Citadel aimed to be a low budget psychological horror and falls flat. Attack the Block released a year earlier did this much better with an alien invasion.

Tommy (Aneurin Barnard) is single father with a new born baby daughter living in fear in a tower block from some feral beings. They attacked his pregnant wife which Tommy witnessed, the baby was saved but his wife eventually dies.

A potty mouthed priest (James Cosmo) tells Tommy that these feral beings smell the fear in him and they will soon come for his baby daughter. The priest wants to blow up the tower block.

Director Ciaran Foy makes his own commentary on Broken Britain which has a reactionary streak. Blow them all up as Tommy goes for a Death Wish option and channels his inner Charles Bronson.

The film would had worked better if the viewer felt that this might be all in Tommy's head. If we never see the faces of these feral beings so we are not sure if they are kids or creatures.

CITADEL is another grim and gloomy slice of British urban horror shot with that cheap and depressing digital look, all greys and blues and no life anywhere. Despite the predictability of the visuals, the film turns out to be not too bad, and certainly better than the similarly-themed F. Aneurin Barnard plays a young father grieving his wife's death at the hands of a group of feral children who roam his local council estate causing mischief. The story that plays out is dingy and dark, enlivened only by the presence of the reliably great James Cosmo as a foul-mouthed priest who vows to help our lead tackle the kids responsible. It's a pretty predictable little outing, but there's enough incident here to keep you watching.

Tommy (Aneurin Barnard) is helpless as his pregnant wife (Amy Shiels) is attacked by a gang of hoodlums. This isn't any ordinary gang, but one that apparently kidnaps children and can smell fear, but "can't see you." He believes they are after his child and is forced to face his fears and the killer children in the "Citadel" an abandoned apartment high rise. He is aided by a priest (James Cosmo) and a blind boy named Danny (Jake Wilson).

At some point in time I had to question if the creatures were real or Tommy's imagination. In one scene they break out a car window, then as they drive to another location, it is fixed. So I had to question if this was a plot point meaning the children were imaginary or just a sloppy production.

The film is all about Tommy's fear and did little to frighten me. It is a film you can take a nap in the middle of it, wake up and know what is going on. The actors did a fine job, I just found the film rather slow.

Parental Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.