Director – Will Jewell (Man in Fear, South Coast)
Starring – Goran Bogdan (Fargo, Guardian of the Castle), Kevin Guthrie (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Dunkirk), and Chris Reilly (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Game of Thrones)
Release Date – 2020
Rating – 3/5
I unexpectedly found myself in a British double feature recently. A few days ago I got in the newest Culture Shock release which was the 1987 British slasher Goodnight God Bless aka Lucifer. It started out well enough but couldn’t maintain the pacing.
The second film I watched was the 2020 thriller Concrete Plans. This one looked very interesting but not like a traditional horror flick. When I originally received the press release for it I was on the fence about reviewing it. I decided to take the plunge and I’m glad I did. It was a lot of fun.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a group of carpenters and handymen who are paid to renovate an old house for a man. They are forced to stay in cramped conditions while doing their work and soon tensions between them begin to boil. Adding to their frustration is the fact that the homeowner is reluctactant to pay them. Eventually their tempers get the best of some of them and they kill him forcing the group to cover up the murder or become victims of the others. **Spoiler Alert**
I didn’t know what to expect from Concrete Plans when I tossed it in. It’s not too often that I get a new release in for review with no word about it from the genre community. However, this one was a complete surprise. I really enjoyed it but it still had room for improvement.
The acting in this one is solid. All the characters stand out and the cast does a great job bringing them to life. Some fit the story more than others and a few of them could have been written out because they served no real purpose to the story but the acting is still fun.
The story for this one is straight forward for the most part but not what I was expecting. This thriller plays out like a low budget crime drama but it works. It’s not that thrilling and has some fact paced scenes mixed with slower scenes that keeps the story moving without dragging it out. With that being said, it’s painfully predictable until the last 15 or so minutes. The ending is not what I was expecting but it’s not a completely mindfuck or a twist. It’s grounded and works.
Finally, the film has blood and a few practical effects gags but nothing gruesome or gory. The practical and make-up effects look good enough to make the gag work. Overall, Concrete Plans may not be the horror movie you are looking for but if you are in the mood for a quick thriller then this one is for you. It’s an easy watch that is pretty fun.
