I remember seeing the poster for this British film, I guessed it might be something similar to The Raid, but I read more about it, it sounded really good and I was glad when I got the opportunity to watch. Basically tower blocks were built during the Second World War, they were originally welcomed, especially for great views, making them popular living spaces, but they deteriorated, grew a bad reputation for low cost living and due to rising crime levels, increasing their unpopularity. Tower Block 31 in East London is condemned to be demolished, the only residents remaining are all left on the top floor, these are the most difficult to move out and rehouse. One night, fifteen-year-old Jimmy (Ralph Laurila) runs up and through the tower block begging for help, he is ignored, two masked men chase him, the only person who tries to help is office worker Becky (Sheridan Smith), but she ends up beaten to the ground, while Jimmy is murdered and dragged away. The next day, Detective Constable Devlin (Steven Cree) is carrying out enquiries, going from door to door on the top floor asking for information about the murder, nobody will speak to him, not even Becky who claims her injuries are from a mugging. Three months later, Becky is in her flat with her colleague Ryan (Jamie Thomas King), they are having a talk, when all the sudden Ryan is shot in the head through the window, Becky runs out, the other top floor residents find themselves targeted by the unknown sniper as well. The other Tower Block 31 residents are: young couple Amy (Loui Batley) and Jeff (Michael Legge), Carol (Julie Graham) and her teenage son Daniel (Harry McEntire), chavvy single mother Jenny (Montserrat Lombard), middle- aged former soldier Neville (Cape Wrath's Ralph Brown) and his wife Violet (Jill Baker), small-time drug dealers Gary (EastEnders' Nabil Elouahabi) and Mark (Kane Robinson), lonely alcoholic Paul (Russell Tovey), and petty criminal Kurtis (Jack O'Connell). The residents cannot go near the windows for fear of being shot and killed, they cannot go down the fire escape stairs for the same reason, there is no phone reception, the elevators have been shut down, many doors have been booby-trapped, and they find the ground floor escape door has been blocked by a skip container. Their desperation to escape or get help causes friction between the surviving residents, but Becky becomes the unintentional leader, reminding them to stick together and suggesting many of the ideas to help them get out alive. This includes going down the elevator shaft and finding a way out at the bottom, using the fire hose as a makeshift rope to climb down the side of the building to the ground, and finally the idea to start a fire so that people outside will see the smoke and send for help. After setting fire to the top floor, Becky, Kurtis and Neville climb down to the bottom to wait for the emergency services, the gunman shoots arriving property developer Kevin (Christopher Fulford) and his assistant Eddie (Tony Jayawardena) and enters the building, throwing a smoke grenade in. Becky runs out, finds a nail gun in the pickup truck and runs back in, the three survivors manage to subdue the gunman and remove his mask, only to discover it is DC Devlin, he has cracked due to lack of assistance in the murder case, after a struggle Becky finally kills him with the nail gun, the survivors walk out as sirens are heard approaching. Smith as the Sigourney Weaver-like accidental heroine is great, and there is great support from the likes of O'Connell, Brown and Tovey, it is a very simple concept, a crazed sniper who has thought of everything trapping innocent but equally guilty people in their high rise and they try whatever they can to escape, the derelict East End tower block makes for a good eerie location, and there are plenty of gory moments and well-timed shocks to keep nerves jangling, it is a a fantastically tense thriller. Very good!
Review of Tower Block
