F

This is a great independent effort. They really take an old fashioned simple concept and make it entertaining. The only real character to speak of is an alcoholic Teacher who appears to be coming slowly undone more and more. After being attacked by a student one day everything just seems to be going wrong for him. I'll just leave it at that. As the viewers were just kind of watching a regular day at school that goes horribly wrong when menacing faceless(which is also a nice touch) killers start slowly taking out all in their way. The movie works with a lot of camera angles, but has a couple of decent gore shots. The directors seemed to be making a more cerebral approach which worked with the breathing and spooky sound tracks. Also, the movie didn't wear out its welcome at an hour and 15 minutes. I would say this is a very watchable British horror flick indeed.

The bad guys could have been nutbars, murderous ex students or zombies... They're THAT generic.

Worse, the premise of the bad guys ALWAYS being behind their victims... It's like none of the characters ever heard of "the second Raptor" (Jurassic Park reference for those unfamiliar... Which shouldn't be many by this point!).

The cops who show up, could have been extras from ANY horror movie. Somethings going wrong, what should we do first off, split up. Duh.

Definitely a gore-fest. VERY formulaic. It's too bad, as the actors could have done SO much better, if the director would have actually put some serious effort into storyline instead of the gore factor.

The ending was the only bit that came across as realistic. In a human sense, if not a movie ending sense.

I made an appearance at a preview of 'F' in Cambridge recently this year.

Though it wasn't a fantastic horror and yes there were some clichés and repetitive moments, I was still thinking about it when I left.

I was thoroughly surprised at the 18 certificate because you rarely see any of the violence taking place, just the gory aftermath, yet this is where the brilliance lies.

Everything was suggested through the camera work. Tension built, shocks revealed and moods created through the use of one camera. The close-ups became reasonably annoying but it is impossible to deny that it was well filmed, very well filmed. The soundtrack was very good and was consistently played which is reminiscent of John Carpenter's films. 'The Thing' comes to mind.

David Schofield carried the film, especially compared to the rest of the cast. His performance was solid and believable. As has been said before, the rest of the cast members were a bit too bland to empathise with, some even used as cannon fodder.

The lighting was brilliant as well, successfully evoking the tension out of its viewers. Additionally, although there was a trick, the 'Hoodies' were fantastically lit, keeping them faceless. The 'Hoodies' are where I feel a lot of people misunderstood the film.

The 'Hoodies' are faceless forces of evil. They are silent, deadly, malicious. They are a symbol of todays violent youth (take the student protest in London recently as an example). The 'Hoodies' were an enigma, a force within and apart of the school. This is where I had the most fun in the film, watching these things cause chaos. When the 'Hoodies' were looming we would know, and that made them ten times creepier.

The ending, love it or hate it, was different and strangely invigorating.

'F', despite the minor clichés, it's slight dip into repetition and bland characters (apart from a couple), and I suppose the lack of a substantial plot, is a fresh film. It is entertaining with some moments of horror and some genuinely brilliant filming, especially when the 'Hoodies' are looming.

Most importantly, there are horrors churned out by Hollywood these days that are skid marks in comparison to this. So if you're a person that enjoyed those terrible remakes such as 'One Missed Call,' or 'Prom Night,' which this film shouldn't really be associated with, then this is definitely worth a watch, in fact it is utterly fantastic compared with those.

One bit in particular is worth watching if you're a Hollyoaks fan... or hater. 6.5 / 10

An alcoholic teacher has to save his estranged daughter when a group of hooded youths attack the school at night....

I liked the idea behind this film, but sadly as written, it doesn't quite work. The characters are largely unappealing so you don't really care what happens to them. For an 18-rated film, there is a surprising lack of on-screen violence. You don't actually see much on-screen, instead usually only seeing the bodies afterwards.

As a result, then the writer/director Johannes Roberts has to rely on his skill with a camera to create tension and any scares he can, and to be fair he does get the building tension as the film progresses just right. There are a couple of scares, but not many.

The cast do their best to look scared or terrified, but as said, the script makes them mostly unappealing people so you have no feelings for them and don't care if they live or die.

Another fault, for me anyway, was the apparent lack of motivation for the attack. Was it revenge for something? Did they attack out of boredom? Something to indicate why they were doing it might have helped I feel.

But Johannes Roberts does managed to partially redeem the film with a truly unsettling ending. I can't recall a recent film with an ending like this, and it actually works brilliantly.

Sadly though it is his writing that lets him down, which is a shame, as potentially this could have been very good indeed.

A missed opportunity.

Reading some of the reviews about F, it is clear that there are a few misguided and unimaginative people out there. Fair dos to them - they are entitled to their own opinions! For the more open-minded people out there:

This film marries together several different film genres to create quite a unique experience. It relies on the audience being able to envisage in their own mind how the story progresses and ends, giving just enough clues to help them along the way.

If cut and dry endings and 100% gore is what you are after, then this isn't going to be the film for you. While F does have several toe curling scenes, that is not all it's about.

I challenge all avid film buffs and viewers to watch this film and identify all the 'non-horror' influences and techniques that have gone into its making. Appreciation for these qualities will mean appreciation for a very talented film maker - hopefully with plenty more films to come!