Attack the Block

An incredibly silly piece of trash film straight out of the heart of the comedy horror genre, Joe Cornish's (that's Joe from the Adam and Joe show to you and me) 'Attack the Block' follows one South London estate's close encounter with an alien invasion. On a single night we see a gang of gangster-talkin' wannabe Avon Barksdales go from petty criminals to alien killers. After robbing their neighbour at knife-point, the gang chase down what they think is a dog - only to discover that they've stabbed something other-worldly.

'Attack the Block' is a cheeky film; part send up of the genre and part straight horror comedy, it makes a lot of mileage out of South London's rich street dialect and saves a lot of money on special effects. The aliens are not much more than black felt-tip pen scribbles on the screen, with green luminous teeth added to give them menace. One wonders if the original idea for the aliens was a budget-saving black patch, with the teeth being added after screen testing. Of particular enjoyment for me was the liberal use of South London's West Indian inflected street slang (though my housemate who is from South London was less responsive to it - he had to put up with it growing up).

Nick Frost is perhaps the most recognisable actor in the film (though Jodie Whittaker has been in a pile of stuff with small rolls). He plays a slacker dope dealer living on the top floor of the estate and lording over the block like some kind of scuzzy drug Baron. The other young actors are kind of OK, but I suspect not all of them will end up pursuing full time careers in Holywood. This is a film that isn't going to win any prizes for acting or directing - or script or effects or anything really. But there's no reason for that getting in the way of enjoying this smart comedy horror. I recommend it to one and all.