Search - The Acid House on DVD

I LOVED THIS FILM!!!

galleries | LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA United States | 11/29/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

""the acid house", reunites 3 different stories written by irvine welsh...(writter of "trainspotting" , and co-writter of "dockers")...about misfortune,football,drugs,god,neighbors and of course,coco!these hilarious shorts are really bizzare!...the title says it all! it's very "acid".the first segment of the film is called "the granton star cause"...in this introduction, boab (stephen Mccole) an apparently mediocre football player is being rejected from his team, his fiance,his parents and to top it all,beaten by a bunch of cops and punished by GOD!(maurice roeves)...after a long arguement with boab.,god finaly decides to transform him into an insect.(what happens next is just too long to explain)the second part of the film is entitled " a soft touch",it's the most depressive and detestable moment of "the acid house"..johnny,(kevin mckidd) is married to catriona (michelle gomez),a self-destructive,dumb wife who sleeps with her neighbor,prostitutes herself and eventualy gets pregnant..the neighbor,larry(gary mccormack) uses johnny's electricity,he comes and goes in johnny's flat,sleeps with his wife..etc..the ending of this short film is very annoying!...but the acting in this segment is simply magnificent, and frightfully realistic!
...the final, and 3rd part of the acid house...called "the acid house", and is without a doubt the best short of this trilogy. it's about coco (ewen bremner),who is struck by lightning and suddenly swaps his mind (or soul) into a newborn baby...the reslut is simply hysterical!...the direction: the acid house was paul mcguigan's first film . after that,followed the exellent "gangster number one" and recently, "morality play"...his style is very recognizable!,and works even better in "gangster number one",(it's a more mature work IMHO)...the same goes for andrew hulmer (his editor),who also worked on G.number1 and Morality play. his style goes pretty wild on the final segment of the film!the acting and cast:
the best thing about the "acid house" is it's cast of incredible actors...from michelle gomez (who also played in michel blanc's "the escort" starring daniel auteuil & who also was in the "stage version" of trainspotting), to kevin mckidd (also known for his part in trainspotting as "tommy", topsy-turvy, small faces) , there's also maurice roeves (beautiful creatures , last of the mohicans) , stephen mccole (orphans , band of brothers , my name is joe), garry sweeney (small faces) , gary mccormack (gangster n.1 , gangs of new york) and ewen bremner or "spud" (trainspotting , naked , julien the donkey boy , snatch , black hawk down, morality play )the music...if you dont own it already, make sure to buy the soundtrack of this film ,it features great groups such as "primal scream" , "oasis" , "chemical brothers" , "texas" , "the pastels", "beth orton" , "arab strap"..etc......etc..the acid house is not as good as "trainspotting" but it's worth checking!. (try fo find the dvd version of the film if possible, it contains interesting stuff such as irvine wlesh's commentary and interview,theatrical trailer,and of course a glossary (you'll need it!,some words have different and several meanings..)"

= - A_c_i_D - =

Collyn Gold | Syosset - Long Island, NY | 05/23/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This movie is excellent. I suggest you read the book before you see the movie though, otherwise you'll really not know what the hell is going on because its very difficult to understand what thoes goddamn people are trying to say even though it has subtitles. This movie take three main stories from the book and recreates them into live action, following strictly to the written material. It was cool to see the movie after reading the book because it gave me a new view on how to picture everything in my mind, from the way the cities looked, the way that the characters looked and so on. This movie was dead on. Everything that I imagined while reading the book is what I saw on the screen when i saw the movie. Irvine Welsh has done it again. He is a literary god!"

Granton Star Rules!

R Jess | Limerick, Ireland. | 06/13/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I hadn't read the Irvine Welsh book from which this movie is based. A friend of mine though said that he thought 'The Granton Star Cause' was one of the best short stories he ever read and of the 3 stories within this film it certainly works the best. I first saw the film in North America and if you happen to be from the Celtic side of the pond the use of English subtitles for English dialogue can be quite disjointing and takes away from the enjoyment of the film. Nevertheless the 'Granton Star Cause' creates a big impact in the guise of a modern fable. Add to that the satirical nature of the policemen's investment, God's theological justifications and Nick Cave's brooding, melancholic soundtrack and you wonder why more filmmakers (indeed writers for that matter) don't incorporate more traditional story-telling elements in their work. 'A Soft Touch' proves to be morbidly depressing, while 'The Acid House' story itself just works as an extended pop video. All in all it doesn't work as a full feature, the remaining 2 stories develop as a huge anti-climax to the magnificent and insightful narrative of the first. Watch just for 'The Granton Star Cause'."

Maybe a jaguar

melissa4 | nj, usa | 07/05/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"if you love irvine welsh, this is a MUST!! trainspotting left a details out to be desired, but the acid house follows every element of the short stories. the scottish accent gets a bit thick at times, but you get use to it eventually. definately a great experience for those of us who love to get lost in irvine's realistically twisted worlds."