Attack the Block (2011) Review

I’d seen this before but a few days after watching the new Star Wars film I realised that Finn played by John Boyega played the main character in this film. I’d loved this movie first time round, (which me & Mrs AcidburnsHorrorShow watched in an a cinema with no one else there) so thought why not give it a watch and review it for the site. In some ways it flies under the radar a lot I never see it mentioned despite it being a damn fine film.

“If you’re into comedy horror/gore then this is a must watch film that I highly recommend you check out!”

Budget: $13,000,000 (estimated)

Runtime: 88 min

Director: Joe Cornish (Adam and Joe Show)

Trivia – Joe Cornish was “very keen” that only Hi-Hatz used guns. “He’s the genuine villain, the only villain. He’s the only guy who shoots anyone. If I put guns in hands of other characters, it would become a whole different film.”

Trivia – Joe Cornish used mostly unknowns, kids who were involved in drama clubs or had otherwise demonstrated interest in acting. “1,500” young people were auditioned over and over, in part so Cornish would know the aspiring actors would show up on time and have self-discipline. During the process, they learned lines and did improv. After casting, the last two drafts Cornish wrote were influenced by the actors, letting them go through the dialogue and discuss any changes they wanted.

This film starts with nurse Samantha ‘Sam’ Berrins (Jodie Whittaker) coming back home at night walking alone in the rough neighbourhood she lives in. She is confronted by some really annoying stereotypical young rough kids who decide to mug her. After forcing her at knife point to hand over all her stuff something comes whizzing through the sky and crashes into a nearby car. Sam uses this chance to run off and Moses (John Boyega) lets her go so him and his goons can investigate the car and see if there’s anything worth nicking. On investigating the car Moses is attacked by some sort of creature that runs off, the youths run after it and kill it.

Moses and his goons go from mugging a woman with a knife to being the heroes of the film

They realise that it’s not like any animal they’ve ever seen before so they decide to take it to Ron (Nick Frost) the local drug dealer who lives on the top floor of their block. This is where they meet Ron’s boss, gangster Hi-Hatz (Jumayn Hunter) who agrees to store the creature if Moses starts dealing cocaine for him which Moses agrees to do. They gang notice loads of meteor like objects falling from the sky that each contain some of the alien monster only much larger.

After leaving the flat, the gang go to get tooled up but are soon chased down by the aliens and a really well done chase scene takes place. During the chase Sam is with the police and they manage to catch Moses and arrest him but they are soon attacked by the alien. This leads to the gang taking the police van for a ride but they crash into Hi-Hatz car who is displeased, Sam uses this chance to run off again. Hi-Hatz doesn’t believe that aliens are on the loose but that soon changes.

The wannabe gangsters Probs and Mayhem are brilliant what little scenes they have

The boys are once again chased by the aliens and end up running into Sam’s flat where they come to a sort of truce. From here the lads and Sam try to make it back to the top of the block past the aliens, this obviously brings a whole load of funny and at times gory scenes as they try to escape the aliens. It all leads to Moses becoming the hero of the story.

The Good

The aliens are fantastic effects, they’re really black but their teeth glow in the dark making them look brilliant and unique. Sam who is played by Jodie Whittaker who people that have seen Broadchurch will recognise from that is solid in her role in the film. Some of the minor characters are great especially two young kids called Probs and Mayhem who are about 8 years old and want to be gangsters, as laughable as that is they do come good at the end of the film. Pest who is one of the characters with Moses and his gang is annoying at first but gets funnier as the film goes on. I really enjoyed the gory scenes and all the chase scenes were great fun to watch.

The glowing teeth and unbelievable blackness of the aliens makes them look really good

The Bad

There’s not a great deal of bad about this film my main annoyance was how horrid the main characters are to start with. Other than that there’s not much to nit pick at with the film at all. One bad thing I can think of is it doesn’t look like there will be a sequel.

As I mentioned this is a film that tends to get over looked a lot with people focusing more on the Cornetto trilogy over this but I actually like this film just as much if not a bit more. If you’re into comedy horror/gore then this is a must watch film that I highly recommend you check out!

Overall Score