Citadel - Wo das Böse wohnt

Citadel is one of those movies that have a very effective, intriguing and startling beginning, but loses its steam after its tricks and twists are revealed. I did think the movie was atmospheric from beginning to end, with a couple of suspenseful moments here and there. The film starts off with young parents to be, who just finished packing up their things to move from their run down apartment building. The wife is soon attacked by unknown hooded youths, while the husband watches in horror as he gets stuck in an elevator. The attack leaves the wife dead, but forces the baby into the world prematurely. From there on we witness the father's struggle to raise his baby daughter on his own, while dealing with the loss of his wife and becomes agoraphobic. That raw, heartfelt, terrifying and emotionally powerful first half is boggled down by the unrealistic hooded figures that he fears the most, but for me I just wasn't sold and didn't find them scary. They reminded me of the creatures from The Brood.

The performances really save this film, most notably from Aneurin Barnard who plays the emotionally scarred, widowed father Tommy. He gives such an emotionally challenging role and does it in such a gripping fashion than most actors under 30 couldn't pull off. James Cosmo was also great as the Priest and gives such a dead pan, eccentric and commanding performance. James reminded me for some reason of the actor Brian Cox.

Director and writer, Ciaran Foy definitely knows how to get under your skin and stay there, with his claustrophobic atmosphere. I just thought there was an inconsistency with his story; sure it was gripping for most of the running time but just wasn't effective as a whole. The ending was just pretty weak to me and the hooded figures have been done before in a much scarier fashion, like in the film Them. The whole twist was just a sham to me and undermines the harrowing first half. He has the skills and knows how to use them for this genre but got quickly lost here. I still think that it's a pretty decent start for a first time director.

Overall, the movie that comes to mind that dealt with urban violence in a way more effective matter is The Brave One. Citadel had a great start and had one of the most heartfelt and gripping performances from an actor in a horror film in 2012. The villains were just not that scary and kind of silly to me once they are revealed and yanked the effectiveness out of the movie for me. It's a decent horror film but also a disappointment.

From the Irish and Scottish film boards a nice gritty horror that plays out like a great short story. Quite creepy with solid main performances from Cosmo (Braveheart and Game of Thrones) a world class actor and newcomer Barnard. This reminds me of another similarly gritty Celtic collaboration. A great Urban horror set in dangerous Scottish estates abandoned it seems by police and society where fear breeds. The agoraphobia of the main character is done well I thought and that different angle and its subsequent analogy of escaping from the hopeless forgotten edges of society added another dimension to the main character. Cosmo is great as always as the unorthodox priest and you'll not be seeing him waving about any bibles trying to dispossess anyone. The only complaint I will make is a scene which isn't really essential in which some dodgy CGI is employed. The main character might look a bit over made up in his attempt to look like a sleep deprived fear driven man, but otherwise I really enjoyed this film done on an extremely modest budget displaying just how to make a modern urban horror.

I do normally take a look at other reviews of the films I watch, just to see if other people got something that I missed. Here, I think I must have been watching a completely different film. If you check out a lot of the online reviews of 'Citadel' then you'll be told it's one of the best modern horror films ever.

It just bored me.

It's an Irish horror film about a young man who witnesses his wife being murdered by demon children, leaving him an agoraphobic. He later meets up with a - slightly bonkers - old priest and they team up to fight the aforementioned demon hoodies.

It's an okay enough idea (I've seen worse), but I didn't find any of the characters interesting or likable, plus the children weren't that scary (well, no more than their identical clones you see hanging around every off license up and down the country).

Yes, it was presented in a reasonably different way which made it clear they were trying to steer away from the Hollywood style of film-making. But, at the end of the day, it didn't take away from the fact that it bored me.

Others obviously disagreed. Fair enough.

Honestly, I love the whole concept and the story. The thing I found so difficult to watch was the main character, Tommy Cowley. Granted he's agoraphobic, but I'm a bit irritated with such weak characters, especially when they're men. So you'd better have a lot of patience for Tommy's constant cringing if you want to finish the film.

In a nutshell, I thought the decisions the main character made were all short of idiotic, but then again, maybe it's attributed to his "condition". It didn't hamper the fact that the cinematography was quite good, the atmosphere--excellent, and the acting convincing. The spin of the story was also very interesting and I liked that they added an element of supernatural in it.

The pace of the movie is a bit slow, but I thought that worked quite well for the film. There's not much action involved, but I thought the ending was quite good. I still don't regret watching the film and would recommend it.

Great acting by a guy that convinces u that hes going through some real stuff.