Lava

Lava is a wicked, dark comedy about a supermarket shelf stacker and an incompetent mercenary, seeking revenge on a small time drug dealer. Based on the same real life event as 'the last yellow' (The directors are brothers!). Although taking a similar inspiration, the stories couldn't be more different. Lava is gritty, gory and above all a bit of a laugh. But don't take it too seriously.

This has got to be one of my favourite movies ever, the writing is excellent and really makes you want to invest in the story and the characters. Uber violent and massively un-compromising, darkly funny with moments of gentle sweetness. This in my opinion is one THE most underrated movies of all time, Notting Hill Carnival day is the backdrop for the 1 day that it takes to bring the characters into contact with each other in glorious chaos and confusion with varying degrees of success and failure and lots of dark humour, the movie has so many funny, clever and quotable lines I must have watched this film 100 times and I still laugh out loud and enjoy every minute of it. The description on the front cover "Laurel and Hardy directed by Scorsese" is absolutely spot on.

Like a cross between Taxi Driver and Rising Damp, Joe Tucker's debut shows a real flair.

It has drive and energy and like most interesting Brit Flicks of the last few years (like the excellent 'Dead Babies')it suffered at the hands of terrible distribution.

At times this is difficult to watch, Tom Bell takes hideous to a new level, but it's a brave and worthwhile 90 minutes.

Well worth a rental.

Lava has taken a long time to get to the cinemas. Unjustifiably, really. It is a funny, well-acted movie. It is hyper-violent, but most of the violence is off-camera. And Joe Tucker's Smiggy character has some inspired, loopy moments of byplay. Look out for the "You talkin' to me?" Taxi-driver hommage. Hilarious.

I watched this again recently when it was re-released at Carnival time in a 20 year anniversary edition.

Once I'd got past (or have I got past it, really, and will I ever?) coming to terms that it had been 20 years since this was made, I was impressed at how well it still stood up.

Apparently a favourite with The League of Gentlemen, it's a properly eccentric and dark sideways take on the botched crime caper/ revenge drama. The cast are real characters and it's all played with a kind of sinister charm.

It's very British, very independent, completely individual and we need films like this more than ever as mainstream vanilla pap floods the theatres.

Joe Tucker needs to make another movie, and I hope we don't have to wait another 20 years.