The London-based invasion flick Attack the Block continues to rack up awards. On Sunday, the Fantasia International Film Festival bestowed writer-director Joe Cornish with the top audience award for best European or American feature. Earlier this year, Attack the Block won the 2011 SWSW Film Festival audience award.

The film marks the directorial debut for Cornish, who reportedly co-wrote Steven Spielberg's upcoming comic-book adaptation, The Adventures of Tintin. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Cornish explained how Spielberg has influenced his work and discussed the inspiration behind Attack the Block. “Those '80s Amblin movies, especially Spielberg's stuff. It was always a little more gory," Cornish said. "The language was a little edgier. It was a little more real than you expected when you went into the theater."

He added, “The exploding heads in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the guy in Goonies sticking Michelangelo's penis on the wrong way up.... I was trying to make a movie I would have loved when I was 13.”

Coupled with the good reviews and solid box office numbers, Cornish made a diverse film that everyone loves.

(Photo: Studio Canal)