From 1978 to 1993, the Scala Cinema near King’s Cross Station in London was the wildest, most out-there, transgressive counter-culture repertory cinema in the UK, bringing together freaks, geeks, outcasts, weirdos, those with alternative lifestyles, the LGBTQ+ crowd and just regular theater-goers looking for something off the beaten path. From their iconic themed monthly programs to the colorful characters that worked there and would frequent there, the Scala was a unique and magical place that has influenced many actors, directors, writers and musicians and won’t soon be forgotten.

Severin has given us a very nice thick cardboard slipcase edition of the documentary Scala!!! Or, the Incredibly Strange Rise and Fall of the World’s Wildest Cinema and How It Influenced a Mixed-up Generation of Weirdos and Misfits (phew… that’s the last time I’ll use it’s full title, I promise). Co-directors Jane Giles and Ali Catterall delve deep into the special mystique behind the Scala Cinema, interviewing cult cinema pioneers like John Waters, film critics and writers like Kim Newman, Alan Jones, directors like Ben Wheatley and Mary Harron, comedians like Adam Buxton and Stewart Lee, musicians like J. G. Thirwell, Thurston Moore and Barry Adamson and so many more. It’s clear that this cinema meant a great deal to a lot of people, offering not just a place to watch weird movies but offering a sense of community as well. This was a place where people came together to celebrate their love of films off the beaten path, and Scala!!! does a great job of painting a picture of why the movie house was such a relevant and important place in the world of UK counter-culture. It’s a great doc that’s really well edited together and absolutely fascinating to watch for lovers of cinema (and if you’re reading this, I’d hope you are).

As you would expect of a documentary full of archival footage culled from various films, the video quality is variable to say the least. But that’s to be expected and certainly doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of the film. The audio is clear and free of distortion and balanced well from one interview to another (which is a trickier feat that it seems like it would be).

Where this set really shines is with the extras. In addition to loading up the main disc with lots of additional traditional extras, we also get two full discs of short films that screened at the Scala. So let’s check out the extras disc by disc.

Disc 1:

We start out with a feature-length audio commentary on the documentary with co-directors Giles and Catterall, and it’s full of tons of info about the Scala itself and how the doc came together. We also get footage of an Introduction to the UK premiere of the film at the 2023 BFI Film Festival. Next we have an earlier 40-minute documentary on the Scala just titled Scala complete with an introduction from the director Michael Clifford. We also get a 4-minute short, “Scala Cinema” from 1992, as well which interestingly enough includes an audio commentary by Paul R. White who narrates the short. Following that we have a 13-minute featurette about the innovative monthly calendar programs that the Scala would publish as well as a featurette called “Cabinet of Curiosities” on other random items from the theater. Up next is a series of extended interviews and outtakes from several of the interview participants totaling over an hour and finally a series of animation tests and cartoons used in the making of the doc.

Disc 2:

Disc 2 is all about the featured short films, so let’s take a look at those. First up is the 40-minute documentary “Divide and Rule — Never!” from the Newsreel Collective in 1978. It’s a fiery polemic, and it’s easy to see how this would fit in cozily at the Scala. We get the experimental and mopey “Dead Cat” from 1989, which also includes a 15-minute interview with the director of it reminiscing on the short. Next are the LGBTQ+-themed shorts “Mark of Lilith” (1986) and “Relax” (1991) and then the double-naughty whammy of “Boobs a Lot” and the Oscar-nominated “Karma Sutra Rides Again”. We end on a short 50-minute micro budget social drama crime caper On Guard (1984). Some of these like “Dead Cat” and “Relax” are a bit too experimental for my tastes but others like “Mark of Lilith” and “On Guard” and very cool time capsules of cult cinema from the ’80s.

Disc 3:

Disc 3 starts with even more short films like the grimy “Maniac 2: Robbie” (1986) from Combat Shock director Buddy Giovinazzo and “Horrorshow” (1990), both with audio commentaries from their respective directors, the disgustingly offensive day-in-the-life-of-a-gross-toilet short “Mongolitos” (1988), again with director commentary, and two different cuts of the charming Indiana Jones-pastiche “Cleveland Smith: Bounty Hunter” (1982) starring Bruce Campbell with Sam & Ted Raimi too. Cleveland Smith also includes an audio commentary on the producer’s cut from Scott Spiegel (director of Intruder). But that’s not all! We also get a 48-minute documentary on “The Art of the Calendar” from Kier La-Janisse as well as an 81-minute doc “Splatterfest Exhumed” all about the Scala’s infamous Splatterfest movie marathon event. Both of these were really interesting, and I especially liked how utterly ramshackle and by-the-seat-of-their-pants Splatterfest was put together. Finally we get “The Legendary H. G. Lewis Speaks”, an appearance from the godfather of gore at the Scala as part of a program of films they were showing of his in 1989.

Holy Hell, folks. If you are a cinema-lover and haven’t been convinced to get this beefy, fun and fascinating 3-disc set of kooky and cool, then I’m afraid you are a lost cause. For everyone else though, this comes highly recommended!