Tower Block (2012)

Tower Block (2012). 1h 30m | Not Rated

“Derivative and largely formulaic thriller, but nevertheless one that remains suspenseful and compelling throughout the entire running time thanks to the raw u0026amp; gritty atmosphere and a handful of extremely brutal shock-moments. Reminiscent to the other recent British flick u0026quot;Attack the Blocku0026quot; in terms of tone u0026amp; social setting, u0026quot;Tower Blocku0026quot; takes place in a pauperized and crime-infested big city suburb where people abandoned all hope for prosperity long time ago already and desperately avoid every type of contact with fellow human beings. The film entirely takes place in a large apartment complex that is scheduled for destruction and only the residents of the top floor still live there. One Saturday morning, they are rudely awakened by a relentless psycho killer with a sniper rifle. He – or she – fires at everything that moves and placed booby-traps across the building. Thereu0026#39;s a obvious link with an unsolved murder committed in the block a few months earlier and now the asocial tenants are forced to rely on each other for survival. The biggest trumps for a film such as u0026quot;Tower Blocku0026quot; are surprise and unpredictability. All the residents are equally insignificant, meaning that literally anyone of them could be next. And they could be next at any random and possible moment, too. Writers/directors duo James Nunn and Ronnie Thompson aptly play with these trumps, as the characters definitely donu0026#39;t die in the order youu0026#39;d expect. Sniper murders can perhaps get a bit monotonous after a while, but thereu0026#39;s enough diversity in killing methods and circumstances. Obviously thereu0026#39;s quite a large number of holes and irrationality in the plot and the climax (as in: revelation of the sniperu0026#39;s identity) is weak and disappointing. The acting performances vary between adequate and amateurish, with good roles for tough blond gal Sheridan Smith and u0026quot;Alien³u0026quot; veteran Ralph Brown. In case you want to seek out more u0026quot;serial sniper-killeru0026quot; movies after this, I warmly recommended the almighty u0026quot;Dirty Harryu0026quot; but also the more obscure u0026quot;Two-Minute Warningu0026quot;, u0026quot;Targetsu0026quot; and u0026quot;The Deadly Toweru0026quot;”