Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire (1985)

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Like most of the other comments on this film, mine is not going to be a 'review'. People wanting to know what BTK is 'about' won't get much from the next few paragraphs. Rather, this is a personal tribute - a trip down memory lane and a celebration of a film that meant a lot to me in its time.Because Yep. I'm another one! I was a teenage snooker addict of the 80s, greedily watching every shot broadcast (and so many were in those days) who couldn't believe my luck when this film came out. And I remember sitting up bleary-eyed to watch it on Channel 4 that late night sometime in 1986 or 87. I too taped it on my family's old VHS video recorder.... but I went a step further than most here and actually transferred it from there onto a maxell audio tape (yes, by sitting the tape recorder in front of the TV and remaining very quiet while it recorded!) so I could listen to it in my bedroom as well! Well that video has long gone - but believe it or not I still have that audio tape.... somewhere. (not that I need to listen to it. The lyrics and sounds are seared into my memory, so many times did listen to it back then!) And yes, how fantastic it is to come on here and see so many good friends talking of their similar experience. Oh if only the internet had existed back then - we could all have found each other on some online fansite and become friends, rather than believing (universally it seems) that we were isolated; that we were alone in our devotion, that we were, perhaps, "The One"! Ah well. Perhaps it's best that it wasn't submerged in an internet community as films are today. It was frustrating not to be able to share our joy widely (untiol now). But there was something 'pure' about enjoying it alone. It was of its time. It's been a long time to wait. But this board has proved that, to the small number of us who saw it in the mid 80s, this film will always remain a truly unforgettable little gem, with some of the most outrageously delicious dialogue I've ever heard: "This location is not capricious." Superb! :)

How utterly amazing to discover other fans of this iconic musical - OK, maybe a little OTT, but nonetheless, a worthy description. I first saw BTK when I was a demure early-teen, being granted permission to stay up past ten-o-clock. I drifted off to sleep that night with all these bizarre images floating through my head and for many years, hoped I would once again be able to watch this odd little film. Lady luck clearly didn't like any of us, though, did she?Thus began my quest (and a deep blossoming love of Bruce Payne, receding hairline unnoticed)but without the delights of the internet and technology not on my side, I sat in hope with fading memories of BTK, beginning to wonder if I didn't imagine the whole thing.Several years later, I forget when exactly, Channel 4 deemed to give us all a repeat performance - thank god for my Saisho VCR (it had cost me £250, earned through a long, hot summer slaving in a cafe at 15) and thereby began my plugging for this wonderful film.Years on, my copy was just about had it, particularly around 'green stamps', 'wednesday man' and 'the one' (oh how I love TO's fake cockney accent.... let's face it, he was quite posh in that Wesley Snipes movie)from constant reviewing. The VCR did actually out-live the tape.Whenever asked that ever-popular getting-to-know-you question of 'what's your fave movie?' my reply was always the same. No one else had ever even heard of BTK, let alone seen it.Imagine my supreme delight on checking my e-mail one day a couple of years ago, to discover an e-mail from a friend, informing me that BTK was to be shown on Film Four the following week. Convinced he had to be wrong, I checked the guide and blow-me-down, there it was! With no ad breaks!!!!!To this day, I am still trying to educate the masses with the odd little home-screenings and I think we're finally getting through. The indescribable fabulousness of the final credits track has turned me into one of those annoying people who refuses to leave the cinema until the VERY end. What if you were to miss the best bit?!! Well, I never will.And, as a final note, how tragic that when you try and explain who Phil Daniels is, the only way people know is when you tell them he did the voiceover on Blur's Parklife. Beyond tragic.

At it's time of making, Snooker Tournaments were big pullers for TV audiances in the UK so it is suprising that this film didn't make it to the cult status that it might have made if repeat showings had taken place. I made an off-air copy onto a Video-8 tape which still plays via a digital camcorder (thank you Mr Sony) though I'm not sure whether it picks up the PCM digital soundtrack. I generally like watching any roles that Phil Daniels played, this may be zany, but it is still good

I've got to be honest, but I've not seen this film for a good few years. However the first time I saw it ( on a new-ish Channel 4 and about the time it was very fashionable to be able to run a list of the top snooker players of the time as well as know the juicy bits of gossip behind each name) it bewildered and amazed. Bewildered in the sense that someone had made a Musical about Snooker and Amazed that it blimmin well worked so cool and despite not seeing it for so long I can't watch Jimmy White without seeing Phil Daniels. Although the whole film is a blast I particularly remember the closing sequences of the tournament play-off itself specially the music track for the whole sequence (having played and rewound that umpteen times)(Yeah I recorded it, just wish I could find that tape). I was intrigued to know how many of the community knew about this gem and pleased to find that those who do liked it. Pity it`s not avaliable (yet) on VHS or DVD. Here's hoping.