Citadel 2012

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: Has an atavistic pulse, evoking a decaying society where elevators fail and bus drivers cower behind mesh grills. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: A bare-bones man-against-his-worst-fears white knuckler, shot through deep, menacing shadows. Read more

William Goss, Film.com: Just tense enough for just long enough to keep potentially nagging disbelief at bay. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: U.K.-set monster movie has few scares, plenty of noxious overtones. Read more

Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times: "Citadel" attempts to transform mundane anxieties into the stuff of a horror film. But the initial tension of the premise dissipates like a slow leak. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: This is a basic story, simply and directly told by Irish writer-director Ciaran Foy. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: It's all rather nausea-inducing and a bit frightening - not the film (I can only wish) but its subtextual message. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: While Foy's efforts to create his own distinct modern urban mythos are ambitious, the result isn't entirely satisfying. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: Despite its defiantly un-PC 'fear-a-hoodie' message, the film nails its urban setting, filling every frame with a richly sustained sense of despair, decay and dread. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: The more that fright-flick conventions take over, the more the movie's recognizable and resonant human fears are dulled. Read more

Joe Leydon, Variety: Especially nerve-wracking for any parent who's ever doubted whether he or she could overcome immobilizing fear and spring into action to defend an endangered offspring. Foy exploits that cruel doubt with ruthless efficiency in this impressive debut. Read more

Chuck Wilson, Village Voice: This hopelessly muddled horror movie takes place in a United Kingdom public housing high-rise so dingy and bleak you might feel that razing it would be a mercy. Read more