Storage 24

Sneaking in a quick late night showing after the kids went to be, we were limited to the one option – a new low-budget British horror:

Storage 24

“yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap…”

Plot-in-a-nutshell: escaped monster/alien goes on the loose in claustrophobic area with a handful of civilians left to fight it

See it if you like: low budget jumpy horrors with a twist of dark humour

I’ve seen this described as “Attack the Storage”, but it’s a very different film from the recent sci-fi comedy Attack the Block (which I was amazed to see was on TV the other night – so soon!). The cast is much smaller, there’s only one monster (no spoiler, you find that out in about the first 10 minutes) and it’s not got the same level of laugh-out-loud humour.

It’s written by and stars Noel Clarke who I think most will recognise from his stint on Doctor Who. Flicking through his bio, I notice that he’s actually appeared in most of the things he’s written (amongst them Fast Girls which is also currently on release, Kidulthood, Adulthood, 4.3.2.1 and an episode of Torchwood). The plot’s nothing deep and has plenty of influence from older “trapped in an enclosed area while the monster picks them off” films.

Obviously, the trick is to make things a bit different. There’s a decent amount of inter-character backstory that comes out once Charlie (Clarke) and his mate Chris (Colin O’Donoghue) bump into Charlie’s ex Shelley (Antonia Campbell-Hughes) and her mates in a storage lock-up as they divvy up the remainder of their relationship.

Shortly before their arrival, a plane crash has deposited a nasty creature in the area and is also affecting the electrics which drops all the shutters and locks them in. Stage set, let the stalking commence!

Credit to the director, Johannes Roberts, for keeping things tense while still allowing the characters to develop in such a short film. Also, the creature effects – for what is definitely a low-budget effort – are pretty damn good. Roberts ensures that the creature gets plenty of screen time without revealing any zips or strings.

Despite not having the laughter level of Attack the Block (sorry, but it is going to get compared a lot) there are some good guffaws in just the right places to relieve the tension.

Other than this, there isn’t much to tell. It’s short, sharp, enjoyable and has a brilliant twist in the last few seconds which absolutely made the film for me. Don’t go in expecting Hollywood-level effects and you won’t be disappointed. Possibly a cult classic in the making, somewhere along the lines of a more scary Doctor Who episode than an Alien-beater.

Related articles

• British killer monster movie Storage 24 adds nothing new to the horror genre (dailymail.co.uk)
• Cinema & Film: Film Review: Storage 24 (coventrytelegraph.net)
• Storage 24 – review (guardian.co.uk)
• Film Reviews: Movie review: Storage 24 (dailyrecord.co.uk)

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