I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Tough and surly young thug Carlin (Ray Winstone in his outstanding film debut) runs afoul of vicious top con Banks (well played with growly menace by John Blundell), but still manages to usurp Banks's status as the new "daddy" at a harsh borstal for juvenile offenders.Director Alan Clarke does a masterful job of crafting an uncompromisingly gritty tone and pervasively bleak atmosphere of frightening complete brutality, with the prison staff coming across as every bit as savage and predatory as the inmates and life behind bars depicted as a grim and dehumanizing ordeal for both parties. Roy Minton's hard-hitting script tackles such edgy issues as racism, corruption, homosexuality, and abuse of authority head on. The fine acting by the able cast qualifies as another significant asset, with especially praiseworthy contributions from Martin Phillips as the timid Davis, Davidson Knight as persecuted black inmate Angel, David Threlfall as insolent intellectual anarchist Archer, and Phil Daniels as loudmouth braggart Richards. John Wyatt's stark cinematography adds to the overall scrappy authenticity. Pretty strong stuff.

Scum was originally apart of a trilogy that writer Roy Minton and Director Alan Clarke thought of whilst they were making Funny Farm in 1975. It consisted three films that focused individually on Police training, Army Training and Borstal. They approached a number of backers however it was deemed to costly to make therefore the idea was cancelled. However one backer did put up the money for one of these to be made. Clarke and Minton immediately went for Scum.The television version of Scum is probably the most famous TV movie to be made in great Britain. This is quite a feat because the vast majority of people will not have seen this TV movie. They will be more aware of the 1979 feature film version. Either way whatever one you see you will be left breathless and shocked at what unveils before our eyes over 78 mins this beautiful bounty runs.The story is set in one of her majesties Borstals in which underage criminals are dealt with. The lynch pin in the story manifests itself in the form of Carlin played to perfection by the ever wonderful Ray Winstone. Whose arrival at the Borstal from day one sends reverberations around the Borstals corridors because of his previous status as the Daddy in his last Borstal. He arrives with two other inmates Davis and Angel. Davis is instantly the target of bullies and Angel is abused through racial taunts because he is black. They are instantly greeted with physical and verbal abuse from the warders. As the film opens we meet the other trainees (inmates) and we begin to realize that they are far from the criminal hooligans that we would expect them to be. They are lost and vulnerable. They are abused by the people that are there to look after them. In all this comes the supporting character Archer played by David Threfall. An intellectual anarchist whose hours are passed pretending to be vegetarian and not wearing leather shoes on his feet. The Warders are portrayed as ruthless in bullying going so far as to show one of them watch on and let a rape continue.Alan Clarke established his notoriety with this TV Movie and he continued to provoke the audience with his further films. Clarke is a bona fide realist in my mind he portrays individuals who are thrown into extraordinary circumstances and he his never afraid to pull a punch to create the genuine feeling of realism in his films. Only Ken Loach and scotch director John Mac Kenzie have this effect. But Alan Clarke is in my favourite I have yet to see a film of his that does not effect me.The only problem I had with it was that it was not cast as well as the film version which has quality performances from non-actors. But all in all a bloody good show.

Carlin (Ray Winstone of "Nil by mouth" and "Sexy Beast") is a young criminal who after assaulting a police officer gets sent to a borstal (juvinial prison), with two other youth offenders, where they find life inside hell with the authoritarian system brutal and the criminal inmate hierarchy equally, if not more so. They must find a way to survive. Carlin is able to climb the hierarchy, the other two are not really that 'lucky' This TV movie was shelved by the BBC1 for 14 years before before being shown on Channel 4 exactly once, and then only in honor of a deceased Alan Clarke. Gritty, and depressing if a slight bit overly sensationalized. Still it's interesting to watch even if the feature film version IS better. In response to the shelving of the film Clarke and writer Minton remade it as a theatrical film in two years later in 1979. This movie can be found in Blue Undergrounds Alan Clarke Collection.My Grade: B- DVD Extras: Commetary with actors Phil Daniels & David Threlfall, and Producer Margaret Matheson; 2 Selected scenes commentary by Ray Winstone (one of which wasn't in the film)

Alan Clarke's film introduced us to a powerful new talent in Ray Winstone. Undeniably brutal but an allegory on the worship of simple governance by power. This film, coupled with another film, "Made in Great Britain" with Tim Roth was an indictment of the Thatcher type anti-society policies. Ray Winstone builds his part slowly, gathering power and authority during his stay in the institution and is climaxed when he says "who's the daddy now?" It was such a powerful performance that I always wait with anticipation his next outing and have rarely been disappointed.