by Johannes Roberts with Noel Clarke, Colin O’Donoghue and Antonia Campbell-Hughes
Last night at the Haymarket Cineworld in central London, the FrightFest organizers delighted a selected audience with the world premiere of Storage 24, the new movie by talented director Johannes Roberts.
After the success of F in 2010, Johannes Roberts is back with a horror that looks back to the classics from the 70s and 80s, but maintaining the modern freshness of the new wave of British horror, of which Roberts is surely one of the most interesting names.
A group of people gets stuck inside a storage warehouse and they have to deal with an alien that’s fallen from the sky after a plane crash and it’s trapped inside with them.
Mixing claustrophobia, aliens, love stories and witty dialogues, Storage 24 is a very smart movie, shot with savoir faire and class by the young director, who also manages to rightfully balance the performances of the actors. Extreme close-ups throughout the movie keep the tension high, conveying paranoia and making everyone holding their breath. Spaces are tight, and the only location of the movie is perfect for a hide and seek game that reminds of Alien or The Thing.
Despite openly showing the alien monster a few times and betting on a handful of big scale scenes, Storage 24 does not fall into the trap of campiness, thanks to the high quality make-up and special effects that make everything feel real. Scares and jumps are scattered here and there using the usual tricks, silence&sudden hit, but what terrifies the most is the surprising and twisted ending.
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