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Mutual distrust turns to uneasy alliance as an alien invasion forces a group of British teens to work together with a nurse who they mugged in this action thriller starring John Boyega as the leader of the teen gang. Boyega is just as effective here as in 'The Force Awakens', giving his hardened character a vulnerable, human side bubbling beneath the surface. The actors who play his young friends are well cast too. Jodie Whitaker is less effective as the nurse and Nick Frost is criminally underused, but in general, there is a lot to like about how the characters interact here. There are even some scattered comic moments to be had in how everyone from the teenagers' girlfriends to the local teen drug lord scoffs at their claims of being under alien attack. The gradual bonding between Whitaker and the teens, who she initially describes a "monsters", in the face of *real* monsters is where the film succeeds best though - so much so that the action sequences end up being a low point of the movie. Without any eyes and glowing sharp jaws, the creatures are quite unsettling to look at, but all the attack scenes become a little repetitive with the film sagging towards the middle. The movie certainly ends on a very high note, however, with a third act that potently pushes the film's single biggest message about teen thugs always being misunderstood and never properly recognised.

Made with less than one tenth of SUPER 8 budget, this movie gets twice more entertainment while delivering social messages instead of shallow fake nostalgia. A gang of teenagers (mostly black but from other ethnic groups too) rob a woman/nurse on her way home. A sudden explosion and something falling from the sky, allow the woman to escape. When the gang's leader checks what happened is attacked by an extraterrestrial creature. The group kills the thing and take the body with them hoping to make a few squids out of the strange creature. From there, things get really ugly; when more bigger beasts fall from the sky, police and some gangsters show up; everybody pursuing the gang. The action does not stop. No unnecessary romances, or tear breaking scenes; just a few commentaries about life in those marginal neighborhoods. The acting of the teenage members is excellent. Every one of them has a brief time to deploy their character but all of them have enough charisma to succeed. In brief, do not expect Hollywood overproduced and unrealistic special effects here only real fun.

After reading the previous reviews of this movie, I am a bit surprised to see how many people didn't like it. They didn't care for the characters, because of their rude language, their clothes (Ooooh, hoddies:) and the fact that they are petty criminals. But this is a classic "bad guy turns hero" story with such a great written script and talented young actors. The casting director did an excellent job finding these kids. They are real, natural and very believable in portraying being born and raised in Londons Ends. I found myself actually caring about the characters and their destiny throughout the movie. "Attack the Block" is a horror comedy about an alien invasion. Aaaah, you think, I've seen this before! "Bodysnatchers", "The Faculty", and not to mention the great TV-series "Falling Skies". But this movie is different. The focus in the film lies with the characters, and their reaction to having their street invaded by aliens. The aliens them self are kind of cheesy, but scary in a funny way. I expected Nick Frost to have a bigger role, I loved him in "Shaun of the Dead" and "Paul". But he never disappoints me, funny as always :) I really enjoyed this movie, and if you like movies like "Shaun of the Dead" and "Tucker & Dale vs Evil", you'll probably enjoy this as well.

Favourite quote from the movie " Oh man! All this weed and no skins... This is the worst day of my life!"

All aspiring film-makers should watch this. And those producing films for SyFy or Asylum should also take note.

First and foremost, we need characters. Characters that have each their own voice and emotions, all growing from their personal past. This makes the viewer care about what happens to them, root for them, and believe in them. It also takes a bit of the storytelling burden off the cinematography, as these characters can support the story in their part.

Secondly, a compelling story should be written. Compelling does not necessarily equal complex. A story should have events pan out in an order that presents at least some kind of logic and thought behind it. Twists and turns are okay, but they don't have to be gimmicks. This doesn't mean resorting to worn clichés, but have these engaging characters something to do. Something, that has some weight to it, so that the viewer stays focused for the length of the movie.

And third, add a bit of vision. A little quirk here and there brings the humanity of the characters, the story, and those making the film apparent, and creates the valuable bond between the finished movie and its' audience.

As we can see, none of these elements require much of a budget. So having a small budget should not be a constraint per se, but rather a source of ingenuity. Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one excellent example, Attack the Block is another.

It is clear that they did not have the money for a plethora of awesome locations, top-notch CGI, or brand-name anything. But what they managed to do with what they had was fun and entertaining and well worth a re- watch: The lack of shooting locations was masked with a brilliant and logical reason for limited room; lack of awe-inspiring special effects was masked with more traditional skills, ie. use of light and sound, and going story first (everyone knows how annoying is the modern over-focus on CGI over human connection, even when the effects are great); and I have no reason to believe they were looking for cheap actors, but people with desire to go out and do their best and have some fun while at it.

This film is fresh and entertaining, and as stated in the beginning, a great lesson in how to make something great out of nothing much.

B-Movies were once all the rage, but those days seem to have long gone. This is an update on those old much loved films, which takes a simple but outlandish idea, and fuses it with the modern London world.

We have here a set of young estate living lads who end up caught up with an alien invasion! The strange black furry creatures are attacking their tower block, and our unlikely urban heroes are as much looking out for their own lives as that of the others too!

The humour is good, the effects are fine and likable without being corny, the acting is great and you really begin to love the motley crew in this. They're never patronised, they talk in their own lingo and act like many others of their age do!

I really enjoyed it. I think this deserves more exposure, it's a fun film and will keep everyone entertained. Give it a go.