Danny (Chris Bell) is an ex street thug who opts to take on the Essex underworld after they turn his life upside down following the murder of his girlfriend.. Here we have Essex Boys:Law Of Survival, another film taking us into the world of the infamous Range Rover Killings which have been the focus of many films over the years including Essex Boys, Bonded By Blood, The Fall Of The Essex Boys, and to a lesser degree, Rise Of The Footsoldier. Whilst I understand the dramatic interest in the real life case of the killings in Rettendon, it always surprises me that the story around the December 1995 killings still has life in it from a cinematic point of view but there obviously is because movies are still being made about the events (both true and fictitious)

The latest (but not the last) film to take on some of the drama is Essex Boys:Law Of Survival, directed by Steven M Smith whose previous film Hooligans at War:North V South came out earlier this year and took us into the story of two best friends (played by Chris Bell and Alan Lund) who go through war overseas, then leave the army and become London gang bosses. Chris Bell stars in Law Or Survival along with other cast members seen in Hooligans At War.

So does Law Of Survival bring anything new to the table? Well perhaps not, but what it does do is give the filmmakers (in front of the camera and behind) more experience in filmmaking. Thats always a good thing whoever the creator. Always great to see new films by people I admire.

I think any fault with the film is purely down to the fact that I have seen pretty much every film thats focused on the Essex killings over the past six months and in the same way I feel burnout over comic book movies. I do feel that I am reaching the same level of burnout when it comes to films surrounding the Essex gangworld. (I have just enough space for Bonded By Blood 2 and Rise Of The Footsoldier Part 2 which are out semi soon).

The filmmakers behind Law Of Survival are getting better and there films are very watchable. Once again though I would love to see these guys get more time to film and be able to raise a bigger budget (comments I made about their previous film Hooligans At War) and the fact that any UK indie filmmaker gets a film completed and on the shelves is a battle in itself. Perhaps one day I will get some of them onto one of my podcasts to tell us just how damn hard it is to make a feature length film on a shoestring budget. I commend then for battling on and completing another film in the same year.

Round of applause to Steven Smith and Chris Bell for putting in a lot of the hard work in writing the film and also making sure it gets to the finish line. I know they are hard at work on more projects and I very much look forward to watching those upon release in the same way I looked forward to checking out Essex Boys:Law Of Survival.

There are a lot of scathing reviews to be found if you look hard enough, but those are by people who don’t seem to understand (and I guess they don’t need to) just how much work goes into making a film. Whilst people do use reviews as a guide. I urge you to make your own mind up on the film itself, just as I did. It will take you only an hour and a half to make up  your own mind and of course helps the filmmakers move to their next films.

Law of Survival is OUT NOW courtesy of Metrodome Distribution.