Review of Citadel (2012) by Steve W — 16 Sep 2013

Tommy watches his pregnant wife attacked by hooded hoodlums. She's put in a coma, and the daughter Elsa is born premature. After developing extreme agoraphobia, panic attacks, and all sorts of weaknesses, Tommy's daughter is kidnapped by the same feral hooded children from before and he must team up with a priest in order to get her back.

The movie's first half is painfully slow, and a bit too dramatic for my taste. They go for realism this time around, and Tommy is reduced to a whimpering and sniveling mass of nerves and crying. He can barely take his daughter to pre-school or leave the house, but by the film's end he conquers his fears and helps a priest (channeling some Brian Cox) to blow up the condemned building where the feral monster children live.

Despite an ultra low budget, this movie has some solid atmosphere and a good kill scene, but it often feels like a short film stretched out with plenty of filler to barely make it past the 84 minute mark. The acting was decent, but the story could have been much tighter with more mystery.