Attack the block
High-rise horror, action and thrillers.
The plot usually involves someone having to fight their way up to the top of a block or fight their way down and out. Common set pieces include room-to-room fighting and poorly lit corridors, so I've also included films set in larger apartment buildings, which has a very similar feel even if they aren't as far off the ground (although far enough that the fall would be lethal).
The theme has become popular for zombie films and their cousins amongst the contagiously violent, as it takes the siege element introduced in Night of the Living Dead (which was heavily influenced by The Last Man on Earth) and raises the stakes to new heights.
See also: Hoodie horror, which often takes place in tower blocks. In addition, Don't Ever Get in the Elevator! is a list of lift/elevator-based films (not my list but I know the creator). Although it might seem the opposite of subterranean horror, there are some films that are essential set in inverted tower blocks, like Resident Evil and Fortress.
Comments: As I don't have a Facebook account I cannot interact with the new comments system, so have switched it off and replaced it with a thread on the message board.
The plot usually involves someone having to fight their way up to the top of a block or fight their way down and out. Common set pieces include room-to-room fighting and poorly lit corridors, so I've also included films set in larger apartment buildings, which has a very similar feel even if they aren't as far off the ground (although far enough that the fall would be lethal).
The theme has become popular for zombie films and their cousins amongst the contagiously violent, as it takes the siege element introduced in Night of the Living Dead (which was heavily influenced by The Last Man on Earth) and raises the stakes to new heights.
See also: Hoodie horror, which often takes place in tower blocks. In addition, Don't Ever Get in the Elevator! is a list of lift/elevator-based films (not my list but I know the creator). Although it might seem the opposite of subterranean horror, there are some films that are essential set in inverted tower blocks, like Resident Evil and Fortress.
Comments: As I don't have a Facebook account I cannot interact with the new comments system, so have switched it off and replaced it with a thread on the message board.
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- DirectorJoe CornishStarsJohn BoyegaJodie WhittakerAlex EsmailA teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion.Here for the thumbnail graphic, list continues below:
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsPaul NewmanSteve McQueenWilliam HoldenAt the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.The classic film that heavily underlined our fears of the tall edifices.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsPaul HamptonJoe SilverLynn LowryThe residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are being infected by a strain of parasites that turn them into mindless, sex-crazed fiends out to infect others by the slightest sexual contact.Body horror with contagious violence overtones.
- DirectorDick MaasStarsHuub StapelWilleke van AmmelrooyJosine van DalsumA lift technician finds himself drawn into a web of mystery and peril as he investigates the perplexing deadly accidents occurring in the elevators of a new office building.See this list, for more elevator horror.
- DirectorRoberta FindlayStarsJoe LynnMina BernWalter BryantA drug selling and violent street-gang terrorize the renters of a big trashy apartment-house.
- DirectorLamberto BavaStarsDavid Edwin KnightNancy BrilliCoralina Cataldi-TassoniA group of tenants and visitors are trapped in a 10-story high-rise apartment building infested with demons who proceed to hunt the dwindling humans down.
- DirectorPeter ManoogianStarsGary FrankRay Parker Jr.Jan-Michael VincentAn insurance salesman inadvertently gets trapped after dark in an apartment building that is terrorized by a street gang called "The Vampires."
- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsBruce WillisAlan RickmanBonnie BedeliaA New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.The defining film for the high rise action.
- DirectorGary ShermanStarsHeather O'RourkeTom SkerrittNancy AllenCarol Anne is staying with her aunt in a high-rise building, where the supernatural forces haunting her make their return.Might win the prize for earliest use of the looming towerblock on its poster.
- DirectorRichard KletterStarsPaul ReiserSusan NormanRichard GantA man working at an ultramodern corporate building finds himself and a colleague trapped inside with a homicidal security system hell-bent on killing them both after perceiving them as a "threat".A crossover with murderous machine movies.
- DirectorGeneviève JolliffeStarsJason ConneryStephanie ButtleHeather Ann FosterAfter a car accident, Lizzie lies dead on the roadside - slowly she is taken into the light - but is pulled back to earth when she is revived by the doctors. Lizzie feels sure that during the 184 seconds that she lay dead, something latched on to her and came back into her world. The nightmares and visions that follow only crystallize her belief that she should have died in the crash... Then the disturbances start, at first merely tappings and bad smells - but soon the activity escalates. Lizzie seems to be the focus, but according to others, she's just playing games for attention. Only when Kate, her mother, is confronted with inexplicable events does she face the possibility that they may be the victims of a poltergeist infestation.
- DirectorJosef RusnakStarsCraig BierkoGretchen MolArmin Mueller-StahlA computer scientist running a virtual reality simulation of 1937 becomes the primary suspect when his colleague and mentor is murdered.
- DirectorDick MaasStarsJames MarshallNaomi WattsEric ThalWhen the elevators in New York's 102-story Millennium Building start to malfunction, mechanic Mark Newman is sent to find the cause. After a series of gruesome and deadly "accidents" occur, Mark joins forces with spunky reporter Jennifer.Remake of The Lift.
- DirectorDanny BoyleStarsCillian MurphyNaomie HarrisChristopher EcclestonFour weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.One act plays out in a tower block under attack by the infected.
- DirectorHideo NakataStarsHitomi KurokiRio KannoMirei OguchiA mother and her 6-year-old daughter move into a creepy apartment whose every surface is permeated by water.
- DirectorJohnnie ToStarsRichie JenKelly ChenNick CheungAfter a disastrous failure to stop a robber gang, the police attempt to redeem themselves through a series of publicity stunts and shootouts.
- DirectorTimur BekmambetovStarsKonstantin KhabenskiyVladimir MenshovMariya PoroshinaA fantasy-horror set in present-day Moscow where the respective forces that control daytime and nighttime do battle.
- DirectorWalter SallesStarsJennifer ConnellyAriel GadeJohn C. ReillyA mother and daughter, still wounded from a bitter custody dispute, hole up in a run-down apartment building, where they are targeted by the ghost of a former resident.
- DirectorTimur BekmambetovStarsKonstantin KhabenskiyMariya PoroshinaVladimir MenshovWhen Anton, a Warrior of Light, is falsely accused of murdering some vampires, he embarks on a journey to find the real killer and search for an ancient object that has the power to alter destiny.
- DirectorJim MickleStarsNick DamiciKim BlairRon BriceA deadly infection breaks out in Manhattan, causing humans to develop into blood-thirsty rat creatures.
- DirectorJaume BalagueróPaco PlazaStarsManuela VelascoFerran TerrazaJorge-Yamam SerranoA television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.
- DirectorJohn Erick DowdleStarsJennifer CarpenterSteve HarrisColumbus ShortA television reporter and her cameraman are trapped inside a building quarantined by the CDC, after the outbreak of a mysterious virus which turns humans into bloodthirsty killers.The [Rec] remake.
- DirectorJaume BalagueróPaco PlazaStarsJonathan D. MellorManuela VelascoÓscar ZafraIn order to ascertain the current situation inside, a supposed medical officer and a GEO team step into the quarantined and ill-fated apartment building.This list doesn't include Quarantine 2, which goes off in its own direction and isn't a remake.
- DirectorYannick DahanBenjamin RocherStarsClaude PerronJean-Pierre MartinsEriq EbouaneyAn end of the world battle between gangsters, cops and zombies.
- DirectorRichard CrudoStarsSteven SeagalTanoai ReedJenna HarrisonIn a post-apocalyptic world, a master swordsman leads a squad of ex-military vigilantes into a hospital on a mission to rescue trapped survivors from blood-thirsty disease-infected humans.Big hospitals can offer the same kind of challenges.
- DirectorMarvin KrenStarsMichael FuithTheo TrebsAnka GraczykJust when Michael arrives in Berlin to visit his ex-girlfriend Gabi, a terrible virus starts spreading across the city at a rapid pace, turning people into mindless homicidal maniacs. Much to Michael's concern, Gabi's not home; instead, he meets Harper, a teenage plumber's apprentice at work in her apartment block. Together, they manage to barricade themselves when raging hordes of infected people swarm the building. Surrounded by these thirsty zombies, Michael and Harper have their hands full to survive - and it will take all of their ingenuity to make their way out to try and find Gabi.It is a relatively low block of flats but it comes with a lot of the similar aspects to the high-rise ones.
- DirectorGareth EvansStarsIko UwaisAnanda GeorgeRay SahetapyA S.W.A.T. team becomes trapped in a tenement run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers and thugs.
- DirectorJoe CornishStarsJohn BoyegaJodie WhittakerAlex EsmailA teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion.
- DirectorMatthew HopeStarsToby KebbellAdi BielskiTony CurranA soldier returning from the war in Afghanistan uncovers a conspiracy involving the intelligence services and a gang of drug dealers.
- DirectorPete TravisStarsKarl UrbanOlivia ThirlbyLena HeadeyIn a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO.Although some people moaned that Dredd seemed like a rip-off of The Raid, attacking city blocks is a recurring theme throughout Dredd's history (as highlighted early on with the 1981 story "Block Mania"), but this list also demonstrates that the general theme goes back a long way too.
- DirectorCiarán FoyStarsAneurin BarnardJames CosmoWunmi MosakuAn agoraphobic father teams up with a renegade priest to save his daughter from the clutches of a gang of twisted feral children who committed an act of violence against his family years earlier.
- DirectorDavid BetonJames NunnStarsSheridan SmithJamie Thomas KingJack O'ConnellSeveral months after witnessing a murder, residents of Tower Block 31 find themselves being picked off by a sniper, pitting those lucky enough to be alive into a battle for survival.
- DirectorMartijn SmitsErwin van den EshofStarsYahya GaierMimoun Ouled RadiGigi RavelliThe bizarre story takes place in Amsterdam-West, where a virus turns people into bloodthirsty zombies. Although much blood is flowing and many limbs chopped off, there is a lot to laugh at in this bizarre horror comedy.For the later parts of the film, where they need to storm an office block to rescue someone (unfortunately, it is also the building a space station has crashed on, rather delicately, so is the epicentre of the zombie outbreak).
- DirectorMenhaj HudaStarsJacob AndersonSophie StuckeyJessica BardenSix friends who turn the deserted the tower block they lived in as kids into a pirate radio station soon learn they are not alone, as a resident psychopath begins hunting them down.Rather by-the-books slasher, that offers absolutely nothing new to the field.
- DirectorOwen ToothStarsRoxanne CarrionJason MewesFrances RuffelleWhen Sid's friend goes missing, he and new girl Sarah investigate disappearances in their tower block. Uncovering the secret of a vengeful ghost possessing a horde of zombies, they must fight for their lives - and their souls.
- DirectorJohan BergqvistStarsLotte Fletcher-JonkAnnabelle LanyonEnid RothwellJoel has lived in an apartment, on the top floor of a high-rise block for years, when he realises that something strange is happening to the building. At first he cannot put his finger on it until he realises that the building seems to be leaning. Should he tell the neighbors? You shouldn't bother people with petty. This sentiment is what kills him, and the rest of the inhabitants of the building as something supernatural starts to occur.
- DirectorChris CarrRoland HolmesNeil Mcenery-WestStarsLee RossSheila ReidGabriel SeniorWhat happens when an epidemic breaks out, but you're kept in the dark? Anything can happen. Slowly the residents realize that they will all die unless they come together.
- DirectorJoe ChienStarsAndy OnJessica CambensyMichael WongAfter Jenny's boyfriend is killed in a zombie attack, she faces the challenge of surviving in the face of adversity.
- DirectorFreddie FrancisKen WiederhornStarsMichael MoriartyJenny AgutterCarol LynleyA partially under construction office tower is being haunted by a deadly presence which seems to target the building's architect.
- DirectorGreg McLeanStarsJohn Gallagher Jr.Tony GoldwynAdria ArjonaIn a twisted social experiment, eighty Americans are locked in their high-rise corporate office in Bogotá, Colombia, and ordered by an unknown voice coming from the company's intercom system to participate in a deadly game of kill or be killed.
- DirectorJoe LynchStarsSteven YeunSamara WeavingSteven BrandA virus spreads through an office complex causing white-collar workers to act out their worst impulses.
- DirectorJohn EyresStarsMartin KoveMeg FosterFrank ZagarinoTerrorists with an indestructible robot take over a high-rise hospital in order to kidnap the president's daughter.