The Hooligan Factory

The poster should be an indicator! While this is dealing with real life events, it does make fun of them (and the people involved). If you didn't get the message then, you might get it with the movies intro. A very well known British actor has a cameo (actually you get more than one and you could ask, how they got involved in this, but it seems to have been one day of shooting and a lots of fun) were he's making fun of his image and how people perceive him.

Still not sure? The movie is filled with weird and strange humor. Not everything is a hit, but there's enough here to enjoy if you let yourself. Plus it does have violence thrown in there for good measure (in other words, does not shy away from it). It might have a very strange moment towards the end, that does break the comedy a bit, when it gets serious, but the movie almost even pulls that off. Decent enough, especially if you think there have been enough movies about Hooligans already ...

on Monday the 9th June I watched the screening and live Prem of the Hooligan factory I must say the first 5minutes caught my eye and the whole way through the film as well its a top British spoof about football Hooligans it really is. pure class comedy from start to finish with some cheese added few out the film and every one likes a bit of cheese I suggest all those who love rise of the foot soldier , the firm , and football factory to go see this or buy a copy top notch stuff enjoyed it an giggled all the way start to end .well done to the director writers and all the cast and crew . one hell of a film there needs to be more films made like this, where a lot of time effort and hard work has been put into it

The shelves of British supermarkets are filled with DVD titles with the word 'Hooligan' in them and now finally comes one that's actually worth watching. Sending up the recent spate of Hooligan and Gangster films that have swamped the straight to DVD market and kicking off with the Ranger Rover Essex Murders gone wrong with a nice cameo from Danny Dyer, this sets the parody tone for the rest of the film.

Danny (The always excellent Jason Maza) has no direction in his life but soon finds himself embroiled with Dex,(Nick Nevern) Football Hooligan Topboy, recently released from prison who sports a nice line in neon tracksuit ware. Dex and his gang hang out in the not at all camp 'Iron Hoof' bar, always entering by the back door to avoid the Police, where they plan to square up against long time rival 'The Baron' who presides over another firm.

Okay so the football hooligan version of This Is Spinal Tap this isn't, but the laughs are not thin on the ground as Nevern (Who also co wrote and directs) keeps the gags coming thick and fast. The introduction to many characters in his football gang is a classic nod to the Goodfella's gangster hang out introduction scene and its a funny homage of the first order which will have me buying the DVD for alone. ('Freddy the Nonce - Come in the toilets I've got something to show ya..')

As with the actual films of this genre its very male led heavy with the few female characters not given much to do as the male testosterone hots up leading up to the big meet but perhaps that is the point because non comical films of this type give them even less to do. Nevern has compiled an impressive supporting cast which features several up and coming British Actors including Josef Atlin (Check out his performance in A Long Way Down)Ronnie Fox, Ray Fearon and Tom Burke who is already one of the best of his generation. Every character is a nod to an already existing stereotype in films of this type and then sent up to maximum comic effect, some work better than others but the cast all put in a maximum effort and it certainly pays off. Jason Maza with his natural on screen charisma anchors the whole piece nicely as the narrator and lead role of Danny and Nevern does an uncompromising job as both actor and director in keeping the tone of the piece in the way he intended. The look and the music of the film are well thought to compliment the comedy and may have you reaching for your nearest Kappa tracksuit wear store.

What makes the film all the more incredible is the budget and time in which it was shot in which was very tight on both counts. Though that has not been a factor on this review as it has to stand on its own two feet, it is still a remarkable achievement on its own worth mentioning.

While not everything in the film is perfect and some gags fall flat, the most important thing about comedy films is that they should make you laugh and I will imagine in a couple of years time when someone says to you 'What was the last British comedy that really made you laugh?' instead of struggling to think of one, your answer could well be 'The Hooligan Factory' (Unless you're a total lemon)

I'm not a fan of soccer/football but I know the insane nature of some of the "fans" and their proclivity to violence. But I also had the advantage of not knowing this was supposed to be a parody of the more serious hooligan genre that was popular at the time as I didn't watch any of those serious takes on the subject. For me it was just an absurdist take on the nature of such sporting fanatics who really are just there to fight and enjoy more the sport of beating each other senseless. So maybe I enjoyed it because I wasn't comparing it to anything. The characters were cartoonish and there was plenty of funny bits to keep me watching. The pacing was good and the production quality was admirable for such low-brow base humor. Performances were good as the characters really held up in my mind. You absolutely had to have gone it hating this movie to end up hating it in the end. It's silly, it's brutal, but it's just entertainment and I was entertained.

A week ago, just prior to the DVD/Blu-Ray release, this film had an average score of 7.1 on IMDb. Less than a week later, once people other than friends of the cast and crew have had a chance to actually see it, the average score is down to 5.1 I'd be very surprised if it doesn't sink a lot lower once more people watch it and start voting.

Note to self: in future check the number of votes before buying in to scores shown on IMDb as a good way to find under-rated gems on Blu-Ray! 7.1 for a movie I wouldn't give a 4 to!

It's interesting that Danny Dyer (who appears in the opening scene) and Ian Lavendar don't appear on the IMDb credits - are they too embarrassed to be associated with the end result? Dyer isn't even mentioned on the packaging - has his stock really fallen so low that they have to remove mention of him to avoid damaging sales?

The real problem here is the script. It's like something your mates would put together at school. Lead actor/director and co-writer Nick Nevern clearly has some talent - because the results are well-paced, stylish and convincingly (for the most part) decently acted - but script writing isn't one of them. I smiled twice during the whole movie (which, to be honest, is more than I expected given "the usual suspects" involved in this) but when the best "joke" is the white hero thinking his black son by a white wife is an "apple that doesn't fall far from the tree" it's obvious that whatever comedy is involved is all pretty jaded and desperate.

Ultimately you have to congratulate the marketing folk behind this. 7.1 on IMDb and the title is well stocked in the supermarkets in the week of release. When only two titles at most get the luxury of supermarket distribution in a week where some pretty good bona-fide films have been released, they've done incredibly well at grabbing an available slot. The asking price of £9.99 for the Blu-ray (including embossed slipcover) when most titles debut at £13 without a slipcover and £15 with a slipcover hints at the compromises that had to be made to persuade Sainsbury's et al to run with it.

But it's a depressing state of affairs when energy is being wasted on third-rate rubbish like this to the detriment of far better movies with far better talent involved (if you like East Enders you'll like this as the cast is mainly out-of-work former East Enders actors, all of whom presumably voted on here to get that 7.1 rating that the title had the day before it was released).