Scala: Sex, drugs and rock and roll cinema
Between 1978 and 1993, the Scala cinema showed over 4000 films, becoming synonymous with some of its more extreme titles, here selected by season programmers Jane Giles and Jason Wood.

‘The Scala had magic, it was like joining a club, a very secret club, like a biker gang or something. It’s like they were a country club for criminals and lunatics and people that were high. Which is a good way to see movies’
– John Waters
Comprising cult movies, horror and LGBTQ+, in daily double bills plus Saturday all-nighters, the Scala’s greatest hits have, over the years, been made more regularly available than they once were, their infamous tropes even entering into the language of mainstream cinema. Seeing these ground-breaking films again on the big screen, with an audience, invokes both their original shock value and the mayhem that can sometimes occur in the dark corners of the auditorium. The Scala’s legacy has also emerged through the subsequent activities of its young audience – the filmmakers, writers, musicians, curators, artists, actors and activists who’ve credited it for their unofficial film education, many of whom will be present at screenings and events throughout the season.
New release

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
The story of the world’s wildest cinema as told by its audience of self-described weirdos and misfits.
Season programme

Rock ‘n’ Roll Cinema
To celebrate the release of SCALA!!! this discussion looks at the integral relationship between film, music and rebellion.

Sight and Sound Presents: Scala Spirit 1993-2023 with Daniella Alconaba, Prano Bailey-Bond, Ali Catterall and Sukhdev Sandhu, hosted by Isabel Stevens
Sight and Sound presents a panel discussion and eye-popping selection of clips as it considers how boundaries have changed.

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Camp, comic and lurid even in black and white, Russ Meyer’s masterpiece follows a trio of homicidal go-go dancers blazing their way across the desert.

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! + intro by film scholar and writer Virginie Selavy
Camp, comic and lurid even in black and white, Russ Meyer’s masterpiece follows a trio of homicidal go-go dancers blazing their way across the desert.

Pink Narcissus + Un Chant d’amour
A mesmerising, erotic celebration of the male body, populated by matadors, dancing boys, slaves and leather-clad bikers, alongside an atmospheric short by Jean Genet.

A Clockwork Orange
Stanley Kubrick’s notorious adaptation of Anthony Burgess’s no less controversial book still shocks after 53 years.

Pink Flamingos
John Waters’ no-budget magnum opus of Bad Taste, starring Divine and the gang.

Pink Flamingos + intro by Mark Moore and Tasty Tim
John Waters’ no-budget magnum opus of Bad Taste, starring Divine and the gang.

Shivers
David Cronenberg’s feature debut is a heady mix of body horror and social criticism with venereal, slug-like creatures on the rampage through luxury apartments.

The Beast
A jaw-dropping and explicit take on Beauty and the Beast by the provocative auteur Walerian Borowczyk.

Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom
The notorious final film from Marxist filmmaker Pasolini, a rigorous work which retains its power to galvanise and shock.

Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom + intro by season curator Jason Wood
The notorious final film from Marxist filmmaker Pasolini, a rigorous work which retains its power to galvanise and shock.

Thundercrack!
One dark and stormy night a group of strangers take refuge in a remote house, and then… hardcore porn. Not for the easily offended.

Looking for Mr Goodbar
A New York drama of promiscuity which audiences may find disturbing for its sexual violence.

Looking for Mr Goodbar + intro by season curator Jane Giles
A New York drama of promiscuity which audiences may find disturbing for its sexual violence.

The Warriors
‘Can you dig it?’ Walter Hill’s superb dystopian New York gang-warfare action movie.

The Warriors + intro by SCALA!!! co-director Ali Catterall
‘Can you dig it?’ Walter Hill’s superb dystopian New York gang-warfare action movie.

Taxi zum Klo
Frank Ripploh’s adorable, semi-autobiographical comedy of errors concerning a schoolteacher cruising the cottages of Berlin.

Taxi zum Klo + intro by Vic Roberts, Scala usher
Frank Ripploh’s adorable, semi-autobiographical comedy of errors concerning a schoolteacher cruising the cottages of Berlin.

The Thing
John Carpenter’s synthesis of horror and sci-fi set in an Antarctica research unit pitted against a shapeshifting alien.

The Evil Dead
Uproarious and hugely influential, Sam Raimi’s cabin-in-the-woods horror comedy fell afoul of the ‘Video Nasty’ farrago.

The Evil Dead + intro by Graham Humphreys, freelance illustrator and designer of the original UK marketing for The Evil Dead
Uproarious and hugely influential, Sam Raimi’s cabin-in-the-woods horror comedy fell afoul of the ‘Video Nasty’ farrago.

Surprise Film + intro by season curator Jane Giles
The Scala had a history of programming untitled surprises... Dare you take a chance?

Pee-wee’s Big Adventure
Screened as a tribute to the late, great Paul Reubens, Tim Burton’s feature debut about a boy and his bike bridles with joyful exuberance.

Pee-wee’s Big Adventure + intro by Ben Roberts, BFI CEO
Screened as a tribute to the late, great Paul Reubens, Tim Burton’s feature debut about a boy and his bike bridles with joyful exuberance.

WTVA Presents: The Saint: Teresa + The Avengers: A Touch of Brimstone + intro by Dick Fiddy, Archive TV Programmer
This hugely entertaining double bill is a reminder that the Scala was just as enthusiastic about programming outré TV as it was big-screen shockers.
IMAX

Shock, Horror! The Scala All-Nighter + intro by season curators Jane Giles and Jason Wood
A night of Scala cinema classics, introduced by season curators Jane Giles and Jason Wood.
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