stuart_osborn

16 June 2013

The Royle Family Meets The Sopranos!

This low budget British crime drama is as entertaining as it isinspirational for film makers everywhere. Played by a real life fatherand son in the main character roles, the story revolves around the twomen (shot mainly in their real life family home) as they are releasedfrom prison and set out to determine who is the police informant intheir circle. It makes excellent use of a simple acoustic soundtrack,also helped by the fact that the father likes to play guitar as welland is an old hippy, who has, over the years morphed into a gangsterand so is different from your usual cockney style villain. This beingshot in Brighton also shows a different side to the city which isusually perceived as simply a holiday destination. The plot while beingslightly ambitious is played out by the actors very convincingly andholds your attention throughout. I would encourage anyone to see thismovie, apart from maybe Michael Bay!

08 June 2013

Not for me

This review is from: Down Terrace [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) The reviews at Amazon lead me to buying this waste of time. Now that you have read this review you will probably buy it anyway. There are no saving graces, so you can at least turn if off as soon as the smell developes instead of waiting for things to improve as I did until the bitter end. John

05 June 2013

Brighton Fink

Curiously riveting low-budget crime caper from Blighty that segues seamlessly from droll domestic routines to sudden spurts of ultraviolence. Chronicling the implosion over two weeks of a minor family-run goon squad, Down Terrace plays like some new type of movie mutation where the mundane and the macabre are mixed to shockingly hilarious effect. Talk about getting under your skin! Plus the folk songs running through this bracing little flick add their own wayward wrinkle to the general sense of disequilibration. Utterly unpredictable and visceral, Down Terrace is Mister Wheatley's first feature film apparently and I gotta say I haven't been this impressed by a hitherto unknown quantity since getting an eyeful of Lenny Abrahamson's hypnotic and devastating Garage (2007).

31 May 2013

Slow but engrossing UK Crime dark comedy

Think Coen Brothers meets a KEN LOACH movie and you'll get the jist. Small budget but Great Acting finds this quirky British story of a Father & Son just out of a short stint in Jail. Someone close to them & their nefarious family business has ratted them out to the police. The family's downward spiral of paranoia adds to an ever increasing body count. Real Life Father & Son actors are fabulous. Mom is outstanding & a regular in several of Edgar Wright TV & Movie projects. Docked 1-Star 'cuz the tone's not even throughout the film. Instead of balancing the Comedy w/Drama...The 1st hour of film has more funny offbeat humor while the last 20 or 30 mins offer very little brevity. A couple of neat turns you dont see coming. Worth a rent if you like quirky, talky British Crime Comedy/Dramas. Definitely lighter but along the same lines as Sexy Beast, Bronson or 40 inch Chest.

29 May 2013

Insidepulse Movies - Mike Noyes

Question: What do you get when you take a Guy Ritchie type crime story with the pacing of a Jim Jarmusch film and have it directed by Kevin Smith?Answer: You a get film about a bunch of criminal Brits who sit around the house talking about stuff.However, despite the talent of the influence and the quote on the DVD cover proclaiming the film to be "profanely funny," Down Terrace is a boring blunder that fails almost every step of the way.Read the rest of my review here:It's also worth noting that the director contact me regarding my review. Despite my bad review he was a very nice guy.

Dante Golio

29 May 2013

Babes in the wood

DOWN TERRACE is a real treat: An understated British gangster flickmixing hilarious dysfunctional family drama with pitch-black crimemovie brutality. Before discussing content, it must be noted that theaccompanying music track is ridiculously amazing. The fact that nosoundtrack recording has been released saddens more than the ultra-grimtale itself. When Bob Hill's character strums his acoustic to a heartyrendition of "Spanish Ladies," for a moment, you think he's a nice guy.For a moment. Starring a real-life father and son, DT will make youfeel better about any minor grievance within the family unit. Actually,"Dysfunctional" is too kind a description for directly to HELL is wherethese folks are a-going'.Our story begins with Bill and Karl just released from a brief jaildetention. A jolly welcome home party ensues, but it's easy to tellthat darkness is fast approaching. Apparently, Bill and Karl run anightclub, but only as a cover for their underworld crime syndicatedivision. The old reliable "Snitch In Our Midst" plot device isrevealed to be the reason for the jail time. As our anti-heroes seekthe traitor, you will not believe the behavior on display.Violent yet minimally bloody, DOWN TERRACE could be the quietestHooligan cinema ever imagined. The emotional wallop, however, willleave you flat-out knackered.

23 May 2013

Piece of Shite

Horrible! Horrible! Horrible! I'D GIVE IT ZERO STARS IF I COULD! Don't let the cool cover graphics and description fool you. This Has to be the worst garbage all around I've seen in at least a year!! I gave it a full half hour of viewing before I couldn't take it anymore and turned it off. In the first half hour NOTHING happened. No tension, nothing really interesting, etc. I could tell the writer, director, actors, producer were trying to build up to something but what I don't know. Save your cash and run, don't walk, from this Dog!

23 May 2013

Babes in the Wood

This review is from: Down Terrace (DVD) DOWN TERRACE is a singular treat - A lo-fi British gangster flick that mixes hilarious dysfunctional family drama with pitch-black crime movie conventions. Before discussing content, it must be noted that the accompanying music track is ridiculously amazing - Uplifting, haunting, organic. The fact that no soundtrack recording has been released saddens more than the ultra-grim tale itself. When Bob Hill's character strums his acoustic to a rousing rendition of "Spanish Ladies," for a moment, you think he's a nice guy. For a moment.Starring a real-life father and son, DT will make you feel better about any minor grevience within the family unit. Actually, "Dysfunctional" is an understatement as directly to HELL is where these folks are a-goin'. During the first 10 minutes, the viewer settles in with a cheery enough crew: Bill and Karl, just released from a brief jail detention, are greeted by a welcome home party. Mom, Maggie, makes tea and smells the beautiful roses in her garden. "Lovely," she exclaims. Apparently, Bill and Karl run a nightclub, but only as a cover for their underworld crime syndicate division. The old reliable "Snitch In Our Midst" plot device is revealed to be the reason for the jail stint. As our protagonists seek the traitor, we witness their family values. Simply put, you will not believe the behavior on display.Violent yet minimally bloody, DOWN TERRACE could be the most quiet Hooligan cinema ever imagined. The emotional wallop, however, will leave you flat-out knackered.

axlrhodes

22 May 2013

Claustrophobic and intense. Ben Wheatley is an exciting talent.

Writer/director Ben Wheatley's debut feature film Down Terrace isBritish drama that fuses together the kitchen sink social realism ofShane Meadows, Ken Loach and 'The Royle Family' to make compelling yethighly uncomfortable viewing. Wheatley, who demonstrates flair forcreating small moments of humour around intense menace really sets hismarker down with this unsettling look into the world of a crime familyin steep decline. Thanks to being mostly confined to the small rooms ofyour average two-up-two-down terraced house, the film has a sense ofreal claustrophobia which is accentuated all the more by the intensityof the drama. It's one of those films where even as people sit down toa family meal, you can sense the brewing violence in the air. Thetight, confined spaces only serve to heighten the feeling of beingtrapped in these small rooms with psychotic characters. All theperformances register strongly, the picks being Robert Hill (Bill) andJulia Deakin (Maggie), the mother and father of the house, or Godfatherand Godmother. To begin with, Maggie has the demeanour of the loving,but downtrodden Mum who runs to the kitchen when the boys startarguing, but as things unfold her character develops and theperformance is chillingly well measured. Anyone familiar withWheatley's follow up film 'Kill List' will cheer when the likableMichael Smiley turns up in a similar small role. So, Down Terrace setsa strong precedent for a debut director with its realism, horror andblacker than black comedy

Cat

21 May 2013

Not worth blowing for!

Perhaps it's because of my not being used to their accent, so I had a hard time following the movie. Then, when they start murdering each other in the family and the family circle, I just realized - "That's it? That's the whole movie". Should have saved the money for food and drinks rather.

17 May 2013

Babes in the wood

This review is from: Down Terrace (DVD) DOWN TERRACE is a real treat: An understated British gangster flick mixing hilarious dysfunctional family drama with pitch-black crime movie brutality. Before discussing content, it must be noted that the accompanying music track is ridiculously amazing. The fact that no soundtrack recording has been released saddens more than the ultra-grim tale itself. When Bob Hill's character strums his acoustic to a hearty rendition of "Spanish Ladies," for a moment, you think he's a nice guy. For a moment. Starring a real-life father and son, DT will make you feel better about any minor grievance within the family unit. Actually, "Dysfunctional" is too kind a description for directly to HELL is where these folks are a-goin'.Our story begins with Bill and Karl just released from a brief jail detention. A jolly welcome home party ensues, but it's easy to tell that darkness is fast approaching. Apparently, Bill and Karl run a nightclub, but only as a cover for their underworld crime syndicate division. The old reliable "Snitch In Our Midst" plot device is revealed to be the reason for the jail time. As our anti-heroes seek the traitor, you will not believe the behavior on display.Violent yet minimally bloody, DOWN TERRACE could be the quietest Hooligan cinema ever imagined. The emotional wallop, however, will leave you flat-out knackered.

GrahamEngland

16 May 2013

Less Is More, Much more.

British crime films are a very mixed bunch, for every 'Long GoodFriday' or 'Sexy Beast', there is a whole load of low rent, formulaicfayre of diminishing returns.This film has one advantage from the off, not being set in London - oras many of the characters in the poorer films of this genre say it,'Laanndan'. (Hiding those well brought up accents can be a strainperhaps).It's set in Brighton, a town (recently upgraded to a 'City') onEngland's south coast. But not the Brighton known to many here inrecent years, the place of celeb second homes, nightclub culture, aliberal place for homosexuals before most of the rest of the countrybecame more adult and relaxed about this part of society.The Brighton of mundane suburbia is the setting, not the culturalepicentre.Largely set in a home, where Bill and his wife live with their 34 yearold son, we first see them, the father and son, after being acquittedin a drugs trial, little to celebrate though - how did they get intocourt in the first place? Who grassed them up - have to be someoneclose, to their right little, tight little world of lower ranking clubemployees and drug pushers.The home is the actual dwelling of the actor playing the father, wherethe son - his real life son - was actually brought up. Only the motheris played by a quite familiar actress - Julia Deakin. The father, Bill,being an ex hippy who wistfully reflects on the brief period ofapparent enlightenment through Cannabis and LSD, via yoga and theTibetan Book Of The Dead, before money, crime, harder drugs, intruded -which swept up Bill too.So begins a claustrophobic period of suspicion, paranoia, leading toviolence and murder. Between bouts of domestic bickering, including a'meet my pregnant girlfriend' family dinner that is a mire ofpassive-aggressiveness.The cast are largely drawn - when they are not family members of thewriter and actor playing the son - from innovative and usually ratherdark comedy shows and stand up.Micro budget it might have, but Down Terrace punches well above it'sweight. Lack of flash leads to a concentration on family dynamics -albeit a deeply disturbing one - realistic script and genuine plotshocks and surprises.This film is refreshing, often laugh out loud funny - darkly funnyusually - intense and a real gem. Clearly a labour of love from thesmall team involved in the whole production, a labour though ofinspiration rather than just perspiration.

10 May 2013

Babes in the Wood

This review is from: Down Terrace (DVD) DOWN TERRACE is a real treat: An understated British gangster flick mixing hilarious dysfunctional family drama with pitch-black crime movie brutality. Before discussing content, it must be noted that the accompanying music track is ridiculously amazing. The fact that no soundtrack recording has been released saddens more than the ultra-grim tale itself. When Bob Hill's character strums his acoustic to a hearty rendition of "Spanish Ladies," for a moment, you think he's a nice guy. For a moment. Starring a real-life father and son, DT will make you feel better about any minor grievance within the family unit. Actually, "Dysfunctional" is too kind a description for directly to HELL is where these folks are a-goin'. Our story begins with Bill and Karl just released from a brief jail detention. A jolly welcome home party ensues, but it's easy to tell that darkness is fast approaching. Apparently, Bill and Karl run a nightclub, but only as a cover for their underworld crime syndicate division. The old reliable "Snitch In Our Midst" plot device is revealed to be the reason for the jail time. As our anti-heroes seek the traitor, you will not believe the behavior on display.Violent yet minimally bloody, DOWN TERRACE could be the most quiet Hooligan cinema ever imagined. The emotional wallop, however, will leave you flat-out knackered.

yeodawg

10 May 2013

Who brings a baby to a GANGLAND execution?

This is the reason I watch British films. Its not for the pomp andcircumstance and hither thee will and stuff. It's because the dialogueand characters are as rich as a velvet cake. From the opening scene Iwas engaged and entertained. Half the dialog in this movie doesn't pushthe story along just flushes out the character's more. The maincharacters just got out of jail and are desperately trying to figureout who turned them in. And by "desperately" I mean complaining aboutthe quality of the welcome home cake. For being gangster they reallynever do anything gangsterish. No deals, no dealing with the police, norival gangsters. Some brief repartee, some tit for tat then the nextthing you know, …..They just start killing everybody for every reason,none that have to do with the upcoming court case and snitching.

msroz

26 April 2013

Crime family without trust cannibalizes itself

I rate this above average for story originality, acting and a degree ofrealism. The camera work, however, has some bad moments. I don'tconsider this a comedy, not really, but I do think that the actors attimes had a hard time playing this straight. It's true though thatone's reaction to what one sees is likely to be a kind of smile becauseit is so far from normality. Everything is turned upside down in thefamily. What they take as normal might be killing someone. On the otherhand, they are not shown as monsters. In many ways on the surface, theyact like any family.The style of story-telling is not to present any unneeded explanationor exposition, but to let the viewer figure out what's going on as timepasses, day by day. This works. It's not too hard to see what'soccurring.The story is about a crime family, father, mother and son, and theirassociates. The father and son have managed to come out of jail. Theythink someone ratted on them, but they do not know who. They conferwith their associates and begin a series of killings.The basic factor is that all trust has evaporated. They have been toldthat the police has a complete picture of the whole organization.The father, mother and son provide their own interwoven plot. All arecriminals and the family is very dysfunctional. The father isdomineering and suspicious. The mother is cold blooded. The son takesmedication and has a temper. His father and mother won't let him leadhis own life, marry or become a father.The resulting picture or brew is a curiosity. It's one of a kind. I amreminded a bit of "The Honeymoon Killers" with Shirley Stoller and TonyLo Bianco. That too combined surface normality with very abnormalbehavior. That lacked humor, however. In this movie, the charactersjoke around more in their conversations.

25 April 2013

In a mob family theres nobody free of guilty!

The British films about gangsters, have their own profile. The last giant film I remember is from 1980, "The long good Friday" that somehow represented the British answer to "The Godfather".In this opportunity, we assist to the tragedy of a decadent and crumbling empire that is about to end, and how the wild instinct of preservation and survival simply ignores (like in most of cases happen) transforms this wealthy clan in a huge bloody swamp.Filmed according the rules of cinema verite, still accent the anguish and the inner demons that nestle beneath their souls.Good film but never a great one!

justincward

02 April 2013

If Mike Leigh did Hamlet

I really enjoyed the microbudget Down Terrace - it's the story of aBrighton (English seaside town) gangster family in the style of TheSopranos, where suburban gang soldiers can expect no mercy from anyone,even in the middle of a bowl of muesli. In the end they're all invarious degrees of psychosis - the logical conclusion being that thecharacters have to kill or be killed. And kill they do, getting throughmiles of polythene sheeting in the process.The plot, such as it is, is that the family who run the crime ring(which we never really learn about) suspect that they've got aninformer, and over two weeks the operation falls apart bigtime as theparanoia escalates.It's carried on in a Mike Leigh impro style, and some of the acting anddialogue might have done with a bit more direction and editing, butthat must be a consequence of the small budget. The unfamiliar cast getright under the skins of their characters - I used to know exactly thesort of hippy drug dealer that would have turned into Bill, thefolk-and-blues singing father who thinks he's Chinese philosopher (Artof War) Sun Tzu.Down Terrace is surely best watched on a small screen. On the bigscreen the claustrophobia of the small terraced house would beoverpowering, and in order to tolerate this tale of family dysfunction,wholesale murder and psychosis you need to be able to detect the black,black humour running through it.There are some great touches throughout, if you watch it without tryingto make too much sense of the plot; it's the sort of film that inspiresyou to make your own low budget thriler, and that can't be bad.

01 April 2013

A very dark comedy about family

This review is from: Down Terrace (DVD) I first saw this film at the 34th annual Cleveland International Film Festival in 2010. The writing is so darkly funny and the performance are absolutely top-notch, especially the real-life father and son, Robert and Robin Hill. Julia Deakin as the mother is phenomenal too.

30 March 2013

Crime film like no other

Marvellous,low budget study of low life criminals.Acting is superb and the humour is very dark.No glamorising of crime in this one which makes is quite unique.

davideo-2

29 March 2013

Over-rated crime drama

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning** Sunday Night * Monday Morning The plot to Down Terrace is mostly formulaic for the gangster genre-two men being released from prison, belonging to a crime family, tryingto suss out the police informant who put them there, and everythinggoing haywire as they near closer to who they think is the culprit. Butit seems to think it's cleverer than maybe it is, with so littleinspiration to the story and nothing snazzy in other departments. Noneof the dialogue rings true or feels natural and it's hard to take Jay'sdad from The Inbetweeners seriously in one of the gangster roles.Someone else may interpret it a little differently, but personally, thenovelty was lost. **