Citadel (2012)

RATED- R

RUN TIME- 84 MINS

WRITERS- CIARAN  FOY

STARRING- ANEURIN BARNARD, JAMES COSMO AND WUNMI MOSAKU

DIRECTOR- CIARAN FOY

Synopsis taken from IMDb

Tommy Cowley is a young father inflicted with chronic agoraphobia since his wife was brutally attacked by a gang of a twisted feral children. Trapped in the dilapidated suburbia of Edenstown, he finds himself terrorized by the same gang, who now seem intent on taking his baby daughter. Torn between the help of an understanding nurse and a vigilante priest, Tommy sets out to learn the nightmarish truth surrounding these hooded children. He also discovers that to be free of his fears, he must finally face the demons of his past and enter the one place that he fears the most- the abandoned tower block known as the Citadel. 

This movie caught my attention because it's an Irish horror film, and I can't think of too many Irish horror films I've seen. So instantly I was intrigued to watch Citadel. The trailer was well put together, it didn't show you enough to know exactly what the film's about, but it showed you enough and made you want to see it.

It was a major letdown to find this movie to be somewhat of a dud. It didn't deliver like I was hoping and the ending was anticlimatic. The film is largely based around Tommy's agoraphobia, and this is what I found to be disappointing to an extent. I like that they did this, but they should have focused more on making this film and the little children scarier.

 This film had a few good jump scenes in it and the suspense is strong, it's the lack of it that makes this movie drag on and become boring.

I thought the acting was good, but overall this movie didn't meet it's expectations, despite the critical appraise it's getting. It didn't live up to the backing it had and failed to meet it's potential.

The film centers around Tommy how much of a victim he is after seeing his wife murdered. The scene where she's murdered is one of the best parts of the film for me. Tommy is stuck in the elevator and the doors won't open, so he's stuck hopelessly watching her demise. This made me think of how frustrating and horrifying it would be to be in Tommy's shoes in this situation.

After that he becomes the definition of a victim, he even takes classes to help make himself stop looking so pathetic.He walks in short, quick steps and hunches. This makes the tense scenes even more suspenseful and chilling. It's truly a shame they left so much of the movie bleak and didn't build more suspense and jump scenes.

The children wearing white hoodies reminded me of David Cronenberg's The Brood. They were mysterious children who wreaked havoc. I did like the look of the kids faces. I liked the makeup used and the design. I don't want to give too much away so I'll leave it at that.

There are some good chase scenes in this film that I liked. They were filled with high tension and dread. Tommy being stranded at night time (the worst time to be out) in an area he isn't familiar with.

He is pursued by the children and we get some shots of their faces and begin to think something is definitely wrong with this picture and that Tommy may be in over his head. Once his child is kidnapped by the children, Tommy finds the priest and joins forces.

The priest is deranged and seems psychotic. Tommy needs him though, because only the priest can help him get his kid back. The priest's plan is to blow up the Citadel, where all the children live. Tommy is terrified of this idea but will do whatever it takes to get his daughter back.

Ultimately, this film has the setup to be a great horror film but it drops the ball. They did a great job of making us know how terrified Tommy always was, but there was nothing there to terrify us, the viewer.

THIS FILM GETS 2 REAPER SKULLS OUT OF 5