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This month sees the release on DVD and Blu-Ray of Tower Block, a tense thriller that we received a preview copy of. It was actually nice to pack the Madhouse Mini-testers off to bed and settle down to watch a proper grown-up movie for once !
The plot starts with a crime that was committed several months ago and it instantly gets you thinking about how you'd react in that situation. When a young boy runs into an almost derelict block of flats looking for help and is brutally beaten to death, only one of the tenants makes the slightest move to come to his aid. Everyone else hides behind their doors out of harm's way and, when the police come looking for answers, is too scared to give any evidence. It's easy enough to condemn them all as heartless cowards but in the back of your mind, you can't help but wonder what you'd do if you were in that situation yourself.
Fast forward several months and it appears someone has come looking for revenge. A sniper has booby-trapped all the exits of the tower block and is ruthlessly picking off the remaining tenants one by one. I remember watching the classic disaster movie The Towering Inferno back in the 70's and this is almost like an updated twist, the Infernal Tower. The mismatched group of residents have to come together and find a sense of cohesion despite their differences in order to outwit the sniper and stay alive. Not everyone makes it and you never know who is going to be the next victim - the sniper has no mercy, even for the children in the building.
Just watch the trailer for an idea of the grim setting and nail-biting suspense that you're letting yourself in for !
You can tell it's a low-budget Brit flick but this actually fits in with the gritty view of moral and urban decay. There are no big names but you'll probably recognise a few faces from appearances in TV dramas. I can see Hollywood remaking a glitzy, pumped-up version of this film but I think it actually works really well as it is, which just goes to prove that you don't necessarily need a huge budget and an all-star cast to create a tense thriller that will have you holding your breath for much of the 90 minutes that it lasts.
The end of the film is slightly disappointing, becoming more predictable and with a few inconsistencies and actions that seem out of character, but overall it's still a great movie and one that we'd highly recommend.
The end of the film is slightly disappointing, becoming more predictable and with a few inconsistencies and actions that seem out of character, but overall it's still a great movie and one that we'd highly recommend.
star rating : 4/5
RRP : £11.99
- Actors: Sheridan Smith, Russell Tovey, Jack O'Connell
- Director: James Nunn
- Classification: 15
- Studio: LionsGate Home Entertainment UK Ltd
- DVD Release Date: 18th Feb 2013
- Run Time: 90 minutes
Disclosure : We received a copy of the DVD in order to write an honest review.
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Brilliant review you've made me really want to watch this now.
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