This small-scale British creature-on-the-loose shocker has a War On Terror vibe and makes clever use of a leftover Brookside set. At Christmas, a suburban close in the Wirral is invaded by a special ops unit tracking something savage which has washed up ashore nearby.
Beth (Neve Mcintosh) is fixated on saving her estranged daughter (Linzey Cocker), who walks out of the house just as the crisis starts, but has to cope with a panicky one-night stand (Shaun Dooley), the gruesome deaths of neighbours and the professionals who are supposed to help, and the usual high-handed actions of authorities who rule that ordinary people are expendable. It has that jittery, action news look which characterises much 2000s British horror, and nicely combines down-to-earth social realism with satisfying Mum vs Monster business.