Billy The Kid and the Green Baize Vampire (Clarke, 1985): Prince Charles Cinema, 6.15pm
Lost Vampires are screening this Alan Clarke film from a 35mm print.
Prince Charles Cinema introduction:
This
rarely screened cult musical is one of the boldest and strangest
films ever to emerge from the UK, a unique collaboration between
director Alan Clarke, writer Trevor Preston and composer George
Fenton. Up-and-coming snooker player, Billy Kid (Phil Daniels) is
manipulated by his debt-ridden manager, T.O. (Bruce Payne) into a
high-stakes grudge match with The Vampire - world champion Maxwell
Randall (Alun Armstrong) – the loser agreeing never to play the
professional game again. With a rousing musical score performed in
surreal theatrical settings, the drama builds to a truly nail-biting
snooker game climax. Part gangster parody, part rock opera, part
social commentary, critic Peter Wollen described it as “arguably
[Alan Clarke’s] best film” and Anne Billson proposed it was one
of the “most undervalued and underseen” films of the 1980s.
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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