Tenement (1985) User Reviews

Grim urban action flick

[udar55 · 7/10 · 8 April 2005]

If one were to crown Roberta Findlay's best film, I think TENEMENT would be it. A variation of "people trapped in the house" genre, TENEMENT takes place in a run down building, all in one day with Findlay keeping the tension going with on screen titles giving the time (and sometimes even the apartment levels). This helps as the gang ruthlessly tries to make its way up to the tenants.

The gang is, as most gangs in films were during this time period, cinematic-ally goofy. It is a multi-ethnic gang dressed to the hilt in chains and leather. Findlay admits on the DVD audio commentary that during filming she encountered many real gangs in the Bronx and subsequently found out that her vision of gangs "wasn't very realistic." Regardless, the cast, comprised of mostly unknown but professional actors, is very convincing. Both Sam (Joe Lynn) and Chaco (Enrique Sandino), the leaders of the good guys and bad guys respectively, are given very strong portrayals by the actors. An interesting bit of trivia, TENEMENT marks the film debut of Paul Calderon, a recognizable character actor who went on to be in a wide range of stuff from PULP FICTION to LAW & ORDER.

One of the multiple films in the mid-80s urban warfare genre, TENEMENT is perhaps the sleaziest of the bunch. Director Findlay goes for the throat in terms of the violence, featuring brutal rapes, stabbings, throat slicing, animal mayhem and castration. It created a cumulative effect so strong that the film was award an X rating by the MPAA (interestingly, so was the gang war epic DEATH WISH 3 at the time, but it was reversed on appeal).

A REAL Grindhouse movie.

[coldwaterpdh · 7/10 · 28 January 2008]

I have to say, I had never heard of this flick. It came in a 3-pack I just got called 'Grindhouse Psychos' and man the price was worth this one flick alone. Even if the other two films SUCK, I'd pay what I paid for all any day for just this movie.

The acting is atrocious, though you'll see some familiar faces. I kept going: 'I've seen that dude/chick in something before...' but it was difficult to put my finger on exactly what it was. "Tenement" was totally brutal. It has some scenes that are downright nasty and this is not a film for the faint of heart. Here is the thing though; this movie is really entertaining! It might be cheesy and the blood looks like Campbells tomato soup, but there sure is plenty of it to make it worth your while.

I commend the folks who made "Tenement" because you can tell they put everything they had into it and that's why it deserves this rating. Unlike so many other films that Hollywood keeps churning out these days, every penny was squeezed dry and people had a blast making this film and you can totally tell through the whole grueling experience. I watched it last night, but I slept on it before reviewing it and today I kept thinking how awesome it was...Yea, I dug this one!

The plot: a group of HILARIOUSLY STEREOTYPICAL New York tenement tenants call the cops on some AWESOMELY BAD thugs living in the basement. The thugs get out of jail and come back for revenge and in a big way.

If you can find this flick, buy it. It's worth every cent. The only downfall I found with this one was the ending...a little lackluster.

7 out of 10, kids.

Tenement! It's a place to live!

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 15 August 2016]

In a truly slummy area of NYC, a vicious street gang squats inside a dingy apartment building. One of the residents rats them out to the cops, but the revolving doors of justice being what they are, the scum are back out on the street later in the day. Guided by their cool-cat leader Chaco (Enrique Sandino), they spend one whole night and early morning terrorizing the residents, one floor at a time.

Considered by some to be exploitation legend Roberta Findlay's finest effort, "Tenement" (a.k.a. "Game of Survival") is gloriously trashy. It's got plenty of sex and violence to satisfy lovers of the genre, with decent action and great attention to grim and grubby detail. This is pretty much prime sleaze, although it does suffer from an over abundance of dummies. These protagonists just do not act sensible often enough. The only one of them who's got something resembling a brain is building tough guy Sam Washington (Joe Lynn). But it's still fun when, in the movies' final quarter, Washington leads his comrades in a concerted effort to thwart the bad guys.

And what magnificently nasty bastards they are. Sandino is an amusing head villain, with future Hollywood character actor Paul Calderon making an impressive film debut as one of his flunkies. Super sexy Karen Russell is easy to watch as Chacos' lady friend Chula. All in all, the acting IS better than you'd usually find in a Findlay movie. We've got Mina Bern as old lady Ruth, Walter Bryant as amiable Mr. Wesley, Corinne Château as Carol, the prostitute supporting a junkie boyfriend (Angel David of "The Crow"), Rhetta Hughes as the tough talking Leona, Larry Lara as the insufferable Rojas, Alfonso Manosalvas as lovable old blind man Mr. Gonzales, and Gy Mirano as the very pregnant Anita.

There are some lovely gore moments, and a very hip soundtrack. (That theme song is likely to be stuck in your head after the movie is over.) The single most depraved sequence involves a broomstick; it's also something the viewer will definitely remember.

Lively entertainment with a smashing climax that takes place as the night is at its darkest and stormiest.

Seven out of 10.

A sick pageant of precipitant brutality from Roberta Findlay.

[EyeAskance · 20 November 2003]

A piggish gang of inner-city punks embark on a sadistic killing spree inside a ruinous low-income housing facility, intent on making the building "their own". Some truly vexatious scenes of gleefully exacted torture and murder make TENEMENT one of the most inclement exploitation films of the 80s.

Rather deficiently crafted for the most part, this is still possibly schlock-queen Roberta Findlay's most technically accomplished effort, and it actually features a few uncommonly decent performances. TENEMENT is a deliberately discomforting urban horror film recommended explicitly to those seeking a challenge to their humane sensitivities and emotional sang-froid...not exactly a "feel good movie of the year" nominee, but it certainly meets its grievous objectives head-on. Be aware of what you're in for.

5/10

At the end of the day, it's still a Roberta Findlay flick.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 29 March 2011]

Fed up with their basement serving as headquarters to a gang of violent, drug-taking street punks, the tenants of a run-down New York tenement building inform the police about their unwanted guests' stash of illegal narcotics and firearms; believing the gang to be safely behind bars, the delighted tenants hold a party to celebrate, but elation quickly turns to terror when they discover that the thugs have been released from jail and are looking for revenge.

Just a few seconds of the horribly dated rap theme-song for Tenement should be enough for most sane movie fans to switch off in abject horror, but those who stay the distance (the certifiably insane, lobotomy patients, obsessive fans of z-grade trash) will find that bad 80s music is possibly the least offensive thing about this film: schlock director Roberta Findlay packs her film to the rafters with scenes of mean-spirited violence and sleaze carefully designed to keep even the most twisted of movie degenerates drooling with glee, including several bloody stabbings, a pair of scissors in the face, a throat slashing, and a rape that ends with the old 'broom handle up the punani' routine.

Sadly, while a catalogue of assorted unsavoury acts like this would normally qualify a film as an unmissable exploitation treat in my book, Findlay's typically ham-fisted direction, unconvincing gore, and terrible performances from nearly all involved make this film a gruelling experience for all the wrong reasons. It's not often that a movie can feature so much atrocity, yet still be most memorable for its bad guys' (and gal's) terrible dress sense: sporting cropped vests (tastefully slashed), chains, black spandex, and a fetching range of studded leather apparel, they look like they've either spent the evening partying hard at an S&M club or just been to an audition for raunchy 80s dance troupe Hot Gossip.

Some IMDb reviewers have cited this as their favourite of Findlay's directorial work, although as far as I am concerned, choosing your favourite Roberta Findlay film is akin to choosing your favourite STD.

Nasty ultra violent sleezefest, you gotta see it!!!

[Indyrod · 7/10 · 4 June 2010]

I have to admit, this is a real favorite of mine in the graphic extreme bloody genre of semi-revenge thrillers. (is that even a genre?) Oh well, I saw this back in the day, and what I remember is the x-rating it got, and I don't believe it was ever edited to get any other rating. I watched it a 2nd time last night, and listened to the interesting commentary by director Roberta Findlay. She doesn't understand why it got an x-rating at all, but believe me, this was very strong stuff back in 1985. Basicially a gang of drugged out baddies get kicked out of their basement dwelling and arrested, and soon come back to kill everybody left in the tenement. This has some great stuff in it, some really zonked out homicidal gang members, and some residents that decide to put up a fight. And it is has some pretty decent production value, and the main goodies, extreme graphic violence and a high abundance of blood. This is a good eighties nasty, which deserves a place in your sleeze collection.

Ugly & Stupid Crap

[Falconeer · 3/10 · 8 September 2019]

It amazes me what gets picked up for the Blu Ray treatment, while so many truly good films get ignored. "Tenement" features a script that could have been written by a 12 year old, and unless you have the mentality of a (dimwitted) 12 year old, you will not be able to focus on this unimaginative cinematic abortion. The first half has a cheesy, dumb looking gang who terrorizes the residents of a Bronx tenement building. I couldn't tell if their leader was male or female, as he looked like Scott Baio in drag. They want revenge on the tenants for calling the police on the gang and getting them arrested. You get to see ugly people doing things like gnawing on dead rats and beating or stabbing senior citizens to death. The second portion shows the tenants getting their revenge by killing the gang off in equally bloody ways. The end. That's it. We get ugly cinematography, nasty, cartoonish death scenes and a thoroughly unappealing cast, with the exception of Angel David, who appeared in the infinitely superior "Mixed Blood" that same year. There isn't even any location footage of the Bronx in the 80's, which would have at least provided something of value. But this cheap crap is filmed entirely inside this building which could have easily been a fake movie set. It is an absolute mystery why certain titles get selected for restoration and Blu Ray release. Sadly there is a market for this garbage, which doesn't say much for the taste of the masses. As a fan of the urban crime genre, particularly the Grindhouse stuff that came out during the 70's and 80's, I am especially disgusted by this trend. For those interested in the genre, and have standards, seek out titles like "Deadbeat At Dawn," which is a powerful film that features impressive martial arts, jaw dropping stunts and intelligent writing that actually says something about poverty and gang violence in urban areas. The creator of that film, Jim Van Bebber, wrote, starred in, produced, directed and even performed the dangerous stunt work, in an important and iconic film. And "Combat Shock" is another urban crime flick that had an even lower budget than "Tenement" but still manages to be a million times better, by including some insightful drama with the horrific imagery on screen. And while worthless crap like "Tenement" gets so much attention, the films of Joseph Vasquez are completely ignored. What is up with that? His movies "Bronx War" and "Street Story" are excellent movies that deal with the subject of gang violence in 80's and 90's NYC, in such a realistic way that the viewer feels like they are getting a view into this world that is documentary-like and genuine, because the director is actually a product of that world. So why are these important urban crime flicks unavailable and forgotten, while this garbage gets all the attention? People need to raise their standards and seek out better films.

Bloody Brilient!

[TM-2 · 7/10 · 10 July 2005]

I bought this DVD last Friday because I was looking for some early 80's, politically incorrect, sex'n violence balance to the banality of to-days oh-so-correct trash that Hollywood spews out. As I scanned the shelves for something that would scream Independence, I came across 'The Tenament'.

You usually cannot go by what the cover says. They can't ALL be the 'most shocking', 'depraved', 'explicit', 'gut wrenching', 'gory', 'perverted'...well, you get the picture.

As I picked up 'The Tenament', I hoped the cover-art hype would be, for once, right on. The claim was it got an X certificate on release and it wasn't because it was a porno in drag! My wife saw the cover and excused herself. She knew I was on an odyssey to combat the effects of the sanitized hogwash we bathe in daily and was not quite ready to cleanse her brain. She has a much higher tolerance, being a woman.

I sat down with a very nice glass of chardonnay, dimmed the lights and fired up the DVD.....

I was in luck! This was definitely a find - a throwback to the days when you 'made a statement'. Sleezy sex, violence, gore, disco music, electrocution, did I say Gore?, slashings, drug use and other assorted bad stuff. They don't make 'em like this anymore! This is definitely an NC-17 or 'X' for real.

Talking of 'X', I really miss the category. I don't mind the porn industry but I'm ticked of they hi-jacked my favorite movie certificate. The Should have used 'P' (for Porn) or 'PPP'.

Afterwards I watched the directer interview. Roberta gave some very interesting anecdotes that indicated life during filming was just as bizarre.

Well, I'm re-balanced and ready to absorb more of the bland, bleached offal being forced on me by the media moguls.

Highly recommended. Watch the extras on the DVD. Not a date movie. Has multiple viewing potential.

could benefit from a remake, actually...

[Jonny_Numb · 4/10 · 7 October 2005]

A street gang squatting in the basement of the worn-down title structure is thrown in jail, only to be released the same day, and gunning for the occupants who turned them in. Thus begins "Tenement," a bargain-basement attempt at outdoing the violence and depravity of "Last House on the Left" and its imitators. Instead of increasing its admittedly warped charm, the low budget instead hinders the production, with lamely rendered deaths (that employ the same Campbell's Tomato Soup blood FX), a plodding pace, uneven acting, and some of the most regrettable fashions of the 1980s (which is saying a lot). Director Roberta Findlay (co-author of the notorious "Snuff") poorly juggles windy dialog scenes intercut with violence that is more shocking in theory than execution (the broom-handle rape being a prime example), but also presents a few daringly unconventional characters (including a woman who whores herself out to support her boyfriend's heroin addiction) that raise the interest factor a little. "Tenement," long a lost video relic from the '80s, didn't necessarily deserve to be found, but could actually benefit from a decent remake.

Bronx's funnily dressed street gang just declared war on the tenants of a shabby building.

[Fella_shibby · 6/10 · 1 March 2019]

I first saw this in the 90s on a vhs. Revisited it recently. This exploitation film is loaded with awful acting, bad effects but it is violent, claustrophobic n very brutal (the rape scene). The less said bah Findlay's direction, the better. Basically it is a mix of Assault on Precinct 13 n Demons 2. A gang with their lol leather attire kills n assaults tenants of an isolated shabby building. With the telephone lines cut off n no help from the outside world, they r isolated n terrorised in their own building but they do hold their fort n tries to fight em off with terrible consequences. It has some brutal kills with over the top blood n cheesy effects. The hottie Corinne Chateau does show her boobs but in a miss n a blink situation. The names of characters r poppo, chaco, chula, monk, nines, etc.

..often embarrassingly poor.

[christopher-underwood · 4/10 · 8 September 2005]

This movie, of course, has it's fans but I just found it tedious. It is not the constant shouting, running up and down the stairwell and the bloody violence that is in itself boring but the manner in which it is depicted. The direction is all over the place, sometimes really effective but often embarrassingly poor. Even without a storyline and with over and under acting, if the vision of the director is focused then we as the viewer can indulge in the resultant movie, be it good, bad or indifferent. The inconsistency continually forces us to reappraise what it is we are watching and with 'Tenement', we are bombarded throughout with clichéd situations, dialogue and camera angles. Were this a film made by complete amateurs, strangely I think it would have been better. It is the very existence of occasional effective moments that continually makes one so aware of the trashy, carelessness of so much else.

A sadly forgotten B-movie classic

[movieman_kev · 9/10 · 24 August 2005]

This is without a doubt director Roberta Findlay crowning achievement and one of the true essential of 1980's 'urban warfare' movies. This film is proudly a B-movie, wearing it's bloody blackened heart on it's gore drenched sleeve. And I truly wouldn't have it any other way. Featuring mostly unknowns although some would later find success in varying degrees, Karen Russell (from "Vice Academy" and "Hell High"), Dan Snow (Yup, old Ciger Face himself from the Toxic Avenger movies) and Paul Calderon, who would go on to do bit parts in many great movies. This is a nasty one, broom handles where they have NO right being, sadistic violence, and general depravity combine to make a potent concoction. I loved every second of it. And the theme song by 'The Kool Crew' is great.

Eye Candy: Corinne Château and Karen Russell get topless

My Grade: A-

DVD Extras: Commentary by Roberta Findlay; Interview with Findlay; Photo gallery; radio spot; Original Trailer; and Trailers for "Blood Sisters" (with nudity), "Blood Feast 2", "Duck the Carbine high massacre", and "New Barbarians"

A savage survival shocker from the Grindhouse

[lukem-52760 · 7/10 · 26 July 2018]

This was a very violent & grungy & gritty & grimy 80s gang film but it was an interesting watch to see who would survive the night & how they would be killed off. The apartment is a big old tenement building that is grimy & run down & these small group of ordinary all very different characters have to basically just survive the night as their building is attacked by a viscous psychotic street gang & it's crazy & very bloody. Acting is ok sometimes good & sometimes ridiculous but hey IT'S a low budget 80s film so just what i expected, i really wanted PAUL KERSEY (Bronson) from the excellent DEATH WISH FRANCHISE to turn up & just shoot the gang & save the day but hey that was my fantasy lol but yeah this was a good film but some choices the tenants make are so STUPID they deserve to die!!! Not too bad but not up there with the likes of the similar DEATH WISH 3 (1985) & ENEMY TERRITORY (1987) both BRILLIANT!!! Still this little grindhouse Thriller is a good watch even if some scenes are too sick!!! The urban decay south bronx setting really has a gritty scary atmosphere & this film uses all that in the hopelessness & we're on our own SURVIVAL instinct & IT'S great fun.

Not Even Good-Bad

[paul_d_day · 1/10 · 11 November 2012]

I'll be honest - I couldn't finish this. I'm not sure I've ever seen a b- movie try so hard to be pretentious. It comes of like Plan 9 meets Grand Hotel. A full 20mins gets taken up establishing the apartment building that will be terrorized. Worse, it comes with time stamps as if there's some sort of urgency in the blandness and horrible acting to follow. It's hard to know if the lead villain is Hispanic or a French guy doing an Hispanic. Another small quibble - why are villains all dressed up like BDSM submissives? One would think they'd want to dress a little more dominant.

This is a poorly written, directed and thought out piece of crap with literally nothing to recommend about it.

A violent, repulsive and down right unpleasant movie

[Serpent-5 · 3 March 2000]

This film has the entire tenant squeal on a drug dealing gang to the police, only for them to get out, and one by one, they go to each tenant in the floor, killing and torturing them in an ugly fashion, making their way up to the top floor tenants, as the tenants either run to the top, or just stay in their rooms, waiting for their inevitable deaths. You see some repulsive violence, as well as pure sadism that would make Abel Ferrara proud as it out-Abels Abel Ferrara films in capturing the down right seediness and the hopeless and the no way out living of being holed up in these poor buildings. With each new death, you just realize there is no way out for these poor souls, and that they are facing inescapable death. Very grim, especially being directed by a woman! The ending is very corny, which kind of shifts the mood of the most of the film, almost ends like a Monty Python skit, but ignoring the last 5 minutes, this is a ride into despair and hopelessness that you will soon not forget. Just down right ugly! You'll will NEVER want to rent a New York poor apartment house after seeing this film!

Tenement (1985) *1/2

[JoeKarlosi · 3/10 · 22 January 2008]

A friend brought this DVD to my house after we got a kick of revisiting the unintentionally hilarious DEATH WISH 3. However, the goings on in TENEMENT aren't nearly as accidentally funny, as this is more of a straight-ahead gore film involving a violent gang of young junkies and losers who terrorize the people living in a slummy tenement building in the heart of the rapidly decaying South Bronx area of New York. They are arrested and taken to jail early on, but manage to get out quickly and return to the tenement for revenge by leaving the tenants no route of escape while these punks set out to kill them for their own kicks. As far as trash cinema goes, this one has its brief moments along the way. Directed by Roberta Findlay, who used to work with her late husband Michael on exploitation fodder from the '60s like the infamous "Flesh Trilogy", and who now is one of the few female porn directors, among other things. The title song by Kool Krew is delightfully stupid. *1/2 out of ****

Ranks among the great B-Movies

[samxxxul · 7/10 · 12 August 2020]

Tenement is good grindhouse fun and a morally indefensible slum invasion thriller with a simple story that is fiercely told. The film is simple in a way that works in its favor and it is very entertaining. The story follows a drug selling and violent street-gang who terrorize renters of a big trashy apartment-house. The action is punchy and brutal with decent performances by Paul Calderon, Karen Russell and Dan Snow. I must mention the badass grandma who was a solid support to the cast. That rape scene is quite horrifying which also draws on emotions with some humor and thrills. The film blends The Warriors/Batteries Not Included/Assault on Precinct 13 with Italian action galore influence. The film was distributed under several titles including GAME OF SURVIVAL, TENEMENT: GAME OF SURVIVAL and SLAUGHTER IN THE SOUTH BRONX. The film was directed by one of the most prolific female directors in all of exploitation cinema. Roberta Findlay, along with her husband Michael, made a number of sadistic exploitation movies before she moved on to the Adult cinema. This is one of her best works along with A Woman's Torment (1977), Blood Sisters (1987). On an overall scale, Tenement is an entertaining cheesy sleaze fare, intensely exciting & immensely satisfying independent cinema from the 1980s that manages to deliver the goods without ever letting its mediocre budget hinder its creativity or quality in any manner. Worthy of its cult status & definitely worth your time. It can sound dated for the gorehounds, nevertheless, it's still a relatively good low budget B-movie action after a slow start.

Waste of time.

[mhorg2018 · 1/10 · 28 September 2023]

First, some of the previous reviewers who gave this a 1 for things like; gore, depravity, torture, horror and evilness, were lightweights. What makes this worthless movie worthy of a 1 rating (please, IMDB, please add a ZERO rating!) is the sheer ineptitude of the film itself. It looks like a poor rip off the better (and I'm sure no one has ever said this) Death Wish III. Roberta Findlay started as a porn director and she should have stayed there. Some of the worst direction I've ever seen. The acting is terrible, the plot and dialogue are silly, the blood looks like Franco American spaghetti sauce! Gore? Nonexistent. This is an insult to the gore dripping films of the 1980's, which, starting with Friday the 13th, pulled no punches. The Tenement itself? Part looks like its been condemned (one cop says it should be blown up) but one apartment looks like it comes from an expensive hotel? The 'Battle' between the five tenants and the 'gang' all dressed like rejects from a Michael Jackson video, A real gang from that era would have laid waste to them. Really a terrible movie. Not even worth a view.

RAT ON A STICK

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 9 June 2019]

This is perhaps the highlight of the Roberta Findlay film library. Roberta returns to her South Bronx roots to film on location. A gang who lives in the basement of a large apartment dwelling get ratted out by the super and arrested on charges of gun possession and drugs by cops who don't use cuffs. As the tenets celebrate, our bad guys are out of jail in an hour and return to terrorize the dwellers through rape and killing. With the lone phone line cut, the tenets fight back.

This is semi-Troma style exploitation. 5 stars or 1 star depending on your love for bad films.

F-bomb, sex, rape, impalement, nudity (Corinne Chateau, Karen Russell who was hooker #1 in "American Rampage" and coed #2 in "Dr. Alien." )

Troma without the laughs

[Stay_away_from_the_Metropol · 5/10 · 11 November 2023]

This is literally just a Troma movie minus all the laughs and most of the creativity.

I even noticed one of these gang members played the Hitler character in, I think, Toxic Avenger IV?

It has some really wild music on the soundtrack and also serves as an epitome of what exploitation films are all about, but there are tons of similar films that are more interesting so I'm not sure why you'd hone in on this one. Personally I'd rather just re-watch one of Troma's batshit crazy classics like Class of Nuke Em' High for my dose of over-the-top 80's punk gangs brutally killing each other, blended with some comedy and creative FX. Or, even more similar to this, but far superior is Death Wish 3. I would recommend both of those films in a heartbeat way before I'd recommend this one.

Funky Violence

[Tweetienator · 7/10 · 3 February 2021]

This is one of those guilt pleasures, but really, I like the verve and the crude making of this little trashy gem. Tenement is on of those B-trash movies that are very entertaining, if you like such stuff, despite some flaws. The story: a street gang of no-goods and the residents of a building in the Bronx fight to the death. Only recommended if you can handle and like stuff like (s)exploitation, gore (a little), grindhouse, trash, cheese, bad taste, violence in general.

Saddle Club Gang

[saint_brett · 1/10 · 24 May 2023]

Tenement is the self-proclaimed movie that beats its chest out in that it's too forceful for a Disney audience.

I watched this once before, and the mortification I experienced afterward, if I recall, wasn't a sensation of delectation and left me turning turtle.

It looks like it was filmed when the Bronx actually looked like the Bronx before all that gentrification modernized it only recently.

Is it safe to say that the Bronx actually looks clean and friendly today?

I'm not too fervent about this "Citizens on Patrol" rap style at the start of the credits.

Well, rejected and dejected from The Guardian Angels, Sonny from "Predator" and his cabal of tag-alongs form their own underground clique and dwell in the basement where the "Beat Street" boys used to congregate.

And you know this band of thugs is the real deal when they blow away a defenseless sewer rat with a gun.

Gonna build a lot of street cred based around shooting rodents. This nameless gang is the one to avoid. Do they even have names? I believe one is called Choko.

Choko speaks like that street tough from Seinfeld, Bob, who stole Elaine's armoire. "Are you talking to me?" Half the time, I can scarcely make out what he says.

The NYPD forage the "Beat Street" lair and apprehend Choko's crew for dressing like the Village People.

After being arraigned and dismissed in five minutes, Choko and his crew are released and back out on the streets, and he wants his armoire back with a passion.

It's plainly obvious that whoever's behind this movie was heavily influenced by Charles Manson and the Hillside Strangler cases.

"Tenement" blatantly steals scenarios from each case.

The guy playing Mr. Washington is a clone of the "Ghostbusters" guy from "Enemy Territory." Or vice versa? This came before "Enemy Territory," didn't it? Oh.

It's actually petty and unimpressive the way the baddies in this are conducting themselves, and I highly doubt a pry bar could impale somebody as there'd be no grip to shove it through a torso. Not to mention the damage one would do to their hands.

"Do you have any iodine?" Iodine? They no longer sell that, do they? It's now this watered-down crap called betadine. (The junkies were extracting something out of iodine to make meth, I think.)

To prove they're pernicious, the Village People gore a recliner chair and shipwreck all the upholstery. Is the viewer supposed to take this gang seriously?

"Tenement" is not doing anything for me!

In fact, I'm looking forward to making a cup of soup instead.

Intermission time.

There, I just made Dutch Curry Instant Soup.

"Tenement" is nearly finished, and I'm not enjoying it at all.

"Enemy Territory" is a more believable movie with creditable characters.

The baby-doll-faced leader, Choko, sounds like Tommy Wiseau at times. His acting is on par as well. What a weak lead for a villain in a movie!

The terrorized tenants finally fight back, and the best kill so far is the fridge rolling over the female baddy and dispatching her instantly. I didn't catch her name, and I only gave her body 1/10 as well. She looked better in leather than naked.

I wonder what brand that fridge was. You could hire it to become a cold-blooded killer at your service.

A sublunary close to the movie sees Elizabeth Pena replicate Tommy Jarvis from "Jason Lives," where she stabs Choko with a metal spear as the rain cascades down while the dead Ghostbusters fella, who was slashed, shot, and stabbed, comes back from the dead and announces himself as Lando Calrissian reincarnated.

Absolute drab bum of a movie that's full of busters and no-hopers.

Nasty exploitative trash classic

[The_Void · 8/10 · 17 March 2008]

Tenement may clearly be a very cheap production, but this is excellently masked by the thoroughly mean exploitative style. The film is along the same lines as urban exploitation such as Assault on Precinct 13 and The Warriors and is similar in style to both also; although the film actually reminded me a lot of the Lamberto Bava trash classic "Demons", also released in 1985, as the main focal point of the film is on a disorganised group of people trapped in a claustrophobic building and facing off against a group of ravenous thugs. The central setting is a run down block of flats in a poor area of The Bronx. The flats come under attack from a violent street gang and naturally the residents call the cops and get them hauled off to the station. The gang doesn't take lightly to this, however, and after being released a short while later; they decide to take revenge by returning to the flats and trapping the residents inside. The gang hold the residents to ransom with brute force, but things take a turn for the unexpected when the locals turn the tables...

Despite obviously being made on a budget, director Roberta Findlay clearly put aside enough of it to ensure that the film features plenty of gory kill scenes. The violence is not constant though it is gratuitous when featured and I'm sure that will delight anyone with a mind to see this film. The style of it verges on post apocalyptic and the costumes worn by the central gang reflect this. The block of flats at the centre of the film provides an excellent location for the film to take place and the director does a good job of enforcing the central situation on the audience and ensuring that the claustrophobia comes across as well as possible. The plot doesn't contain a lot of surprises and it's always obvious where it's going, so it's a good job that getting there is a lot of fun to watch. You can be sure that there's going to be another kill scene just around the corner and the film is pulled off with a pitch black sense of humour which bodes well with the unpleasant goings-on and atmosphere. Overall, this is a cheap and cheerful eighties gore-fest and I'm sure that it will please anyone lucky enough to track it down. Recommended.

This Tenement Building Keeps Dodging The Wrecking Ball.

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 7/10 · 28 September 2022]

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Tenement; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.75 Direction: 1.25 Pace: 1.25 Acting: 1.25 Enjoyment: 1.25

TOTAL: 6.75 out of 10.00.

It's time to step into the urban nightmare that is the tenement building of the 80s. If you watch any movie from that era set within one, you'll quickly see they weren't pleasant places to live or bring up a family. And like most, this particular apartment house is overrun with rats - human rats.

And it's the story of how the tenants deal with their pest problem which made the film so appealing to me. The writers Joel Bender and Rick Marx construct a believable scenario. The caretaker calls in the cops when the gang of miscreants in the basement become too disruptive. The boys in blue arrive and cart off the boys and girl in leather to the local clink. Sadly, the police can't hold them long, and the gang's rancour has grown more heated while in the cooler. Once they're out on the streets, the tribe head back to their building - the residents have a lesson to learn about who's in charge. Bender and Marx litter the narrative with engaging and robust characters. And one of my favourite elements is that the residents aren't all likeable. For example, the custodian is a loathsome fat man who likes to hear his own mouth run. But the stories it tells paint him as a hero, a strong man, a survivor. But it's obvious he's lying because he oversells the tall tails. He is just another scared bloke, but he's not as bad as the occupants believe. He did call the police, and he will, like the lion of Oz, find his courage. Another lowlife the residents distrust is the junkie hubby of the woman in an apartment on the first floor. The wife turns tricks to keep hubby's habit from kicking too hard - and to keep a roof over their heads. But when the crap hits the fan, the husband shows his true colours and sacrifices himself to save his love. But before the blade slashes his flesh, he poisons his stash, which kills one of the delinquents. These two individuals add to the realism. They're not likeable characters, but they do the right thing when required. Another bonus is that Bender and Marx keep everything logical until the story's climax, when events become the most desperate for everyone. When the yobs return, the residents move to the upper floors and barricade themselves in. While downstairs, the gang members help themselves to the empty apartments and their contents. Once everything has been ransacked or slaughtered, they move up a floor.

Roberta Findley does a great job of capturing the confinement and temporary incarceration of the tenement's renters. Most of the apartments are on the pokey size. Nevertheless, some occupants still decorate them the best they can, while the more unfortunate and less house proud live in the squalor of ripped wallpaper and peeling paint. The location or the true-to-life stage sets constraints didn't allow her much leeway with the filming. Those same constraints forced her to use some strange camera angles to get the best shots. Some scenes appear recorded while the cameraman stood on furniture or knelt on the floor. These aspects add to the overall feel of how cramped the place was. The only drawback I had with the movie was the lack of tension. The film is primarily a dark action thriller with an accent on the action component. The villains of the piece are drugged-up thugs looking to draw blood in revenge. They are so cold-hearted that a bloody dead body doesn't phase them. In one scene, the gang leader Chaco and his bint get frisky by covering themselves in the blood of their kill. Clearly, this type of psychopath required more tension and edginess in their segments - it's just too glossy and matter-of-fact for me.

The cast is pretty good. I particularly enjoyed the performances from Larry Lara as Rojas, the caretaker. He makes the man as slimy and as unappealing as anyone could. But he keeps a quiet underlying power that has you feeling sorry for him when he...well, you'll have to watch the film to find out what befalls Rojas. And Rhetta Hughes gives a powerful performance as Leona, a strong and single-minded single mother. The only person I was irked by was Joe Lynn, who played Sam Washington, and this was chiefly down to the wardrobe choice. The guy's dressed in the 80s hard guy's hero garb of a sawn-off sleeve-less shirt. The trouble is it's a clean and pressed faun shirt with matching trousers. I never saw anyone in an ironed sleeveless shirt in the 80s; the grubbiness and fraying sleeves made them cool enough for the muscular macho-men to wear. He also came across as a tad pretentious as the hero. I wanted to slap him at times, which isn't a great way to feel towards a hero.

Tenement is a good slice of 80s exploitation and is enjoyable, considering some of the subject matters upon which it touches. This enjoyment factor is down to the director choosing to make it more of an action flick than a dark thriller, which makes it easy to sit down and enjoy while not having to think about it too much. I would happily recommend Tenement to anyone who likes action flicks, especially 80s ones.

While we wait for those thugs to pass us by so we can sneak out of this damned building, take a quick look at my IMDb lists - The Game Is Afoot, Killer Thriller Chillers, and Dramatisation Of Life to see where I rated Tenement.

Take Care & Stay Well.

"All of you here are dead!"

[Backlash007 · 21 February 2010]

~Spoiler~

"Tenement it's a place to live some look so bad make you wanna shed tears." Tenement: Game of Survival is a tale of urban decay from Roberta Findlay (Blood Sisters, Snuff). Yes, women can make trashy exploitation just as well as men. Perhaps better. This movie has one scene in particular that goes further than anything in Last House or I Spit on Your Grave. I found myself covering my mouth with my hand! You'll know the scene if you've watched the flick. Actually, I'm going to spoil it: A woman is raped to death with a broom and her 6-8 year old daughter sees the aftermath. It was pretty shocking even to me, and I've seen plenty of trashy movies. The storyline is similar to Death Wish 3...only without Charles Bronson. A gang is hanging out in the basement of a building where one tenant has had enough. He calls the cops and the gang is arrested. Unfortunately, the punks are soon released and swear vengeance on all the tenants of the building. Before you can say Assault on Precinct 13, the gang is fighting their way through the building killing everyone. One complaint I had is that I would have liked to get to know the tenants a little better, specifically Mr. Washington. There are some things left unsaid about his character. Was he a Vietnam vet, or just the bada$$ super? The gang members were also one dimensional characters who are only amused by death (even if it's one of their own). I didn't really care when they killed the tenants, and on the other hand, I didn't find myself cheering when they were killed like I should have been. I think the movie is a bit of a failure in that regard, but it's still watchable. I really wouldn't mind seeing this one get the remake treatment. The acting is terrible all around with few exceptions. Those being Joe "Mr. Washington" Lynn, Dan "Cigar Face" Snow, and the always underrated Paul "Always Underrated" Calderon.