SLAUGHTER AND SURVIVAL IN THE SLUM: 'TENEMENT' (1985)

Residents of a rundown tenement "... stand their ground and fight for what little they have, and for their lives, against a vicious drug-crazed street gang." Credit: Shriek Show

Bloody violence and bloody boobs are on display in Tenement (a.k.a. Game of Survival, Slaughter in the South Bronx). It is a long-forgotten entry in the slew of urban warfare action B-movies seen in the grindhouses, drive-ins, and video stores in the 1980s. It is a scuzzy and sleazy take on John Carpenter’s cult classic siege action thriller, Assault on Precinct 13 (1976). While Tenement cannot compare, judging it on its own merits, it is an entertaining little flick, because it has no pretensions about what it is, as a gritty, grimy, and trashy exploitation piece played out for shock value. It is one of only a few films given an X certificate by the MPAA in the United States based solely on its graphic bloodshed. It was rejected by the BBFC in the United Kingdom for a VHS release in 1987, but it was passed uncut for DVD in 2005.

Tenement is an effectively put together quickie, shot in August 1984, on the paltry budget of an estimated $80,000 - $90,000. It is set in a ghetto of the South Bronx, New York City. This is the childhood home of director and cinematographer, Roberta Findlay. She lived with her family in a tenement from the late 1940s to partway through the 1960s, and based the film on her experiences. Poor immigrant workers built these old low-income housing units because they needed homes. All interior and exterior filming for the pivotal setting of the tenement was done in the isolated location of a vacant building in Harlem, Manhattan, New York, separated from the Bronx County by the Harlem River. The city council was renovating it, and the electricity and water were still on, so it was used as a giant set. Real gang violence took place in the surrounding area. All other exterior shooting was done in actual Bronx locations. The movie perfectly captures the squalid atmosphere of a poverty-stricken and crime-ridden neighbourhood, which generates a genuine sense of danger.

Screenwriters Joel Bender (1948 - 2021) and Rick Marx inject some heart into it. Us average folk can relate to the ensemble cast portraying impoverished tenants of a rundown tenement apartment building, who are just trying to make ends meet, and they give a real sense of community. We sympathize with these downtrodden innocent peoples’ plight in this tale of home invasion, and we root for them when they stand their ground and fight for what little they have, and for their lives, against a vicious drug-crazed street gang.

A blood-drenched stabbing in Tenement (1985). Credit: Shriek Show

The title sequence establishes the urban decay with B-roll footage of dilapidated buildings and rubble. Over this, we hear the sound of an old-school (new in 1985) inner city hip-hop track, aptly titled ‘Tenement’. It sounds upbeat, as if giving off a positive vibe, but a closer listen to the lyrics details the struggles of living in such difficult conditions. This message of economic and social hardship returns for the closing frame of the film, over an exterior shot of the tenement at night. Roberta Findlay employs a heavy Goblin-esque prog rock soundtrack to supplement the action set pieces.

In the inciting incident, the gang of degenerates are arrested, as the landlord - the cowardly and surly loudmouth slob, Mr. Gonzales (one-and-done actor Alfonso Manosalvas) - calls the police on them for squatting in the basement. They are taking drugs, but the leader Chaco (Enrique Sandino, 1951 - 2015) burns it all, and they hide all their weapons. When they are taken away, the tenants celebrate, but as the police have nothing to hold them on, they are released shortly after. They score some angel dust (PCP), and they return to the area and get high. As the effects of this drug induce feelings of invulnerability and power in these already aggressive people, they decide to take revenge. They cut the phone lines of the isolated tenement, and terrorize the tenants in a hostile takeover of the building. Eventually, the victims are forced up to the top floor, where they turn the tables on their attackers by constructing and setting up various improvised traps in a siege actioner trope. This culminates in a surprisingly visually impressive final confrontation on the rooftop during the pouring rain, thunder, and lightning of a storm, which defies this small production’s meagre resources.

The proceedings are energetically paced and packed with tension, as the events unfold in real-time. This is signified onscreen by the scene-setting location timestamps (like in Assault on Precinct 13), and this includes which floor of the building the action takes place. With the exception of the first act, we are stuck in this dingy apartment building the whole time. Roberta Findlay works efficiently in the tight confinement of her surroundings, with freewheeling shaky camerawork, and plenty of low-angle shots and tracking shots. All this generates a docudrama aesthetic.

One reason why Tenement works is its unpredictability, as we never know who will or who will not survive. Everything is wide-open, as we witness blood-drenched slashing and stabbing, a brutal strangulation, and a gruesome castration (complete with the man holding his severed meat and veg while dying). The most disturbing and haunting moment is the savage rape and murder of a single mother, Leona (Rhetta Hughes), followed by the heart-breaking sight of her small daughter discovering her corpse. Findlay makes sure to capture all this with long, lingering shots for the exploitation market. While this violence may sound gratuitous, its vileness and harrowing nature provokes our angry reactions to get behind the victimized innocents to get payback, which makes the villains’ inevitable downfall more satisfying for it.

 Straight out of Death Wish: chains and leather are this street gang's attire. Credit: Shriek Show

The multi-ethnic street gang looks like they came straight out of Michael Winner’s Death Wish trilogy - Death Wish (1974), Death Wish II (1982), and Death Wish 3 (1985) - as they are decked out in chains and leather. But they are uncharacteristic of the Street Thunder gang in Assault on Precinct 13. John Carpenter did not humanize his antagonists, as they are depicted as a mysterious force of nature with almost supernatural attributes. He took direct inspiration from George A. Romero’s zombies in Night of the Living Dead (1968), as the gangbangers have almost no dialogue, they move at a deliberate pace, and they are relentless. Here in Tenement, the scumbag punks have personalities.

 

Enrique Sandino certainly has a presence as the enigmatic and sadistic gang leader, Chaco.

 

Dan Snow hams it up as the junkie thug, Rudy. Troma fans will recognize Snow as Cigar Face in Lloyd Kaufman’s original Toxic Avenger trilogy: The Toxic Avenger (1984), The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989), and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989). He also played Sgt. Kazinski in Kaufman’s Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000).

 

The standout from the entire cast is the intense Paul Calderon. He plays Chaco’s loopy right hand man, Hector. This was Calderon’s film debut, and he went on to carve out a respectable career as a character actor. This includes memorable supporting roles in high profile cult films: Sidney Lumet’s Q&A (1990), Abel Ferrara’s King of New York (1990) and Bad Lieutenant (1992), the latter of which he co-wrote, and Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994). Tarantino even almost cast him as Jules Winnfield, the role that made Samuel L. Jackson a megastar.

 

Another noteworthy cast member is Angel David. He plays Poppo, a heroin-addicted resident of the tenement. His girlfriend Carol (Corinne Chateau) sells herself to help him feed his habit. David gave an impressive comic performance as Skank in Alex Proyas’ The Crow (1994).

 

The closest to a lead protagonist is Sam Washington (Joe Lynn, 1947 - 1987). He is a 30-something African American, a manly mechanic, and a loner. He is possibly a Vietnam War veteran, due to the framed photos of his Asian wife and child in his apartment, but no explanation is given for their absence. He wants to be left alone, but he has to help his neighbours fight the scumfucks invading their shoebox homes. The outsider reluctant hero is an action archetype. While this seemingly strongest of all the characters usually saves the day, this is not the case here, because it subverts our expectations. It falls on someone on the opposite side of the spectrum who we would least expect, a pregnant single Latin American woman, Anita (Gy Mirano). She wants to raise her child on her own, because she does not love the father, which is a sign of her strength. Transgressive portrayals of women such as this earned Roberta Findlay the label of ‘feminist filmmaker’, but this is something she has always denied.

Roberta Findlay

Roberta Findlay began her filmmaking career when meeting husband, Michael Findlay (1937 - 1977), while attending the City College of New York in the mid-1960s. Michael was an ardent cinephile obsessed with silent film. When he ran a festival on campus, he hired the classically trained pianist Roberta to play piano, to accompany D. W. Griffith’s epic historical anthology, Intolerance (subtitles: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages, A Sun-Play of the Ages, 1916). When they married, they became a filmmaking duo, with Michael as director, and Roberta as cinematographer. They became among a number of pioneers of the ‘roughie’ picture. This is a sub-genre of softcore sexploitation - a pastiche of seedy violent crime and sadomasochistic sex. Roberta starred in supporting roles, playing characters that were either sexually promiscuous and/or masochistic victims. When Roberta and Michael separated, Roberta directed her own films in the Golden Age of Porn (1969 - 1984), just to keep working, and proved successful. When this era of hardcore pornography with real production values, shot on 35mm, and shown in theatres, ended due to the rise of home video, Roberta moved into horror and exploitation action features such as Tenement.

Tenement is true exploitation cinema. It makes good on its promise by delivering the extreme B-movie violence, while dealing with the horrors of living in a ghetto. The brutal gang of miscreants’ sustained assault of intimidation and terror tactics on the innocent people makes for an unsettling experience. However, the endearing quality of its good ol’ black-and-white theme of good triumphing over evil, wins through. This is raw, edgy, filthy, nasty, and enjoyable midnight viewing.

Note: Shriek Show’s 2017 Blu-ray release is a 2K restoration presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. It features a commentary track by Roberta Findlay and an interview with her.

© 2026 Dave J. Wilson. All rights reserved.

Credit: Shriek Show