SCALA!!!
Cert 18
96 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong real sex
I admit it... it was a square when I was younger.
Because I came from Coventry, I went to the 2-Tone gigs and wore white socks, shoes with tassels and jackets with lots of badges, but that's as far as I went.
In truth, I felt more at ease in the suit I wore to cover football matches for the local radio station and then for my day job when I became a full-time journalist.
I would have run a mile from the folk who hung out at The Scala.
And that's a pity - because I have found much greater empathy in later life with those who see life through a different lens.
Indeed, I was envious when I heard the mind-blowing stories about the regulars at the seedy London cinema.
Jane Giles and Ali Catterall's documentary is packed with anecdotes from self-confessed weirdos and misfits who would be seen there between 1978 and 1993.
It also includes clips from strange films that could be seen nowhere else.
Scala!!! includes previously unseen archive footage, photography and newly commissioned graphics and animation to complement contributions with nearly 50 audience members and original staff.
The likes of Caroline Catz, Isaac Julien, Stephen Woolley and John Waters share personal and often jaw-dropping memories and talk about the cinema's deep significance in their lives and future careers.
Among the credits is a list of prominent names who benefited from its impact.
That sounds a little po-faced because some of the activities in the cinema were rather extreme and the stories are very entertaining.
This is especially true of those who relay tales about the infamous all-nighters when the programmes featured ultra-edgy directors and covered cult classics, sexploitation, horror, kung-fu and gay and trans movies.
It was also at the forefront of protest during the Thatcher years, with regular benefit screenings for myriad groups ranging from the striking miners to the Terrence Higgins Trust.
My sadness is that cinemas willing to take a stance and a chance don't exist any more, but neither do the oddballs who led the punk and new romantic scenes in the 1980s.
Scala!!! It is a cracking documentary and a reminder that society has lost much of its colour and passion. We are worse for it.
Reasons to watch; Evokes the excitement of the time
Reasons to avoid: Some fairly disgusting images
Laughs: Two
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 8/10
Did you know? The original Kings Cross Cinema was nearing completion when the First World War began. The partially completed cinema was first used to manufacture airplane parts and after 1918 as a local labour exchange for demobilised soldiers returning from the war.
The final word. Jane Giles: "It was a building that all the different tribes came to, kung fu people, the horror fans, the sexploitation, they all thought they owned it. Sometimes all of those people came at the same time for some things and then they’d mix together, they were sort of looking at each other thinking “why is this old woman here?” or “why is this kung fu guy here?” Fantastic Pavilion
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