It amazes me what gets picked up for the Blu Ray treatment, while so many truly good films get ignored. "Tenement" features a script that could have been written by a 12 year old, and unless you have the mentality of a (dimwitted) 12 year old, you will not be able to focus on this unimaginative cinematic abortion. The first half has a cheesy, dumb looking gang who terrorizes the residents of a Bronx tenement building. I couldn't tell if their leader was male or female, as he looked like Scott Baio in drag. They want revenge on the tenants for calling the police on the gang and getting them arrested. You get to see ugly people doing things like gnawing on dead rats and beating or stabbing senior citizens to death. The second portion shows the tenants getting their revenge by killing the gang off in equally bloody ways. The end. That's it. We get ugly cinematography, nasty, cartoonish death scenes and a thoroughly unappealing cast, with the exception of Angel David, who appeared in the infinitely superior "Mixed Blood" that same year. There isn't even any location footage of the Bronx in the 80's, which would have at least provided something of value. But this cheap crap is filmed entirely inside this building which could have easily been a fake movie set. It is an absolute mystery why certain titles get selected for restoration and Blu Ray release. Sadly there is a market for this garbage, which doesn't say much for the taste of the masses. As a fan of the urban crime genre, particularly the Grindhouse stuff that came out during the 70's and 80's, I am especially disgusted by this trend. For those interested in the genre, and have standards, seek out titles like "Deadbeat At Dawn," which is a powerful film that features impressive martial arts, jaw dropping stunts and intelligent writing that actually says something about poverty and gang violence in urban areas. The creator of that film, Jim Van Bebber, wrote, starred in, produced, directed and even performed the dangerous stunt work, in an important and iconic film. And "Combat Shock" is another urban crime flick that had an even lower budget than "Tenement" but still manages to be a million times better, by including some insightful drama with the horrific imagery on screen. And while worthless crap like "Tenement" gets so much attention, the films of Joseph Vasquez are completely ignored. What is up with that? His movies "Bronx War" and "Street Story" are excellent movies that deal with the subject of gang violence in 80's and 90's NYC, in such a realistic way that the viewer feels like they are getting a view into this world that is documentary-like and genuine, because the director is actually a product of that world. So why are these important urban crime flicks unavailable and forgotten, while this garbage gets all the attention? People need to raise their standards and seek out better films.
