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Reviews
Tarry-Dan Tarry-Dan Scarey Old Spooky Man (1978)
A hidden gem by Peter McDougall
Recently I have been looking back at Peter McDougall classics such as Just Another Saturday, The Elephants Graveyard and Just A Boys Game to name a few,
I had only heard of Tarry Dan Tarry Dan Scarey Old Spooky Man having read up on Peter's list of films and managed to find an ok but watchable copy on Youtube.
At first I didn't give it much thought but after watching the film for the first time I ended up watching again, after the second time it got Me thinking of a lot of subjects connected to the film ie peer pressure, insecurity, bullying, social deprivation and the fear of impending adulthood.
The play follows Jonah Grattan, a loutish teenager who is fast approaching his 16th birthday, Jonah has nightmares of stained glass depicting an ancient battle which took place in the town where he lives, he is also closely being followed by a local tramp named Tarry Dan who is a sort of boogeyman figure, Jonah becomes obsessed with tracking down Tarry Dan and bullies his friends into helping him, as the hours count down to his 16th birthday, he alienates his friends and tracks down Tarry Dan to an ancient church where his family history and destiny will be revealed.
Shoot for the Sun (1986)
Shoot For The Sun
I finally just watched this after years of looking for a copy on DVD.
Shoot For The Sun is the only one of Peter McDougalls films that has never been repeated on television or had an official release on DVD which is quite strange considering that his other classics such as Just A Boys Game, Just Another Saturday and Down Among The Big Boys have all been released on DVD and are repeated regularly on the BBC Scotland Channel.
In this gritty drama Peter McDougall shows us a darker side to 1980's Edinburgh, Jimmy Nail and Brian Cox are two failed bank robbers who turn to selling Heroin on the streets of Edinburgh as a way of making easy money, Jimmy Nail's character Geordie is ruthless and unremorseful whilst Brian Cox's character Dunny is distressed and cautious about the epidemic happening around them, the trouble starts when Dunny starts to question their motives about the business and decides to get out.
If You are a fan of Peter McDougall's earlier works of Just Another Saturday and Just A Boys Game, I would definitely recommend giving Shoot For The Sun a look.