery system for some cult movie clip montages it works a treat. As for all the post punk bad behaviour… doesn’t sound much worse than what you might experience on a Sunday matinee at the Cineworld Wood Green… Bet they wouldn’t blink if someone did a shit on their doorstep. Paul Laight had more affinity with the cinema and his review is here.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream (2005)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin