The Hooligan Factory - Blu-ray

Movie: All his life, Danny (Jason Maza) has dreamed of becoming a real hooligan. After all, his father was the perfect role model for him after he was put on trial and sent to jail for 30 years after a fight at Danny's school when he stuffed his wig in the judge's mouth. One day, when he happens to meet Dex (Nick Nevern), leader of the once-legendary Hooligan Factory, who has just been released from prison, his dream finally seems to come true. But the heyday of the Hooligan Factory seems long gone. Only a small core of the old gang is left. But the tone is now set by Dex's old adversary The Baron (Keith-Lee Castle), whom Dex holds responsible for the death of his son. And he is determined to settle this score. With his loyal cronies and his new protégé Danny, the former legend aims to restore his Hooligan Factory to the feared gang it once was years ago, then banish The Baron from the Hooligan Olympus forever in an all-important battle...

Nick Nevern, himself a performer in several hooligan dramas and director of the hooligan film Terry, felt it was high time to just give this sub-genre, which is particularly popular in the UK, a proper parody. As director, co-screenwriter and lead actor, he created The Hooligan Factory, a blackly humorous, irreverent, uninhibitedly silly and wonderfully wacky look at the British hooligan scene. Nevern does not set a high value on pretension. If you're looking for subtle humour and political correctness, this is not the place for you. Here they swear, do coke, fight, fuck and drink for all it's worth. What the hooligans lack in the head, they try to compensate with their fists. And that no great profundity can be expected should be obvious.

Which is not to say that the film is completely stupid. That may be true of its protagonists. But under the coarse, occasionally overly brutal surface there are also always some very clever gags to discover, which are really quite great. The gathering of the hooligan leaders alone has some delightful moments full of bitter sarcasm to offer. Granted, not all the gags reach this level and many a time the line of good taste is crossed. But as flat as the saying heroes without brains and blame on the cover suggests, the battle of the tracksuit wearers has fortunately not become.

The actors are with obvious fun on the job. Nick Nevern himself, in particular, is just great as a completely over-the-top stereotype of a hooligan leader not exactly blessed with great intelligence. But also his co-stars embody the brutal chaotic troop in a wonderfully wacky and yet somehow sympathetic way. It's all completely overdrawn - and that's exactly why it's funny as hell.

Violence in or around football stadiums is actually nothing to laugh about. But it's good that someone doesn't approach this topic on a concerned way, but ridicules such chaotic people and gives you the opportunity to laugh off the anger about such violent people or the fear of the dark side of football. And that is really possible with The Hooligan Factory. So if you like it a bit nasty, crude, silly and politically incorrect, you should definitely take a look here. And don't worry: These hooligans don't do anything, they just want to play! Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The picture is absolutely clean and also features good to very good detail sharpness in many scenes. The color scheme is coherent and shows its particularly atmospheric side, especially in the short flashbacks. So there are just as few notable flaws to complain about here as there are with the sound quality. The DTS-HD 5.1 MA mix is pleasantly lively and can convince again and again with good surround moments. The fact that the dialogue in the German language version sounds somewhat central and less harmoniously embedded in the action, as is the case with the original English version, can do little to detract from the positive overall impression. Therefore, there is a more than satisfied overall: good!

Extras: The best extra of the Blu-ray is a one-hour making of, which goes into great detail and with a good portion of self-irony on the making of the film. Since there are unfortunately no subtitles to this documentary, a good knowledge of English is a prerequisite to enjoy the making of. Also on the program are two extended sequences (approx. 5:49 min.), a few outtakes (approx. 4:36 min.), an amusing short film (approx. 3:59 min.), as well as the trailer. Good!

Conclusion: The Hooligan Factory is a delightfully over-the-top, utterly irreverent comedy that skilfully pokes fun at numerous clichés of typical hooligan dramas and, despite plenty of crude and inky black humour, always comes across as somehow likeable. Not necessarily something for friends of subtle humor, but if you like unrestrained over-the-top comedy, you will have a lot of fun here for 90 minutes. The Blu-ray is technically on a good level and also the bonus material can please. Only the missing subtitles in some extras are a little negative. Overall, however, there is a deserved: Absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp