District 9 (15)

FEAR not, gentle reader, if you haven't seen Districts 1 to 8 yet. Because District 9 is a one-off, low-budget sci-fi film from South Africa, by a first-time writer-director called Neill Blomkamp.

And on paper it couldn't sound like a bigger pile of plop. For an effects-driven film, it cost a measly £18million to make, about the same as four months of EastEnders.

And it stars Blomkamp's best mate Sharlto Copley, who has no previous acting experience whatsoever.

Yet movie lightning has struck here, big time. Because if this isn't what an instant sci-fi classic looks like - it'll do until the next instant sci-fi classic gets here. Copley stars as Wikus van de Merwe, a civil servant tasked with relocating a group of illegal aliens from the slums of District 9, Johannesburg, to a brand new holding area.

Thing is, the illegal aliens actually ARE aliens. After landing on earth 28 years ago, the grim-looking creatures - nicknamed "prawns" - moved into a dingy slum town, much to the locals' disgust. Everyone getting the apartheid overtones here? Smartly, there's a lot more to District 9 than the ad campaign has revealed. It's best experienced fresh, but it includes a big military conspiracy, some stomach-churning The Fly-style body horror and an epic robot beatdown that looks like it was made on at least five times the film's total budget.

There's so much promise on show, District 9 could signal the start of a brilliant directing career for Blomkamp.

Equally, it could be a one-hit wonder that haunts him until the days he's directing Mr Nanny 4, starring Hulk Hogan's head in an electric fishtank. But either way, it demands to be seen.

Roll on District 10!

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