A long forgotten entry into
the slew of low budget B movie urban warfare action flicks that populated
grindhouse theatres and video stores in the 1980s ‘Tenement’ (aka ‘Game of
Survival’ and ‘Slaughter in the South Bronx’) is a scuzzy nasty exploitative version
of the superior filmmaking of John Carpenter’s masterfully suspenseful ‘Assault
on Precinct 13’ (1976). This is not though putting down the film in review here
as judging it on its own merits it works effectively well on the limitations of
its meager resources as an entertaining piece of cheesy trashy exploitation as it
knows what it is and does not try to be anything more than that. Graphic
depictions of violence and nudity abound weaved into a home invasion tale of
residents standing their ground and fighting for what is theirs.
Set over the course of 24
hours a gang of lowlife scumbag punks looking like castoffs from Walter Hill’s ‘The
Warriors’ (1979) have taken over and are using as their hangout for their drug
abuse the basement of a rundown “tenement”
in the urban decay of the South Bronx, New York that is rife with crime. They
are taken away when the landlord calls the police on them. Thinking they have
gotten rid of their problem, the poverty stricken tenants of this dilapidated
apartment building have a little celebration but having destroyed the drugs and
hidden their weapons when the police arrived the gang have nothing to be held
on and are back on the streets in a matter of hours. Buying some angel dust the
thugs then make their way back to the area and attacking the landlord who
stitched them up they then proceed to get high during which their leader Chaco
(Enrique Sandino) decides they are going to take back their previous residence
and not only that but the whole building in a bloody rampage of revenge. The
residents though make a stand.
This is all the plot there
is really, as the rest of the proceedings entail murder and rape and the
victimized tenants fighting back and turning the tables resulting in the
hoodlums’ comeuppance. One by one, the residents are subjected to sadistic
cruelty and when the survivors rise up to take their stand the gang are bumped
off one by one. There it is that is the movie and it is more the fun for it as
we watch, sympathize and root for the downtrodden honest good people fighting
for their lives and protecting their own against the dregs of society. One of
the main reasons why it all works so well is its unpredictability in who is going
to be next of the luckless tenants to be bumped off. The stronger characters
that usually are the heroes of the day are not so we never know who is going to
be next to meet their fates as everything is wide open.
The film sure does live up
to its infamous reputation with the extremity of its violence depicting gruesomely
mean spirited moments that make me wince every time I watch. A
highlight of which a truly vile gang rape of a single mother in her apartment
having a broom handle shoved up where it does not belong while her little
daughter is alone in another room is the most harrowing. The rest of these
disturbing scenes I will leave spoiler free. Like any piece of exploitation
with a revenge angle, these sequences serve to provoke angry reactions from the
audience to make its villains’ inevitable downfall all the more satisfying as
the viewer watches on with glee as their victims with just as much of a brutal
punishment serve justice. Of course, there are boobs and here we see
Chaco with blood on his hands fondling the bare breasts of the only female member
of his gang covering them in claret.
If there is a downside
though, it is some of the shoddily executed special make-up effects used to depict this
uber-violence that looks laughably fake at times especially one scene in which
a fridge made out of fucking Styrofoam is tipped over on the female gang
member. This is of course due to the restrictions of the miniscule budget but an upside is
that entirely shot on location in a ghetto shithole apartment building the
surprisingly female director Roberta Findlay really captures the grimy look and
feel of a dump of a place you would hope to God you never visit let alone find
yourself living in. Findlay also employs a heavy prog rock soundtrack that
effectively supplements the action and is in contrast to the cheese ridden but
guilty pleasure old school (obviously new at that time) hip-hop title theme in
the vein of Grandmaster Flash’s ‘The Message’ that also closes the film. The
director is the wife of notorious sexploitation king the late Michael Findley and
they worked on many productions together in the 1960s with Roberta often
serving as co-writer, cinematographer and supporting actress. She eventually
moved into directing hardcore pornography in the 1970s before going onto horror
and exploitation action movies in 1985 with ‘Tenement’.
The acting ranges from the decent to so embarrassingly bad it is hilarious. Hispanic Sandino as Chaco is
no actor but he certainly does have a screen presence that makes up for his
lack of acting skills as he portrays a mysterious charismatic sociopathic
silent type. Given little dialogue here was probably a good thing as when he
does speak it is obvious English is not his strong point. Troma fans will recognize
Dan Snow who played Cigar Face in Lloyd Kaufman’s The Toxic Avenger franchise hamming
it up here as gang member and junkie Ruby. Even a real life gangbanger plays
one of the gang (he is the one that is electrocuted).
There are notable standouts
from the cast that did go on to carve out respectable acting careers for
themselves. Paul Calderon who plays Chaco’s loopy right-hand man Hector went on
to be steadily employed in supporting roles who you may have seen in Abel
Ferrara’s ‘King of New York’ (1990) and 1992’s ‘Bad Lieutenant’ (that he
co-wrote with Ferrara), Sidney Lumet’s ‘Q & A’ (1990) and he had a small role as
Paul the barman in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’ (1994). QT even almost
cast Calderon as Jules Winnfield a role that made Samuel L. Jackson a megastar.
Poppo is a heroin-addicted resident whose wife sells herself to feed his habit
played by Angel David who you may remember in a brilliant turn as Skank in Alex
Proyas’ ‘The Crow’ (1994).
Despite its shortcomings the
rubbish production values in ‘Tenement’ ultimately serve to give it that gritty energetic edge in an exaggerated for entertainment purposes sleazy take on 80’s
inner city life. The gratuitous violence while repellent deliberately provokes
our reactions to getting behind the victimized innocents who we can relate to
on an everyman level making the payback hugely satisfying. This is immensely enjoyable midnight
viewing.
*** out of ****
Dave J. Wilson
©2013 Cinematic Shocks, Dave J. Wilson
- All work is the property of the credited author and may not be reprinted or
reproduced elsewhere without permission.
Yeah, a midnight viewing is the perfect way to put it. This movie is gritty as hell, and it's one of the true Grindhouse flicks that were made, and not just advertised as a Grindhouse flick like other films of the time period.
ReplyDeleteIt really does encapsulate the true spirit of a grindhouse feature.
DeleteFantastic review Dave, this one is new to me and was so enthused reading the review I went and ordered the Shriek Show DVD - really looking forward to seeing this one, many thanks ! Sounds like this would make a great double-bill with Savage Streets or Mad Foxes. When I read that Roberta Findlay directed the film I knew it would have a certain...quality. I know we previously spoke about Deadbeat At Dawn but I'm also thinking of Death Wish III, a film I haven't seen in years but I remember it being a good over the top urban action exploiter. I must revisit the original film at the weekend (the only one of the series sitting on my shelf)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Wes. I'm glad I turned you onto something new. Makes me really happy to read that you ordered the DVD on the strength of reading my review.
DeleteI'm not mad keen on 'Death Wish 3'. I love the original and really like a lot 'Death Wish II' but the rest of the series are just passable guilty pleasures for me.
I wrote an extensive piece on the first sequel that incorporates a fair bit of critique on the original...
http://cinematicshocks.blogspot.com/2012/06/death-wish-ii-1982-quintessential-piece.html
Also, Wes, leave a comment here to let me know what you think of 'Tenement'.
DeleteHere we are again some weeks later, and now I'm up to speed, after a screening of the Shriek Show DVD. I was quite surprised by this one I must say, expecting something akin to a mid-80's Troma film but instead watched a film that was actually pretty well directed - for a low budget quickie, I thought Roberta Findlay injected a little bit of style into the proceedings, stealing some great low angle shots which I love; and staging the climax during a rooftop downpour was surprisingly audacious. I also liked the scene-setting docudrama subtitles - 1:35am Third Floor like it was a hardboiled cop show, and the film had at least one fine performance from an intense Paul Calderon. Yeah, I liked it a lot, even the film's beatbox theme tune. Many thanks Dave !
DeleteInteresting to read your thoughts on the film, Wes, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Delete