''The Acid House'' is a 1998 Scottish film adaptation of Irvine Welsh's short story collection '' The Acid House'' directed by

Paul McGuigan Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

. Welsh himself wrote the screenplay, and appears as a minor character in the film.

Plot

The film dramatises three stories from the book: * "The Granton Star Cause": A comedy, in which Boab ( Stephen McCole) is having a rotten day. His parents throw him out so they can indulge in sado-masochism and he is sacked from his job, dumped by his girlfriend, and dropped from his

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team. It has elements of Franz Kafka's '' The Metamorphosis''. One of the characters is a pitiless, profane God who transforms him into a fly as punishment for wasting his life. Named after an Edinburgh housing district, "The Granton Star Cause" was filmed on location in Muirhouse and Pilton, including Ferry Road Drive. * "A Soft Touch": Kevin McKidd plays Johnny, a man who is

cuckold A cuckold is the husband of an adulterous wife; the wife of an adulterous husband is a cuckquean. In biology, a cuckold is a male who unwittingly invests parental effort in juveniles who are not genetically his offspring. A husband who is aw ...

ed by Larry (Garry McCormack), the ruthless upstairs neighbour who steals his electricity and his wife ( Michelle Gomez). Filmed on location in Niddrie. * "The Acid House": An

acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

trip and a bolt of lightning result in amiable schemie Coco Brice ( Ewen Bremner) exchanging bodies with the baby of a

middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...

couple ( Martin Clunes and Jemma Redgrave). All three sections are independent, but are linked by setting and the reappearance of incidental characters, in particular Maurice Roëves who appears variously as an inebriated wedding guest, a figure in a dream, and a pub patron. All three of his parts symbolise a human manifestation of God. The film offended elements of the UK tabloid press with a depiction of a cynical, jaded, foul-mouthed God. In some English-speaking countries such as Canada and the United States it has been screened with subtitles because of the

Scots Scots usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: * Scots language, a language of the West Germanic language family native to Scotland * Scots people, a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland * Scoti, a Latin na ...

vernacular and heavy Edinburgh accents.

Cast

;"The Granton Star Cause" * Maurice Roëves – God * Stephen McCole – Boab * Garry Sweeney – Kev * Jenny McCrindle – Evelyn * Simon Weir – Tambo * Iain Andrew – Grant * Irvine Welsh – Parkie *

Pat Stanton Patrick Gordon Stanton (born 13 September 1944) is a Scottish former football player and manager. Stanton played for Hibernian for most of his career, making nearly 400 league appearances. Late in his career, he had a short and successful s ...

– Barman *

Alex Howden Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple peop ...

– Boab Snr *

Annie Louise Ross Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer Th ...

– Doreen (as Ann Louise Ross) * Dennis O'Connor – PC Cochrane * John Gardner – Sgt. Morrison * William Blair – Workmate *

Gary McCormack Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran *Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Unit ...

– Workmate *

Malcolm Shields Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to: People * Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Clan Malcolm * Maol Choluim de Innerpeffray, 14th-century bishop-elect of Dunkeld Nobility * Máel ...

– Workmate *

Stewart Preston Stewart may refer to: People *Stewart (name), Scottish surname and given name * Clan Stewart, a Scottish clan * Clan Stewart of Appin, a Scottish clan Places Canada *Stewart, British Columbia *Stewart Township, Nipissing District, Ontario (his ...

– Rafferty *Callum Stewart - boy playing football ;"A Soft Touch" * Maurice Roëves – Drunk * Kevin McKidd – Johnny * Michelle Gomez – Catriona * Tam Dean Burn – Alec *

Scott Imrie Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saska ...

– Pool Player *

Niall Greig Fulton Niall is a male given name of Irish origin. The original meaning of the name is unknown, but popular modern sources have suggested that it means "champion" (derived from the Old Irish word ''niadh''),. According to John Ryan, Professor of Early a ...

– Alan *

Cas Harkins Cas may refer to: * Caș, a type of cheese made in Romania * ' (1886–) Czech magazine associated with Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk * '' Čas'' (19 April 1945–February 1948), the official, daily newspaper of the Democratic Party of Slovakia * ''C ...

– Skanko * Morgan Simpson – Chantal, Baby *

Marnie Kidd ''Marnie'' is an English crime novel, written by Winston Graham and first published in 1961. It has been adapted as a film, a stage play and an opera. Plot ''Marnie'' is about a young woman who makes a living by embezzling her employers' funds ...

– Chantal, Toddler * Alison Peebles – Mother *

Joanne Riley Joanne may refer to: Music * ''Joanne'' (album), 2016 album by Lady Gaga ** "Joanne" (Lady Gaga song), a 2016 song from the album ''Joanne'' * "Joanne" (Michael Nesmith song), a 1970 song from the album ''Magnetic South'' * "Joanne", a song by C ...

– New Girl *

Katie Echlin Katie is an English feminine name. It is a form Katherine, Kate, Caitlin, Kathleen, Katey and their related forms. It is frequently used on its own. People Sports * Katie Boulter (born 1996), British tennis player * Katie Clark (born 1994), B ...

– Wendy *

William 'Giggs' McGuigan William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conqu ...

– Pub Singer * William Blair – Deck *

– Larry ;"The Acid House" * Maurice Roëves – Priest * Ewen Bremner – Colin 'Coco' Bryce * Martin Clunes – Rory * Jemma Redgrave – Jenny *

Arlene Cockburn Arlene may refer to: * Arleen, a feminine name, also spelled Arlene * "Arlene" (song), the 1985 debut single by American country music artist Marty Stuart * Arlene, a Beanie Baby cat produced by Ty, Inc. * Hurricane Arlene, the name of several ...

– Kirsty * actor – Emma *

Doug Eadie Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) whic ...

– Coco's Father *

Andrea McKenna Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that ...

– Coco's Mother *

– Skanko *

Billy McElhaney Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge * Billy, a youn ...

– Felix the Paramedic *

Ricky Callan Ricky Callan was one of Scotland's best known character actors, born 28 December 1961. A familiar face on television, he had a long list of credits to his name, including '' The Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star'', ''Taggart'', '' Mona ...

– Tam the Driver * Barbara Rafferty – Dr. Callaghan * Stephen Docherty – Nurse Boyd * Ronnie McCann – Andy

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Acid House, The 1998 films 1990s black comedy films 1990s fantasy comedy-drama films Body swapping in films British black comedy films British fantasy comedy-drama films 1990s English-language films English-language Scottish films Films about babies Films about dysfunctional families Films about sexuality Films based on short fiction Films directed by Paul McGuigan Films set in Edinburgh Film4 Productions films Films shot in Edinburgh Films about God Films with screenplays by Irvine Welsh Scots-language films 1998 directorial debut films 1998 comedy films 1990s British films