F (2010)

***

This film was shown at Frightfest last year and I was so jealous of every one that got to see it. I'm a huge fan of these types of films and I really loved Eden Lake, Cherry Tree Lane and The Strangers, as well as the foreign films like Inside, Them and Funny Bones. There's just something about home invasion movies that strike a chord with me. This one is absolutely no different from those I have mentioned (in terms of plot) except for one factor, this one is set in a school.

The plot is very simple, Robert Anderson played by David Schofield is a teacher who is struggling to keep his job. He was attacked by a pupil in front of his students almost a year ago and is now a shadow of his former self. He has lost his wife and his daughter wants nothing to do with him, drink is his only friend and the school is also starting to lose it's patience. He's in the middle of detention, of which his daughter is the only one in attendance, when a gang of faceless hoodies break into the school and start murdering people.

This one sounds great and by right it probably should have been but it turned out to be quite messy if i'm honest. The acting is good, I can't fault it there but it's problems lie with the attackers. They sport grey hoodies which are completely dark so that you never see their faces. I think they must have been gymnasts because they can't seem to stay on the ground, they're all over the place. On the top of cupboards, tables you name it moving like snakes, it's not creepy it's just a bit ridiculous. Also whenever they appear on the screen we get this eerie whispering sound, reminiscent of the music in Profondo Rosso, except here it's overplayed so it just becomes an irritant after a while.

*****SPOILERS*****

Now, down to the most annoying part. The ending to Eden Lake divided a lot of people but I was on board with it and quite liked it, as to with the ending of Funny Bones, The Strangers, Them etc. Except with 'F' the film just ends abruptly, no resolution, a lot of missing links and no point really. Who are the kids? Why are they attacking the school? Did the mother get out? Did the police turn up? Of course that must be the whole point, but I didn't find that interesting, I just found it very frustrating.

What saves this film in my opinion from a score of 2, is that it is genuinely tense and eerie, it just doesn't go through with all of it's intent and stick to it's guns until the very end. Bit of a shame really.