# Guest House Paradiso
**Guest House Paradiso** is a 1999 British slapstick comedy film and the big-screen spin-off of the BBC sitcom *Bottom*, written by and starring [Rik Mayall](https://www.edgepedia.org/rik-mayall) and [Adrian Edmondson](https://www.edgepedia.org/adrian-edmondson), with Edmondson making his directorial debut. The pair play Richie Twat and Eddie Elizabeth Ndingombaba, the incompetent proprietors of the worst hotel in Britain, whose routine of terrible service and violent in-fighting is disrupted by the arrival of a runaway Italian film star.[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/film/guest_house_paradiso/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/guest_house_paradiso)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | UK and Ireland, 3 December 1999; Belgium 15 December 1999; Netherlands 16 December 1999; Hungary 13 July 2000[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202381/releaseinfo/) |
| Director / writers | Adrian Edmondson (directorial debut); screenplay by Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/film/guest_house_paradiso/) |
| Producer | Phil McIntyre, the promoter of Mayall and Edmondson's live shows[4](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/guest-house-paradiso) |
| Budget and funding | £3.5 million, funded by Video Vision, a division of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment[4](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/guest-house-paradiso) |
| Principal cast | Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Vincent Cassel, Hélène Mahieu, Bill Nighy, Kate Ashfield, Simon Pegg, Fenella Fielding[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/guest_house_paradiso) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/81553/guest.house.paradiso) |
| Running time and certificate | Approximately 86 minutes; passed '15' by the BBFC for strong language[6](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/guest-house-paradiso-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmtqznzi) |
| Reception | Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 66% from one critic review; audience Popcornmeter 3.7 out of 5 from more than 5,000 ratings[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/guest_house_paradiso) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Richie and Eddie run the Guest House Paradiso, the cheapest and worst hotel in Britain, a dilapidated establishment on a cliff edge next to a power plant.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/guest_house_paradiso) • [13](https://60minuteswith.co.uk/reviews/review-guest-house-paradiso/) Their chef has eaten all the food, most guests have left without paying, and the two keep the remaining chef as a hostage.[11](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/guesthouse-paradiso) • [13](https://60minuteswith.co.uk/reviews/review-guest-house-paradiso/)
The plot turns on three arrivals. [The Nice](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-nice) family ([Simon Pegg](https://www.edgepedia.org/simon-pegg) and Lisa Palfrey) check in with their two children, and Richie, rummaging through their luggage, finds Mrs. Nice's exotic rubber underwear and tries it on; interrupted, he hides in the oven, which ignites and fuses the underwear to his body.[11](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/guesthouse-paradiso) [The Italian](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-italian) film star Gina Carbonara (Hélène Mahieu) arrives seeking refuge from her fiancé Gino Bolognese (Vincent Cassel), who broke her heart the night before their wedding.[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202381/faq/) When Mr. Nice finds video evidence of Richie's panty pilfering and threatens to go to the police, Richie and Eddie set out to retrieve the tape while the guests fall violently ill from a supper of radioactive fish, and the pair panic and prepare to flee.[11](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/guesthouse-paradiso) • [14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202381/faq/)
## Production
Mayall and Edmondson had performed as the violent double act Richie and Eddie since meeting at Manchester University's drama department, through *The Young Ones* in the 1980s, *Filthy, Rich & Catflap*, and the 1990s BBC sitcom *Bottom* and its stage tours.[7](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/bottom-s-up-1.262798) Edmondson said the film's idea grew during the final *Bottom* live tour: the pair stayed in a lot of bad hotels on the road, and the concept developed from that experience.[8](https://xpressmag.com.au/rik-mayall-r-i-p/) Phil McIntyre, the producer, who had collaborated with the pair on their stage performances, explained that the three of them had for years hoped to create a film jointly; backing was provided by Video Vision, at that time a division of [PolyGram Filmed Entertainment](https://www.edgepedia.org/polygram-filmed-entertainment).[4](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/guest-house-paradiso)
Shooting took place in April 1999 at [Ealing Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/ealing-studios) and on location on the [Isle of Wight](https://www.edgepedia.org/isle-of-wight).[4](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/guest-house-paradiso) The production followed Mayall's near-fatal quad bike accident in 1998 by only months. Edmondson arranged the shooting schedule so Mayall could film most of his scenes in the morning when he was at his best, rest after lunch, and had a masseuse loosen him up for the fight scenes.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/dec/17/features.magazine) • [10](https://rts.org.uk/article/comfort-classic-bottom)
The crew included composer Colin Towns, director of photography Alan Almond, and editor Sean Barton.[11](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/guesthouse-paradiso) Title designer Richard Morrison, who created the trailer and opening sequence with producer Olive Segré of Fig Productions, described the film as a cross between *Tom & Jerry* and *Fawlty Towers*, "with a bit of S&M thrown in for good measure".[12](https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/2-december-1999/guest-house-paradiso/)
## Relationship to Bottom
The film uses the same two performers and essentially the same personalities as *Bottom*, but with changed surnames: Mayall's character, "Richard Richard" in the television series, becomes Richard Twat, a name he insists is pronounced "Thwaite", while Edmondson's Edward Elizabeth Hitler becomes Edward Elizabeth Ndingombaba.[15](https://www.britishclassiccomedy.co.uk/guest-house-paradiso) The film does not directly reference the events of the television series or the live shows.[16](https://the-bottom.fandom.com/wiki/Guest_House_Paradiso) [The Irish Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-irish-times) described it as the duo's first feature film, noting that in *Bottom* the characters were Richie Richard and Eddie Hitler, so the different surnames marked it as a separate work.[7](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/bottom-s-up-1.262798)
Mayall framed the film's approach in an interview with the [British Council](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-council): "There's only one criterion in the whole film, which is that it's very funny... We find it's much better to build your own world, to make a fantasy and invite people into it. It's a world where the level of reality is such that you can do the kind of things we do, such as be swung around by meathooks through your nose without it seeming unreal."[4](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/guest-house-paradiso)
## Reception
The film was classified '15' by the [British Board of Film Classification](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-board-of-film-classification) for its cinema release on 5 October 1999, with the consumer advice "contains strong language"; the theatrical print ran 89 minutes 48 seconds, and home entertainment versions ran about 86 minutes.[6](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/guest-house-paradiso-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmtqznzi) It opened in the UK and Ireland on 3 December 1999.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202381/releaseinfo/)
Critical response was largely negative. The Guardian's 2000 interview with Mayall noted that "the film was panned".[9](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/dec/17/features.magazine) The Royal Television Society later called it "a so-so film spin-off" from *Bottom*.[10](https://rts.org.uk/article/comfort-classic-bottom) A Dutch VPRO Cinema review rated it two of five stars, calling it in effect an extended episode of *Bottom* with a *Fawlty Towers* premise, while noting that the closing vomit sequence was possibly the longest in film history and for that reason memorable.[17](https://www.cinema.nl/db/532378-guest-house-paradiso) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a Tomatometer score of 66% based on a single critic review, against an audience Popcornmeter score of 3.7 out of 5 from more than 5,000 ratings; the sole listed critic review, by Ian Mantgani in UK Critic, gave it 0.5 out of 4.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/guest_house_paradiso) Audience reviews there remain divided between viewers who treat it as a continuation of *Bottom* and those who find it unwatchable.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/guest_house_paradiso)
## Aftermath
No sequel followed. After *Guest House Paradiso* the pair performed two more live shows, but then Edmondson admitted they were getting too old and brought the stage act to an end.[18](https://professionalmoron.com/2019/09/18/guest-house-paradiso/) Mayall died in 2014; Edmondson has rated *Bottom* itself, not the film, as the high point of his comedy career.[10](https://rts.org.uk/article/comfort-classic-bottom)
## References
1. [Guest House Paradiso, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/film/guest_house_paradiso/)
2. [Guest House Paradiso, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/guest_house_paradiso)
3. [Guest House Paradiso (1999) Release info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202381/releaseinfo/)
4. [Guest House Paradiso, British Council UK Films Database](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/guest-house-paradiso)
5. [Guest House Paradiso, The Guardian film page](https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/81553/guest.house.paradiso)
6. [Guest House Paradiso, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/guest-house-paradiso-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmtqznzi)
7. [Bottom's up!, The Irish Times, 18 December 1999](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/bottom-s-up-1.262798)
8. [Rik Mayall R.I.P., X-Press Magazine](https://xpressmag.com.au/rik-mayall-r-i-p/)
9. [Rik Mayall: Forever young, The Guardian, 17 December 2000](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/dec/17/features.magazine)
10. [Comfort classic: Bottom, Royal Television Society](https://rts.org.uk/article/comfort-classic-bottom)
11. [Guesthouse Paradiso, British Council UK Films Database](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/guesthouse-paradiso)
12. [Guest House Paradiso, Design Week, 3 December 1999](https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/2-december-1999/guest-house-paradiso/)
13. [Review: Guest House Paradiso, 60 Minutes With](https://60minuteswith.co.uk/reviews/review-guest-house-paradiso/)
14. [Guest House Paradiso (1999) FAQ, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202381/faq/)
15. [Bottom Gets Bigger, British Classic Comedy](https://www.britishclassiccomedy.co.uk/guest-house-paradiso)
16. [Guest House Paradiso, The Bottom Wiki (Fandom)](https://the-bottom.fandom.com/wiki/Guest_House_Paradiso)
17. [Guest House Paradiso (1999), VPRO Cinema](https://www.cinema.nl/db/532378-guest-house-paradiso)
18. [Guest House Paradiso: 20th Anniversary of Bottom Adaptation, Professional Moron](https://professionalmoron.com/2019/09/18/guest-house-paradiso/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Teen and comedy series film entries › Entries released in the 1990s*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license