earwiggy-1 I'm not one for doing reviews, in fact this is my first review ever! I watched bad lad the other day for the second time, the first was a couple of years ago before it had been graded and polished, this second viewing struck a cord and so I then watched it again the same night, the reason for this was, firstly I thought it was soooo good but secondly I wanted to see if the clever script and superb directing had any flaws in it or maybe a few holes I could pick through, did it? Not as far as I could see, the story is complex in a very easy watchable way which sucks you right in and it just becomes so easy to follow. I loved the grubbiness of the film, the image has been DE-graded in parts which really adds to the gritty realism. The performances from all involved are what really stands out though, as the film was made on DV it would be easy to just dismiss the film as a cheap amateur production if you saw just a still, but let me just say that this is not the case at all, as I said before the grubbiness really adds to the realism in a way that if it had been filmed in HD it would have been too polished and so lack something in terms of realism, back to the performances, all the cast and crew which basically are the same thing in this film where utterly believable, the acting is so natural that it really helps you to be drawn into the story and watch it as if it was a real factual piece of work. I have always liked Shane Meadows films as he always has an element of real life which with his choice in unknown actors (in general) adds a sense of accessibility to his films, one thing though about Shane Meadows films is that he does tend to let his films down a little with the poor performances he gets from some of the less experienced actors and this is were Bad Lad differs, the acting is top notch, it is so good that it does not seem as though they are acting at all. I think it is unbelievable how this film has not had a huge success at the cinema, I know something about the politics involved with ultra low budget films but if Meadows can get films like 24/7 and once upon a time in the midlands released then there must be some hope for Directors like Michael Booth who with no money at all! Manages to make something which I personally think blows anything Meadows has ever made completely out of the water. Well done to all involved with the film and may I wish you all the best of luck for the future.... hip - hip - hurray

john-kino I invited the film to be shown at our festival, the Manchester International Short Film Festival in 2005. Essentially a short film festival, but we were doing a showcase of local directors who had made or were in the process of making a feature, so it was appropriate to do an event around a locally made feature film.When I saw the film, I was quite honestly gob smacked by it. It was a tremendous piece of low budget film making, made with such vigour and expertise, it was difficult to see how this could have been made for less than a million! Everything about it was good. Wonderful and witty script, tight acting, some great characters, excellent camera work and really good editing. Oh and great sound too. OK, one or two minor flaws but essentially a fine piece of film-making and one of the best I'd seen from a Uk film maker in a long time. I think the film drew praise from everyone who saw it, and when I showed Bruno Coppola (distant cousin of Francis FC) the film at my house during the festival, he couldn't stop raving about it. I think saying they "stole the show" at the 2005 kinofest - is appropriate.All in all these guys deserve to go places and I'm really glad they got a 80 print release deal going into to UK digital cinemas this Autumn. Thanks guys for a wonderful experience and the DVD has a highly visible place in my DVD collection now. Kino john

Kothai Kanthan I was totally taken in that this fiction film was an actual documentary, thanks to its naturalistic dialogue and performances. I was moved to horror, anger and outrage as I watched it, ready to protest to the organisers who screened it about how they could condone such journalism, right up till the very end. I thought I was watching a documentary about drugs, pornography and rape, but the real story, about the media's lack of ethics, crept up on me, caught me unawares, without me realising it I began judging the crew, in particular the presenter, for his incalculably inhumane and opportunistic behaviour. An excellent film.

pattyb100 I went to the AMC Cinema in Manchester with my daughter a few weeks ago. The film we saw 'Diary of a Bad Lad' was absolutely fantastic. The atmosphere in the cinema was electric. I can honestly say I have never experienced a film as entertaining. There was just about anything you could want from a film. The comedy aspect of it was just first class! We particularly liked, the scenes where they were trying to carry out the dead body of the junkie, because it was extremely funny. We also found the part where the couple who were in debt and had to make an amateur porn video hilarious. We cannot wait to see it again as it kept us entertained from beginning to end.