Rule of Night

The sixties were swinging - but the seventies were the hangover: darker, nastier, uglier. This cult classic, a sour antidote to A Clockwork Orange, is ''a powerfully authentic account of working-class life and gang violence in early 1970s'' (Time Out).

Kenny Seddon is sixteen and no longer in school, but he still lives with his mum, dad and sister on the Ashfield Valley council estate, He''s pissing away his life in a series of dead-end jobs, boozed-up nights, mostly disappointing sex and confused violence. The nineteenth century cotton mills that brought prosperity have all been shut down, and Rochdale is fast decaying into just another decrepit factory town where the gangs rule.

Rule of Night creates a chillingly authentic world where teenagers prowl rainy fluorescent-lit streets dressed as their Clockwork Orange anti-heroes, with a backdrop provided by Ford Cortinas, Players No. 6, the factory and the relentless struggle to maintain hope.