Bloody Kids

This little-seen and under-appreciated film accurately captures the bleakness and alienation of youth like few other films succeed in doing. It was shown on New Zealand television about 20 years ago and I've never had a chance to see it again. But I remember great direction, music, and atmosphere. Takes its place among the late-70s/early 80s British classics, the quality of which seems to be gone forever - see Meantime, Made in Britain, and anything in that period by Mike Leigh. To think that this was made by Stephen Frears who now gives us dreck like Mrs Henderson and The Queen is truly dispiriting.

A lot of young lads have their fair share of monkey shines growing up, though perhaps nothing quite on this scale. An 11 year old future psychopath somehow convinces his naive buddy to pretend to stab him outside a football stadium during a packed match, while dropping a fake blood pack to make it look real. Only, the mad one forces his gentler friend to push the knife in for real, so it quickly ceases to become a game, especially when it emerges the 'victim' is planning to set up his mate as some kind of junior Norman Bates. With friends like this, who needs enemies, eh?

In the meantime, while the weird one wanders around the hospital spreading all kinds of false rumours, the innocent fugitive is taken under the wing of a group of Saturday night revellers, including a particularly disturbed individual who forces the kid to join him on a little crime spree including joyriding and ordering food then running off without paying. As you can see, this isn't a film full of what could be classed as 'role models'.

Neither is it a brilliant example of character writing or plotting as one random incident follows another, with no real attempt to tie them together into a cohesive whole. That I suppose, it part of it's appeal... despite being rough around the edges, there's little here which is predictable or expected, and the outrageous goings-on are never dull. An early effort for future acclaimed filmmakers Stephen Frears and Stephen Poliakoff, the potential shines through. Also, it proves that police today were just as useless as they were back then... 6/10

I do remember walking down to "old Leigh" (Leigh-on-sea)one night in early March watching them film a scene for this movie at the underpass by the cockle sheds. In addition while in the 'Peterboat ' pub I saw Richard Beckinsale sampling some of the local brew and was struck how overweight he looked despite the fact he was well over six feet (he looked in good shape in Rising Damp and Porridge). Then about five days later I heard the shock news that he had died from a heart attack while only 32

Watching it today, although nostalgic, it does seem very dated. A lot has changed in Southend since then, some things are the same or very similar but it is a different generation, time has passed and it does not seem relevant today. Good scenes of the town back in 1979 and it also reflects the very poor spirit for young people back at that time, things did seem hopeless for many.(Note: In 1979, --- 33,000 were packed into ROOTS HALL to watch a goal less draw in the FA cup between Euro Champs Liverpool and fourth division Southend united!).

Seeing as I come from where the film is set, Southend-On-Sea, its like a visual history of my formative years. First saw the film on BFBS in Germany and was quite amazed to see Peter Clark who I knew when we were younger.

If you read this Peter, remember Seasons In The Sun?

But to the film... thoroughly enjoyed it and bought it on VHS as soon as i could. And its interesting to note that of all the people in the film they near enough went onto much greater things, and some to die tragically young.

But its enough everytime I see it to fall back to those far gone days and relive all the sites and sounds of Southend as it was once.

And Gary Holton fulfilled one of my fantasys by driving around the top of end of Southend and Victoria Circus, and sticking his car through a shop window. WOW!!!

A cute boy with a cold, manipulative, feckless demeanour convinces his friend to pretend to stab him at a football game with a penknife and a fake bag of blood. Unsurprisingly, he gets stabbed for real, and the boy goes on the run. While in hospital, the apparently psychopathic youngster spins tales about his friend being a budding Norman Bates, saying that he talks about hurting people and draws his violent fantasies.

Meanwhile, the fugitive meets a charming reprobate who takes him joyriding in a stolen car, vandalises a shop window, and in the movie's most bizarre scene, appears to attempt suicide.

The whole thing has a grim, depressing, aimless feeling to it. The movie never lets you into the minds of the characters, so you don't know what they're going to do next, nor do you understand why they did what they just did. The characters seem to live in a world without reason, and just make things up as they go along.

The movie is watchable, with impressive performances from the young leads, who surprisingly never did anything else.