Storage 24

If everything in Johannes Roberts’s sci-fi/horror was as scary and thought-through as its complex, flesh-ripping alien predator (kudos to creature consultant William Todd-Jones) it would tear a hole in the British genre scene. Co-scripted and co-produced by Noel Clarke, who also stars, this instead feels like the germ of an idea with stuff lifted from ‘Alien’ et al and bolted on. Clarke is lovelorn Charlie, who is at a storage unit with some friends and his ex, Shelley (Antonia Campbell-Hughes), dividing their possessions after a break-up. The gang is oblivious to a plane crash that has put London in lockdown, but soon realise that something is stalking the corridors. Soapy romantic complications fail to engage our emotions, and as for those ‘Alien’ bolt-ons: an overhead ducting system that allows access to every ‘secure’ unit adds suspense, but insults the intelligence. Meanwhile, ‘F’ director Roberts’s academic shooting style lacks the kinetic energy needed to generate thrills.