Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Scott LeBrun 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.

Michael_Elliott Tenement (1985) * 1/2 (out of 4)The landlord of a trashy, rundown apartment complex calls the cops on a gang of thugs living in the basement. At first the people who live inside the apartment think that they're finally safe but the thugs are released from jail and return to the complex where they begin to rape and murder.TENEMENT is a cult film from director Roberta Findlay and as you can tell from the story it's yet another wannabe DEATH WISH film where we see a good group of people coming under attack by maniacs. It should be noted that this film was released the same year as DEATH WISH 3 and it certainly doesn't live up to the craziness of that movie.The film has gained a cult following over the years due to some of its graphic violence, which originally earned the film a X-rating. If you're familiar with the work of Findlay then you know she goes all out or at least pushes the boundaries of good taste. That certainly continues here as there are a lot of throat rippings and blood flowing around. There's one very memorable and painful shot of a man raping a woman and what happens to him is quite brutal.The problem I had with the film is that there's just nothing fresh or original here and in all honesty the film never really has much energy to it. The film is pretty boring at times and especially because the "gang" and the "normal" people are all rather uninteresting and you simply don't care about any of them. At just 94 minutes the film really drags in spots and outside the violence there's really not too much here.

Backlash007 ~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.

The_Void 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.