Lawbolisted Powerful

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

john-kino I invited the film to be shown at our festival, the Manchester International Short Film Festival in 2005. Essentially a short film festival, but we were doing a showcase of local directors who had made or were in the process of making a feature, so it was appropriate to do an event around a locally made feature film.When I saw the film, I was quite honestly gob smacked by it. It was a tremendous piece of low budget film making, made with such vigour and expertise, it was difficult to see how this could have been made for less than a million! Everything about it was good. Wonderful and witty script, tight acting, some great characters, excellent camera work and really good editing. Oh and great sound too. OK, one or two minor flaws but essentially a fine piece of film-making and one of the best I'd seen from a Uk film maker in a long time. I think the film drew praise from everyone who saw it, and when I showed Bruno Coppola (distant cousin of Francis FC) the film at my house during the festival, he couldn't stop raving about it. I think saying they "stole the show" at the 2005 kinofest - is appropriate.All in all these guys deserve to go places and I'm really glad they got a 80 print release deal going into to UK digital cinemas this Autumn. Thanks guys for a wonderful experience and the DVD has a highly visible place in my DVD collection now. Kino john

PVLydiate I saw Bad Lad at a special preview staged as part of the Kinofilm Manchester International Short Film Festival in February 2005. My expectations weren't particularly high. A DV film shot over four years in and around Blackburn by a bunch of amateurs in their spare time? Going to be absolutely riveting...right? Ninety minutes later I was gob-smacked to find that, yes, it WAS absolutely riveting. From the opening sequence, when the slimy/sinister Tommy Morghen character (brilliantly underplayed by Joe O'Byrne) introduces the story, to the final denouement when we find out why he is doing so, the audience is drawn into the film and not let go for a second. I came out of the theatre with the surprising realisation that I'd enjoyed Bad Lad more than any feature I'd seen over the past twelve months - despite the fact that the other contenders had enjoyed a budget at least a thousand times bigger (Bad Lad was shot for little over £3,000).So, what makes Bad Lad so incredibly good? Jonathan Williams has crafted a cracking script which is witty, harrowing, thought-provoking, funny and chilling in turn. Borrowing from a number of different genres, it can't be comfortably pigeonholed into any of them. There was only one scene which didn't ring completely true to me, but this was soon forgotten when I got caught up in the action again immediately afterwards. (Even so, it was nowhere near the magnitude of the scene in Blair Witch where, now that they're lost, one of the characters decides to throw the map away. Why is it that so many other films depend upon their characters being so completely dumb in order to carry the plot?).The standard of acting, from a cast almost totally made up of complete unknowns, is exemplary. On the couple of occasions where it seems a little stilted, these are actors playing ordinary guys who are obviously self-conscious at being filmed by a documentary crew - so the results still ring completely true. Director Michael Booth has done a fantastic job with the tools he was given. The confident and assured touch he demonstrates throughout is quite remarkable for a first-time feature director and I'm sure it will by no means be the last time I see his name on an end credits roll.Where Bad Lad is concerned, between them Williams and Booth have pulled off that most difficult of filmic feats - creating something new. The breath of fresh air Bad Lad represents (compared to the formulaic fare we're usually treated to) completely blew me away. If this film doesn't eventually make a bigger splash than did Blair Witch there's no justice in the universe.I've heard that, as a result of the Kinofilm Manchester preview, the producers have been able put Bad Lad through colour grading on Sumners' Da Vinci 2K for the final cut. I can't wait to see it. When it secures a theatrical release (as I'm sure it will) - Be There!

hair2 "He'll make you laugh, he'll make you think," sang Professor Fink in an episode of The Simpsons, and he could well have been talking about one of the folks behind Diary of a Bad Lad. The genius of this staggeringly-realistic faux documentary is that its black humour makes you laugh even as another part of you is thinking, "Oh my god - what these people are doing is horrific." It entertains hugely for an hour and a half, but leaves you with many unsettling thoughts on both the horrors of the crimes committed by the "Bad Lad" Tommy and the exploitative nature of the media and the ethics of journalists. These themes have never been more relevant than in these days of 24-hour news coverage when no-one thinks twice about broadcasting images of bleeding victims of terrorist attacks staggering into ambulances.I'm generally a fan of Hollywood-style movies with happy endings, slick camera-work, fun characters and traditional "good guys", so for a film that deliberately eschews all of these things to appeal to me is no mean feat - that it did is a testament to the quality of the writing, direction and performances. The illusion of the whole thing being a real documentary is damn-near perfect, with every scene written and performed in an utterly naturalistic fashion. This film desperately deserves a release.

hepburn-99 Caught this one in Manchester at Kino. An interesting and well made movie that uses it's low budget combined with it's central theme to full advantage in order to keep the audience entertained. Perception is a funny thing and Diary of a Bad Lad uses this to toy with it's viewers throughout. For the first time viewers it may appear to be a genuine documentary which helps catch them off guard before playing with their expectations until the final seconds. Quite where it is heading (or, indeed, how far it will go) is never certain and this allows Diary of a Bad Lad, like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Last House on the Left before it, to keep people on the edge of their seats. It should also be noted that the film is very funny and a showcase for some great British acting talent. This is the kind of independent movie that doesn't "need" support - it deserves it. Definitely worth seeing if you get chance!