When it comes to being a film geek, each of us has a different story about how that fascination grew. Mine began with the video store but in my late teens, I began going to arthouse theaters in the Detroit area, namely the Main Art Theater in Royal Oak and The Magic Bag in Ferndale. Both venues would screen unique offerings from Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) to John Woo’s Bullet in the Head (1990). I would even catch more gore-soaked fare like Troma’s The Toxic Avenger (1984) and Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive (1992) with a full audience of like-minded fans having an absolute blast.
While my experience was nothing like what would happen in London in the ’80s and ’90s with the Scala Cinema, the same idea is there. Co-directors Jane Giles and Ali Catterail delve deep into the history of the legendary cinema with the documentary Scala!!! Or, the Incredibly Strange Rise and Fall of the World’s Wildest Cinema and How It Influenced a Mixed-up Generation of Weirdos and Misfits. It’s one hell of a long title, but this film is a wonderful ode to something that meant so much to so many people.
Originally known as the King’s Cross Cinema, the Scala Film Club moved into the venue in 1981. The King’s Cross was where Lou Reed and Iggy & the Stooges made their live U.K. debuts. The famous covers of their albums Transformer and Raw Power were shot there. The Scala quickly became THE spot to see the most obscure films, midnight classics, and arthouse fare, eventually inspiring a generation of artists and filmmakers who grew to love cinema so much that it became their lives.
After a screening of the 1971 classic A Clockwork Orange, which had been withdrawn from distribution at that time in the U.K., the venue was sued by Warner Bros. at the insistence of Stanley Kubrick and won, forcing them to close their doors in 1991. It would re-open as a music venue, but it would never be what it was again.
I had always felt like a loner until I found my people and Scala!!! goes to show that there were far more like me than I could have known. Their stories were similar to mine; they just lived in another part of the world. The talking heads know what they’re talking about, and their fondness for the venue and community they helped foster is wonderful. Filmmakers like Ben Wheatley, Mary Harron, and John Waters share their stories about spending time there and how it affected them. Stephen Woolley and his colleagues created memories and a legacy that will last forever.
RELATED: 26 Most Anticipated Horror Movies of 2025
Severin Films has painstakingly put together a package loaded with special features. There’s so much content that it has to be housed on three discs. The first disc has the feature, along with a commentary by the directors, an introduction from the U.K. premiere, an introduction to SCALA from director Michael Clifford, SCALA CINEMA (1992) short by Ali Peck and Victor de Jesus, as well as outtakes, archival footage, extended interviews, trailer, and more. There is some great material and fifteen extra minutes of John Waters, who I adore.
On the second disc, there is a selection of Scala-screened shorts like Divide and Rule – Never!, The Mark of Lilith, Relax, Boobs A Lot, Kama Sutra Rides Again, Coping with Cupid, and On Guard. There are some interesting selections for sure, but it’s the third disc that really hits for me.
There are two bonus documentaries: The Art of the Calendar (48min) and Splatterfest Exhumed (81min). Splatterfest Exhumed features interviews with the organizers as well as new chats with John McNaughton (Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer), Roy Frumkes (Street Trash), Buddy Giovinazzo (Combat Shock), and Scott Spiegel (Intruder). The shorts on this disc are out of this world with Maniac 2: Mr. Robbie, Horrorshow, Mongolitos, and two versions of Cleveland Smith: Bounty Hunter.
Cleveland Smith stars Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi and is directed by Josh Becker (Thou Shalt Not Kill…Except). It features the rest of their usual suspects, including Ted Raimi, Scott Spiegel, and Rob Tapert. It’s a hilarious homage to adventure serials and Indiana Jones., This is the best quality I’ve seen. I had a VHS bootleg decades ago, so I’m happy to see it again like this.
This fantastic set was a real joy to experience and brought back memories of going to the cinema as a young man and discovering the films that would change me forever. Scala!!! is a fitting and loving tribute to the venue, its employees, the films they showed, and a community of film lovers who became like a family.
We’re hardworking geeks who love to geek out, but we can’t do it without you! If you enjoyed this article and want to see more like it, please consider tipping our writers. Also, as an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
