Dog Pound

Straight to the point: one of these movies where the plot is very basic, the characters easily identifiable; interestingly, two strong points; yet despite all the conventionality, this style of realistic movies never suffers from a lack of imagination. It is rather the crude, raw scenes that are sought out, actors with faces that tell a story, a fluid motion from scene to scene without all the pretentious cinematic effects (symbols, metaphors, angles, music etc...).

Like I said, straight to the point.

And where this movie might lack in depth, it solidifies the viewers' expectations all through the one channel of ADRENALINE. It's violent, raw, vivid...such a sober experience through the scope of tale-telling art.

Some flaws will appear clearly by the end of the movie. Perhaps a rushed scene or two - a little more footage or info in the end, that culminating to the point of the viewer looking back and asking himself how this movie stormed past his eyes so fast, in the method of a one-dimensional scene-after-scene procedure.

This film is genuinely "lived". The power-trip it represents and authenticity factors give this about a 7.

Although i did not yet see "Scum" - but will see as soon as i can - i think it's perfectly acceptable a remake (still not sure that it's a remake) after several decades.

The thematic of life in a prison or juvenile delinquency is not new. What's new is the extraordinary realism with which this film is made of. Extraordinary violence is processed between the actors and the audience. Awesome performances in all the situations. The less likable aspect about this movie is the sudden and somehow incoherent death of two youths.

But the soul of the project is always there.

This movie hit home for me because I was once locked up in a juvenile detention facility. The only thing I disagree with in this movie is the guards were not violent enough but the setting is the same if not worse on how you get treated by the people around you. For all the people who said this was a "Bad movie" "had no plot" you have never lived it so you would not have the first clue what this movie was attempting to convey with its ending and storyline. The psychology is nearly the same and it does not matter how you go in, your environment changes and with it you must change yourself. You may have heard the term "debt dog" but I doubt it. This movie hits as close as your going to probably get without someones story like mine.

Alan Clarke made the violent and barbaric movie Scum 31 years ago and there have been various attempts with smiler movies since, all trying to become the daddy of juvenile delinquent dramas, from Sean Penn in Bad Boys to Larry Clarke's Kids. This avaricious animal is the most successful attempt thus far. This attempt, albeit billed as 'inspired' by scum, is inherently a remake with three miscreants sent to a juvenile facility in Montana, with no chance of any hope of reform, forced into a system of sheer brutality forcing Butch (Adam Butcher) to go on the rampage. And though Alan Clarke's original film still has the edge, this perhaps has more relevance for a new generation of cinema goers which cleverly used real ex prisoner instead of conventionally well know actors, helping in part to set a more real and gritty tone. Having said all that I did enjoy it.

And considering it's a dog pound ... Seriously though: The movie is one of the best ones I have seen in a while, that contains people being locked-up (or in). I have to admit, that I have not seen "Scum" yet, which this movie is based on (or a Remake according to IMDb), but after seeing this, I have to go out and rent that one.

The characters on display here might feel a bit too distant and not everyone will be able to find a character he can entirely sympathize with, but that's what made it so intriguing to me. It's not showing a rose-tinted world. And it is not afraid to go ways, that other movies might have been. It's raw and sometimes feels like a documentary (though it obviously isn't).

Very good acting and a story that flows from start to finish, with no (visible) flaw in the storytelling. Highly recommended