reversa2 this movie was made after the B.B.C. had problems with the original TV version,which to my mind was just as brutal.you can't help but root for Carlin as he gets his revenge,the greenhouse scene has to be up there with the likes of certain scenes from 'cannibal holocaust' and 'last house on the left'.Truly harrowing and unforgettable.Ray Winstone is one of my all time favourite actors,as is Phil Daniels.This film stands as a tribute to Alan Clarke (Made In Britain is also another classic).This movie remains as one of the grittiest movies I have ever seen.I saw it for the first time when I was about ten years of age,on a pre-certificate VHS copy round at my dad's mate's house one Saturday night.The film has stayed with me ever since,and now I own my own copy of the film,I hope to show it to my son when he is older(I hope he appreciates it!!!)

mdm-11 This film was to show the horrors of a typical British Reform School, complete with regular beatings, humiliations, and even a rape scene. Sadistic staff and a team of violent and intimidating "daddys" terrorize the weak and timid members of the roughly 100 detainees. Racism and hypocrisy are in full gear. This is the Jr. Version of "Glass House", only even more graphic.This film is very difficult to watch and was actually banned by the BBC to ever be broadcast due to the extreme violence and shocking situations. Although I watched to the end, I just don't quite see the value (especuially for entertainment) in this fictional nightmare. Perhaps as a "Scared Straight" project it could deter at-risk children from a life of crime. Otherwise any slasher movie will do less emotional damage to an impressionable mind. I do not recommend this film

Theo Robertson I'll try not to comment on the controversy of this television drama . Everyone knows it was banned by the BBC prior to being shown on its PLAY FOR TODAY slot in 1977 and it wasn't until the early 1990s that the BBC relented by showing it with little fanfare . Over all I thought the film version was better . Structure wise Roy Minton's script is more or less the same as the movie version with one added strand here where Carling is allowed to have a " wife " , in reality one of the younger prisoners , as a perk for being a daddy , a story strand that doesn't really work in my opinion . Director Alan Clarke would later re-employ nearly the entire cast for the movie version with the exception of Archer , and I couldn't thinking while watching the movie that Archer was written as a type of hippy . Here David Throfall plays Archer as .... A hippy . I don't want to criticise Mick Ford's performance in the movie but here we see the role played as it was written and is the superior version , but this is the only aspect where the original teleplay out scores the movieI think because the movie version can get away with so much more than a television drama ( At least one made in the 1970s ) this version isn't so gritty and compelling . The film includes extreme language in every scene which adds to the realism and as has been mentioned the infamous rape scene isn't as shocking and depressing as the one in the movie version so compared to the 1979 cinema release the original television drama might be something of a disappointment leading the viewer to ask what was the controversy about in the first place ?

allan95073 Alan Clarke's film introduced us to a powerful new talent in Ray Winstone. Undeniably brutal but an allegory on the worship of simple governance by power. This film, coupled with another film, "Made in Great Britain" with Tim Roth was an indictment of the Thatcher type anti-society policies. Ray Winstone builds his part slowly, gathering power and authority during his stay in the institution and is climaxed when he says "who's the daddy now?" It was such a powerful performance that I always wait with anticipation his next outing and have rarely been disappointed.