F

Where to start? No on-screen violence. No identities for the hoodies or any real reason why they decided to kill everyone. Not a single likable character. The protagonist is an alcoholic who hits his own 16 year-old daughter! There's no one to root for, I wanted them all to die. It's a disaster.

These 'hoodies', you still can't see any part of their faces even in scenes where there are big fluorescent lights above them! Logic check! If you go by the start, they are also supposed to be 'F' grade students taking revenge (although this isn't clear), but they must have 'A' grades in Athletics because they run about on large bookcases in the library, fall from the ceiling at every opportunity, they act like stealth ninjas from start to finish.

The ending. Well, there isn't one. The few people that had actually stayed in the cinema just muttered "What?". It's all a very confusing and badly put together mess. Avoid.

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.

Hey look, a socially relevant and disturbingly accurate horror/thriller! You don't see a lot of those, that's for sure. Well okay, only the basic premise and main themes behind Johannes Roberts' "F" are realistic, while the further events in the film are pure fictional and exaggeratedly sensational… And thank God for that! But as said, the synopsis immediately grabbed my attention. Not a day goes by without hearing depressing reports on the news about chaotic riots or shootouts on school grounds and senseless violence against people who are just doing their jobs, like teachers, bus drivers and train conductors. "F" suitably opens with devoted English literature teacher Mr. Anderson taking a punch in the face from a frustrated student after flunking his exam. The school's board of directors refuses to support Mr. Anderson and even forces him to go on sick leave because the kid's parents threatened with a lawsuit. I don't intend to sound overly embittered and old, but sadly this "fictional" intro gradually turned into a saddening fact! Kids used to answer to their parents regarding bad school grades and unacceptable behavior, but nowadays teachers risk to be held responsible for their disrespectful and uncontrollable attitude. One year later, Mr. Anderson still teaches his class but metamorphosed into a completely different person, struggling with alcoholism, paranoia and a torn apart family situation. One evening, when keeping his daughter in detention, a pack of criminal students (?) hiding their faces underneath hooded caps invade the school's premises and relentlessly begin to terrorize the remaining staff members without apparent motive.

As a social statement, "F" is definitely one of the most remarkable genre movies of the past ten years. The subject matter is relevant and the main characters are identifiable, which automatically puts the film in a league higher than your average and typical slasher movie about a bunch of idiotic teenagers heading out to the remote backwoods and getting butchered by inbred hillbillies, or something. Purely talking in terms of cinematic value and impact, however, "F" unfortunately is too much of a flawed and incoherent accomplishment. Writer/director Roberts does a terrific job generating a tense and involving atmosphere, through detailed character drawings and a terrific use of ominous music, but the movie narrowly collapses as soon as the school invasion truly breaks loose. He wants to intentionally remain vague and distant regarding the hooded hoodlums' identity and motives, presumably in order to keep everything more disturbing, but he overlooks the fact that the viewer expects a minimum of insight. The invasion, clearly influenced by John Carpenter's "Assault on Precinct 13" comes across as too random and implausible. The northern London area obviously suffers from troublesome kids, but there weren't any hints at well-organized criminal gangs to my knowledge. Who are these hoodlums? Exactly how many of them? Are they even students at Mr. Anderson's school? They could be a bunch of circus acrobats gone berserk, for all we know, because their speed and flexibility to move across the hallways and climb atop of school infrastructure is deeply impressive. And also, these assailants aren't just insignificant youthful thugs… Judging by the crimes committed here, they're incurably and dangerously deranged psychopaths! If you see what they do to the principle's head or how they mess up secretary Roxanne McKee's cute face, I sincerely doubt we're dealing with rebellious school kids here. Not even the serial killers on death row are this cruel and sadistic. The film actually contains very little on screen violence, but the suggestive cruelty and imagery is more than enough for sensitive people to avoid watching. The ending is a huge letdown and, like many other reviewers already indicated, it looks as if there are fifteen minutes missing and/or Johannes Roberts completely ran out of budget all of a sudden. I think I understand the deeper meaning behind the open ending, but this simply isn't the type of movie for that. It's a worthwhile attempt, but unfortunately not destined to become a cult gem/classic.

First thoughts : This will going to be something good. No zombies, no aliens, no sadistic crap ... just pure it-could-happen-to-everyone horror movie. Maybe with expected ending, maybe something new, but I thought let's give it a try. And movie continues that way. Each human has some boundaries that either he is kept in them forever, or (if pushed too hard) breaks them and escapes, does something (super)natural or at least ... something. Both ways are good, which is human end of the day. But no. Not this one, not our hero. This movie tries to show something new, some alternative perspective while it enters into a nonsense experimentalism, virtual apparent calmness, which is just not realistic. This movie can even make you nervous as it is that silly. It would be better if movie would continue into direction of psychological internal battle of the main "hero" (whether to do something or do nothing) or deeper character analysis than entering into some very poor horror atmosphere, which at the end leaves you empty as shell. So why even bother to write a short poor review about this poor movie ? Purely for the reason that someone else would not make the same mistake I did by watching it. Actors are good, no doubt, but their performance and story they want to tell is just awful. For the beginning of the movie I give 10, for the ending 0. (if this would exist). Sooo average ... or even below.

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!