GrimmFest 2012: Comedown Review

Director: Menhaj Huda

Starring: Adam Deacon, Jacob Anderson, Jessica Barden, Sophie Stuckey, Geoff Bell, Duane Henry, Calum McNab, Gemma-Leah Devereux

Running time: 90 Minutes

Certificate: TBC

Synopsis: Six childhood friends break into the abandoned tower block where they lived as kids to rig-up a pirate radio station, get high and party. When one of the group disappears, the friends search the tower and soon realize that they are not alone – a resident psychopath lurks in the shadows and is hunting them down, one-by-one…

KIDULTHOOD director Menhaj Huda is back on familiar ground as his latest effort begins as the ever now tiresome ‘urban yoof’ drama before descending into the even more familiar slasher flick territory. You can name check pretty much all those traits expected to feature throughout this film – recently-released youngster brought up on bad estate wants to go straight, a pregnant girlfriend wanting him to do so, annoying ‘friends’ pressuring them to stick with their lifestyle, hip-hop bloody soundtrack and a maniacal silent killer going DIY an their asses, ‘innit’. It’s all been done so many times in varying scenarios but cast and crew deserve some credit by at least giving it an original angle with the joining of the two genres in such a setting and location. Sadly, they aren’t quite able to pull it off and COMEDOWN becomes as generic as those films it’s borrows from and obviously hopes to emulate.

Lloyd (Jacob Anderson) is fresh out of a stint behind bars and a determination to change his lifestyle along with pregnant childhood sweetheart (Sophie Stuckey). Within moments he’s consorting with those anti-social idiots, clashing with a rival gang and offered drugs and money to stick an aerial at top of his former home – a now condemned tower block – to allow friends to broadcast their frankly terrible tunes (whatever happened to Cheggers Plays Pop eh?). All six mates (including up-the-duff Jemma) go along for the ride as they’re wanting to celebrate his release with a night of pill-popping and partying. It’s this reason why it’s difficult to connect and essentially ‘like’ any of the characters when doing dumb shit like that, and even if Lloyd and Jemma are saying ‘no to drugs and drinking’, they’ve still put themselves in that position with their so-called buddies. When Jemma goes missing after an argument and Lloyd is spiked, the party turns to paranoia as they realise there’s someone else lurking in the shadows.

Tower blocks appears to be all the rage lately with movies such as THE RAID, DREDD 3D and erm… TOWER BLOCK setting the majority of their movies in such a location, which certainly works for some of those efforts and does so for COMEDOWN…at times. It’s maze like set-up makes for a number of intense set-pieces and killings, but does become repetitive and the building of suspense is basically ‘where is the killer now’? Perhaps I’m getting too old and numb to the slasher genre as the audience I sat with lapped up the scares that I saw coming, well in advance.

The performances too are rather stereotypical and mundane, with only Duane Henry’s gentle giant Colin as a stand-out. Adam Deacon plays his character as obnoxious and over-the-top (no change there), once again proving the BAFTA award for rising newcomer was a fluke. There is no real reason either, why Anderson is the only one playing ‘tripping’ after his spiking, while all characters or supposed to be off their faces as well, after a drug-fuelled montage. The ‘twist’ set-up is also signposted well ahead and has been seen many times (FRIDAY THE 13TH, THE BURNING, HALLOWEEN), while the conclusion just does not work at all. However, the dispatching of victims, gore and make-up are superb and brilliantly realised and redeem the ropey visual effects.

A collective, customary let down, innit!

 COMEDOWN will be released in January 2013