The movie poster states that this makes Trainspotting looking like a mild-mannered youth comedy. I can see some resemblance here and there, the trippy way of filming, both movies based on novels by Irvine Welsh, or having Ewen Bremner acting in both, but Danny Boyle's trainspotting is just a bit better in my opinion. The Acid House is fun to watch though, who doesn't like to watch some white Scottish ghetto trash in their daily habitat? The Acid House is three different stories (segments),The Granton Star Cause, A Soft Touch, and The Acid House. Each story has his moments, some are better than others, The Acid House was the most trippy and crazy to watch, with an excellent Ewen Bremner (playing a junkie character is apparently what he does the best). The movie is a bit graphic, just the way I like it, but I can see some people (nerds and/or bible thumpers) getting offended. Anyway if you liked Trainspotting there is no doubt in my mind you will like this one as well.

I am not a native English speaker, but I take pride in understanding English spoken movies, not only the words, but also the expressions and colloquialisms. I understood about 30% of this movie, so strong was the Scottish accent, so my review and grade might be influenced by this.

This movie is actually made of three separate stories. I really didn't understand anything from the third one, the first was a Metamorphosis like plot that focuses on the opportunities we are given and choose not to use them, while the second was about this guy who takes incredible abuse from his wife, loves and cares for his baby and in the end forgives the wife and they get back together (for more abuse?!).

I would say that this is a movie that tried to capitalize on the enormous success of Trainspotting, but even if these are based on Irwing stories, that doesn't mean they are exceptionally good. Being Scottish probably helps, too :)

The Acid House was unfairly judged as an inferior Trainspotting imitation upon its release. It's completely inaccurate as director Paul McGuigan was offered the job before that movie was even released and deliberately held-off on watching so as not to be influenced by Danny Boyle's overrated drug-fest. The Acid House is actually a very colorful, sporadically atmospheric, and so totally over-the-top movie experience that it makes Trainspotting look pedestrian.

Adapted by Irvine Welsh himself from his own outrageous short story collection the film features three 35-minute stories of depravity, revenge, existentialism, and nihilism. Dark matter indeed, especially for a comedy, but there's literally not one minute without a moment of humor.

The first story features Robert Anthony Coyle, more commonly known as Boab, a fat, lazy, unambitious loser still living at home with his parents at the age of 23. In the space of a few hours he loses his place on his football team (the pretentious Granton Star),his friends, his girl, his job, and is kicked out of home. Feeling sorry for himself over a pint of lager in a scummy pub he meets God, who is none-too-pleased with Boab for simply folding with the cards he has been dealt in life instead of playing the game. He punishes Boab by turning him into a fly. Because God is evil.

The second story is about the enduring romance of Jonny and Catriona, a spineless door-mat of a man and his utterly disgusting, horrifically common wife. They have a baby, but the odds are very high that it's not even his, and live in a squalid flat in the now-demolished tenement rows of Niddrie in Edinburgh. Life is miserable enough until Larry, a wacky, aggressive, hedonistic playboy moves in upstairs. Within moments he's taken a shine to Catriona and wastes no time taking over Jonny's life, who just lets it happen. Larry is one of the funniest, most realistic, characters I've ever seen in any movie and Gary McCormack plays him to absolute perfection. His impromptu musical number as he sings 'Hot Love' by T-Rex and Marc Bolan is just plain brilliant.

The third and final story features Colin 'Coco' Bryce, a Hibs casual who takes an acid tab and has a very, very bad trip, hallucinating his tyrannical father before being actually struck by lightning. When he comes to he is in the body of a newborn child to a middle class couple (played by Martin Clunes and Gemma Redgrave). The baby is in Coco's body, and Coco's gorgeous girlfriend Kirsty is taking full advantage of the situation by recreating him as her perfect man.

It's all very funny, highly surreal stuff. And despite the metamorphosis, body-swapping, magic, and a truly repugnant production design I can't help but find it an accurate depiction of Scottish life. Spend five minutes in a deprived area of this country (and believe me there is a lot of deprivation) and you'll encounter half of the cast of this film.

One of my favorite movies, and I am virtually word-perfect. There are many other stories in Welsh's collection that can be made into short movies. I wonder if we'll ever get a sequel.