Published: 27 October, 2011
by DAN CARRIER

Sket
Directed by Nirpal Bhogal
Certificate: 15

Rating: 3 Out Of 5 Stars

This London-based gang drama takes us into a darkened world of mass brawls, revenge attacks and highly aggressive street slang.  

We meet teen Kayla (Aimee Kelly) who has not had the easiest of times during her 16 years on the planet.

When her sister is killed, she sets out to reap a terrible revenge on the gang led by hardcore gangster Trey (Ashley Walters), responsible for her murder.

It is too stereotyped to be memorable, and hammy moments undermine the actors’ gainful effort to make us care about their plight.

The Silence
Directed by Baran bo Odar
Certificate: 18

Rating: 4 Out Of 5 Stars

There has recently been an upsurge in dour European detective tales making good box office in Britain.
Films such as Jar City, set in the frozen Icelandic streets, and the Wallander series have successfully shown distributors that you can do Inspector Morse with subtitles.

This release carries on the idea that there is a strong, dark strain of film-making in Europe at present.
One summer, a bicycle is found dumped in a hay field – its owner, a little girl, is then discovered lying nearby.

Fast forward two decades later and a near-identical case comes to light.

Retired detective Peer Sommer (Ulrich Thomsen) believes this new tragedy may shed light on the case he failed to crack, and hopes to be able to bring the perpetrator to justice.

But things are not straight-forward for the German police working on the case, and as the summer days slip by, a tangled web has to be carefully unravelled to put the case to bed.

This German crime thriller is well crafted, and its memorable lead performances makes a chilling story all the more shivery.

Ghostbusters
Directed by Ivan Reitman
Certificate: PG

Rating: 4 Out Of 5 Stars

I remember singing the Ray Parker Junior soundtrack at the top of my lungs of this 1980s classic after watching it at the Muswell Hill Odeon as a 10-year-old.

It has not lost any of its charm, though your nippers may be amused at the ageing special effects which I thought were awesome back then.

A quick recap: three professors of the paranormal set up a team to investigate ghoulish happenings across (mostly Art Deco) buildings in New York City.

After much thumb-twiddling, they suddenly get a host of cases to crack and find themselves facing down the demon Zuul and regularly getting covered in ectoplasm.

Starring Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver, it’s still a real blast, and a big thank you goes to Park Circus Films for scoring the distribution rights and putting it back on the big screen again.