Shannon Matthews the Musical the Movie

Having owned the Musical on CD for years and then being informed that it was to be made into a film, I couldn't contain my excitement. Was the anticipation worth it? Absolutely! The plot may seem ridiculous. You may be sat watching and thinking "has this all come from Kunt's imagination?" Nope. It all came from Karen Matthews, believe it or not. The storyline may sound daft, but the beauty of it is how Kunt and co have managed to write hilarious songs based on the story. The actors portraying the characters do a superb job also of bringing the story line to life with humor. Don't Wikipedia to find out what happened. Just watch this film...

Surely the funniest film of the year, though that statement comes with major caveats about its subject matter, content and language, which means that its chances of finding appreciative audiences seem very limited. It's a true-crime comedy musical written and composed by one-man filth-pop cult legend Kunt and the Gang, whose song lyrics revolve largely around genitals, sexual acts, newsworthy paedophiles and other unsavoury subjects. Despite that, he's troubled the Top 75 twice with "Use My Arsehole as a Cunt" and "Fucksticks", and as frontman of punk band The Kunts, has had four more recent Top 10 hits, including "Boris Johnson is a Fucking Cunt" and "Fuck the Tories". So you get the sense of what he does.

Despite those left-wing credentials, Kunt goes full tabloid exposé in his take on northern council estate life as epitomised by Karen Matthews. An unemployed mum of seven children, almost all of whom have "Different Dads" according to one of the songs here, she notoriously came up with "A Plan (Based on Maddie McCann)" to fake the abduction of her daughter Shannon, in the hope of splitting the Sun newspaper's inevitable cash reward with her accomplice. The depiction of this fraud - and of Karen's lifestyle - is done in incredibly poor taste, but the thing about Kunt is that he's able to do very bad taste with a cheeky wink. Even when he's not the person you're watching sing the songs (or speak the dialogue), that adorable, hilarious naughtiness is still there.

It's there in the numerous background jokes, many of which demand a rewatch to take in properly. It's definitely there in the lyrics, which for example, rhyme "computer jargon" with "why have you got that hard-on?". And it's there in the the ever-jaunty, major-key synth backing music that even make songs called things like "You're a Paedophile" so catchy and enjoyable. The film's production values are akin with the tinny tunes: pretty basic and rough around the edges, but with enough comedy chops to overcome the lack of polish. The staging of "Shannon Ain't Dead (She's Under My Bed)" as a chase scene around the north of England is particularly brilliant, and there are many, many other highlights. But it's a difficult film to recommend to anyone you want to remain friends with, because if they hate it, chances are they'll get the police to check your hard drive.

Full disclosure: I am a long term fan of Kunt And The Gang and helped to crowd fund this film. I was also at the recent premiere in Leeds.

With that out of the way - the film far exceeded my expectations (which were already pretty high, having seen and loved the stage show version of it in Edinburgh last year).

The film is very funny, with excellent performances across the board (particularly from director Sam Hindman as Karen Matthews and Rob Kirtley as DI Radgitt). It takes the stage show and adds in lots of extra goodies - green screen chases, dream sequences, 'celebrity' cameos and lots of Easter Eggs.

There's also some lovely outdoor scenes - the crew really did make the most of their (presumably) limited budget. For a daft film - it's actually rather clever!

You don't have to be a diehard Kunt fan to 'get' this movie - yes, there are some in-jokes but, basically, if you are a fan of toilet humour and OTT comedy, this is the film for you. Stick it on the telly after you come back from the pub and you're sorted!

Be warned, though - once the songs that feature on the soundtrack worm their way into your head, they will NEVER leave!

I look forward to buying a copy of the film on DVD when it comes out - or, even better, getting to see it again in the cinema with my mates.

Forget Brasseye's Sutcliffe The Musical, this here is the real deal a complete banger as it happens but you've just gotta see it to believe it. The whole story is factually accurate delivered in a engaging way through comedic music through to the storyline there's no corners cut with this one all delivered on a £20,000 budget you know every penny was well spent.

Guest appearances from the likes of Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris and Gary Glitter really added to the comedy factor and had me in a trance of laughter. This musical movie certainly could be considered as a cure to depression, it should be prescribed up and down the country!

If you've already heard the musical album by KATG, or seen the musical live already, you may wonder, why was a movie version needed? As it turns out, the movie format lends itself superbly for expanding not just the story, but the jokes too. Obviously, the movie follows a rather sensitive subject, but the focus is always the extraordinary lengths Karen Matthews would go to for infamy and cash, unaware she'd surrounded herself with the least useful fiends imaginable.

The subtle and not so subtle references for KATG fans a will entertain most people who watch the film after hearing/seeing the musical. For everyone else, there's always a danger it may be too crude but to make a film that was less blunt or ridiculous would have defeated the whole purpose of making it.