Attack The Block

First-time director Joe Cornish, best known for the Adam and Joe TV and radio shows, apparently was inspired to craft his debut film following a mugging experience by a group of kids in south London. But you'd be wrong if you thought that the result would be a serious piece in the vein of the tried and trusted British gritty drama set in grey sinkhole estates, such as Nil By Mouth or any number of Mike Leigh films. Cornish instead decided to fuse his brush with south London's youth with an homage to all his favourite sci-fi and action films of yesteryear, and fashion a horror-comedy that looked at the oft-demonised 'hoodie' youth of London's streets with a different eye by putting them in the role of heroes. Outer space meets inner London head on.

Jodie Whittaker stars as a trainee nurse Sam, who has the bad luck to be mugged near the south London tower block where she lives on Guy Fawkes night. The gang of muggers, Pest (Alex Esmail), Dennis (Franz Drameh), Biggz (Simon Howard) and Jerome (Leeon Jones) - not one of them over 15, are led by the sullen but sharp Moses (John Boyega). When an alien meteorite lands on a car near the gang shortly after the clumsy mugging, a strange bald alien emerges which looks "like a monkey fucked a fish". In short order, Moses batters it to death.

But soon more aliens are streaking down from the sky, and these ones are bigger - and meaner. The luminous-fanged predators have before long forced Moses's crew into the block, where both they and their previous victim Sam must form an uneasy alliance and use their knowledge of the council estate terrain if they are to survive the invasion night. Armed only with kitchen knives, fireworks, bangers and a Samurai sword, Moses and his crew have to hope that their street smarts and Xbox skills can give them the edge.

A south Londoner himself (he lives in Stockwell), Cornish brings a true love of the area to the screen, as well as authenticity gained not only from his own experiences but from research during pre-production, which involved endless sessions in the youth clubs of the area and a wide casting net for young, in some cases first-time, actors. From this research comes the almost (at first) impenetrable shorthand patois that Moses' crew use to communicate with each other rapid-fire, which is the film's most distinctive feature.

A melting pot of nods to Xbox, HBO shows like The Wire, rap and hip hop, and cult movies, the kids with their self-crafted dialect make few concessions for those not steeped in pop culture and London life. But by a process of osmosis most viewers should eventually understand what is going on, and apart from being very funny this hyper-speak allows each character to express themselves in a unique way.

Cornish also gives each of the children at least some depth amongst the chaos - though they are all walking that fine line between getting caught up in a life on the wrong side of the tracks and making something of themselves, they possess an admirable loyalty to each other and their block. Sticking two fingers up to the media columnists who decry violent video games, Cornish gleefully suggests that our salvation rests with the Xbox and PlayStation skills these kids have honed.

Cornish has been careful though not to neglect the other side of the coin in this genre-mashup, though - the horror/action aspect is well handled and there are some impressive production design choices on show. This is clearly a film made by a lover of science-fiction and action classics - everything from Assault On Precinct 13, The Warriors and Rumble Fish to The Wild Bunch is referenced. But Cornish works his own impressive action set pieces into the mix too - a slow-motion battle scene at the climax is very stylishly shot, and well supported by Stephen Price and Basement jJaxx's energetic score.

Another well-crafted scene sees the kids trying to drive off the aliens using the only projectile weapons they have - fireworks - which leaves the corridors of the council block filled with smoke, the creatures eerily lit strobe-like by the multicored explosions. The block itself is shot as as to be reminiscent of the claustrophobic and intimidating industrial sci-fi environments of horror classics such as James Cameron's Aliens, with plenty of pockets of shadow and blind corners. Londoners will feel right at home in the terrain, which is in fact a composite of a number of London locations – mostly parts of Islington and the Heygate Estate in Elephant & Castle.

The is a hugely enjoyable film made with enough love and zest to easily paper over any cracks.