Down Terrace

This low budget British crime drama is as entertaining as it is inspirational for film makers everywhere. Played by a real life father and son in the main character roles, the story revolves around the two men (shot mainly in their real life family home) as they are released from prison and set out to determine who is the police informant in their circle. It makes excellent use of a simple acoustic soundtrack, also helped by the fact that the father likes to play guitar as well and is an old hippy, who has, over the years morphed into a gangster and so is different from your usual cockney style villain. This being shot in Brighton also shows a different side to the city which is usually perceived as simply a holiday destination. The plot while being slightly ambitious is played out by the actors very convincingly and holds your attention throughout. I would encourage anyone to see this movie, apart from maybe Michael Bay!

A strange, extremely low-budget, little film and director Ben Wheatley's first picture. After watching the slightly overrated KILL LIST and the bomb that is A FIELD IN ENGLAND, I think that his debut is also his most honest work: DOWN TERRACE is a straightforward, if complex, black comedy that explores murder carried out between friends and family.

The film is essentially set in a single house and follows a father/son team who have just been released from prison. They sit around, swear a lot, and gradually begin to realise that somebody grassed them up. Unfortunately, these characters are by far the least interesting, and real-life actor/son pairing of Robert and Robin Hill is the film's biggest detraction as we're stuck with them for so long. Robert's character, in particular, is fairly pointless in the run of things, while Robin Hill just doesn't cut it as a lead.

The supporting characters are a lot better, not least Michael Smiley's excellent extended cameo as the amusingly-named family man Pringle; Smiley brings an air of real menace with him, and is by far the best thing in the picture. Imagine the picture with Smiley in the lead role! Sadly, it wasn't to be. Meanwhile, Tony Way's also a lot of fun as the dim-witted Garvey, while David Schaal's tackles his stock gangster character with relish.

After the slow start, it soon transpires that DOWN TERRACE is simply a film about a series of quirky deaths (I understand that Wheatley's recent movie SIGHTSEERS is much the same, so this must be a preoccupation of his). The deaths are funny, outrageous and shocking at the same time, building to a nicely grand-feeling climax despite the low budget nature of the production. This isn't a great movie and it's not really one I'd be looking at watching again, but I can safely say that Wheatley's done much, much worse!

Watching this late it's very clear that it's an early effort compared to more nuanced and sophisticated later work. A well developed story and characters build with everything on the table from the actors. Brings humanity to a mythologised group of people, medium level drug dealers. Having lived in and known Brighton some of the characters, especially Bill, ring very true, as does the easy reach to violence even though it seems simplistic.

I remember my first experience there of some friends attempting a major purchase to set themselves up and ending with someone getting stabbed several times with a screwdriver. Could have been a scene here.

Looking at the DVD cover of Down Terrace, you would be forgiven for dismissing it as yet another geezer-filled entry into the British crime genre, directed by somebody who watched Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) growing up and fancied themselves as capable of doing the same. Yet Ben Wheatley's debut feature goes out to do exactly the opposite, and instead of motor- mouthed crims with ridiculous nicknames and heists-gone-wrong, we get a kitchen-sink drama, at least for the first two-thirds, filmed almost entirely within the constraints of a run-of-the-mill house in Brighton.

After a stint in prison, Karl (Robin Hill, who co-wrote the script with Wheatley) returns to the family home with his father Bill (Robert Hill, Robin's real-life father) to try and sniff out the rat who is threatening to bring down their criminal organisation. With the help of mother Mags (Julia Deakin), they invite various associates, including idiot club owner Garvey (Tony Way), muscle Eric (David Schaal) and hit-man Pringle (Michael Smiley), to their home in an attempt to suss them out. Karl is barely able to cope with the relentless criticism dished out by his father and his family's general dysfunction, and the atmosphere is made worse with the re-appearance of Valda (Kerry Peacock), an old flame now (apparently) pregnant with Karl's child.

Channelling the work of various British film-makers, including Ken Loach, Mike Leigh and Shane Meadows, Down Terrace attempts to draw you in slowly, creating an atmosphere of unease before unleashing its bloody final act. It should be a clever subversion of the genre, and in some ways it is, but this is hampered by a measured approach and a self-awareness, similar to the problems Sightseers (2012) had. There isn't a fault to be had with the performances, especially Robert Hill as the everyman crime boss with a slight aura of buffoonery about him. It's also very funny on occasion, and one of Wheatley's real strengths as a film-maker is luring you in with laughs while never allowing you to be completely comfortable. Ultimately, it's a distinctive test of endurance with flashes of brilliance, doing wonders with a micro-budget.

Set in a mundane suburban area of Kent, DOWN TERRACE is the blackest of black comedies involving a family headed by Bill (Robin Hill) who in collaboration with his son Karl (Robin Hill) tries to discover the identity of an informant who shopped them to the police and thereby confined them to prison. There are several suspects among their intimate group, notably Eric (David Schaal), Garvey (Tony Way), and Councillor Berman (Mark Garvey). Meanwhile Eric and his wife Maggie (Julia Deakin) object to Karl's continuing relationship with Valda (Kerry Peacock).

Ably performed in semi-improvised style by a first-rate cast, Ben Wheatley's film emphasizes the culture of mistrust that permeates this so-called close network of criminals. Although professing loyalty to one another through frequent hugs and epithets ("You know I love you"), it's clear that no one really can rely on anyone else to be truthful either in their behavior or their responses to one another. This is a dog-eat-dog community in which only the fittest can survive. There are some gory moments in the film, but they are handled with such panache that we understand Wheatley"s purpose in including them - in a world where 'good' and 'evil' no longer exist, every behavioral move can be seen as absurd, even comic.

Tautly filmed with an astute use of close-up, pans and two-shots in tight spaces, DOWN TERRACE is a low (or perhaps) no-budget piece of work that nonetheless confirms the director's mastery of cinematic form. Highly recommended.