Black Cab

Too bad. I'm sure there's a good film that could be chiseled out of Black Cab, but that remains to be seen. Maybe in the hands of a better writer, editor and director, Black Cab could've been thrilling enough to warrant a sequel.

Atmospherically, the set designers got that right with their oodles of moody/rainy darkness. Where the film falls apart is in its unoriginality. You could see where the driver was heading from a mile away. There was also nothing new about the ghosts and there were too many loose ends to consider Black Cab complete.

The general acting ranged from okay to annoying. As a former taxi driver, I watched this movie based on its description alone without reading any reviews on IMDb. I should have next time.

If you're in the mood for a horror film that can't quite decide if it wants to terrify you with supernatural spooks or send a chill down your spine with a serial killer's knife, then "Black Cab" might just be your ride. Unfortunately, the film is a bit like a taxi that keeps circling the block without ever quite reaching its destination.

The plot centers around Anne (Synnøve Karlsen) and Patrick (Luke Norris), an estranged couple who, during a night out, find themselves at the mercy of a seemingly genial cab driver played by Nick Frost. As the evening takes an unnerving turn, the couple realizes they've been abducted and trapped on a remote, haunted road where the lines between the driver's dark motives and supernatural elements blur. What follows is a mix of psychological tension and paranormal confusion that leaves both the characters and audience guessing.

Frost's portrayal of the cab driver is one of the movie's biggest draws. Fans of his unique blend of humor and menace will appreciate his commitment to the role. He brings his usual wit while trying to wrap it in dread that spices up the film's first half, though his character never quite reaches its full potential. Despite Frost's best efforts, the script holds him back from transcending into the truly chilling villain the story needs. His performance wavers between sinister charm and overplayed ambiguity, resulting in a character that feels like a missed opportunity for horror greatness.

Goggins' direction is atmospheric, particularly in the way he captures the claustrophobic, isolated road setting, utilizing fog-drenched landscapes and eerie silences to ramp up suspense. However, this careful crafting is somewhat undercut by a plot that cannot decide whether it wants to be a paranormal ghost story or a gritty tale of abduction and human depravity. The film oscillates between these two horror subgenres without committing to either, leaving viewers with a sense of narrative whiplash.

The pacing suffers as a result, with the first half filled with promise and taut, well-measured suspense, while the second half devolves into a somewhat chaotic scramble of revelations that don't fully deliver. I found myself nodding off at times, because there is just a lot of driving down a dark road throughout the film.

In the end, "Black Cab" is a film that will intrigue those who enjoy layered suspense and are fans of Nick Frost's distinctive approach to dark roles. Certainly an ok one time watch.

Semi-creepy, semi-interesting with horrible flow and logic, insipid acting, minuscule gore, below-average psychological ghost impact, nothing to say on it besides it makes you sleep like tiny dosage of propofol. British indie horror that's slightly below-average, phlegmatically underachieved and never should have been produced. That black cab should have eaten the driver whole up.

• Screenplay/storyline/plots: 3
• Production value/impact: 4.5
• Development: 5.5
• Realism: 4.5
• Entertainment: 1.5
• Acting: 6
• Filming/photography/cinematography: 6
• VFX: 7.5
• Music/score/sound: 4.5
• Depth: 2
• Logic: 1
• Flow: 2
• Horror/thriller/drama: 3
• Ending: 1.

When I sat down to watch the 2024 movie "Black Cab", I had never heard about it. But it being a horror and/or thriller movie that i hadn't already seen, much less ever heard about, of course I opted to sit down and watch it. I am a huge fan of all things horror, after all.

Writer Virginia Gilbert put together a fair enough script. However, I must admit that somewhere past the mid-point of the narrative, I was starting to zone out, because there just wasn't much of any thrilling pacing to the narrative. It felt like a rather monotonous droning. Sure, I made it through the movie, but what started out pretty fair sort of turned to a monotonous mush.

The acting performances in the movie were good. I was only familiar with Nick Frost and Synnøve Karlsen.

"Black Cab" had adequate special effects, though it was not a movie that made use of an abundance of special effects though.

If you enjoy supernatural thrillers, then you might want to check out "Black Cab", as you might just find it to be enjoyable.

My rating of director Bruce Goodison's 2024 movie "Black Cab" lands on a four out of ten stars.

Rating Breakdown: Story - 1.00 :: Direction - 1.25 :: Pacing - 0.75 :: Performances - 1.25 :: Entertainment - 1.00 :::: TOTAL - 5.25/10

Horror movies should do one of two things: terrify you or, at the very least, keep you engaged. Black Cab (2024), unfortunately, does neither. Instead, it's a sluggish, uninspired supernatural thriller that feels like being stuck in the world's longest and most awkward taxi ride, only instead of fearing for your life, you're just wishing the journey would end.

The premise had potential: a young woman, Anne (Synnøve Karlsen), takes a ride in a cab that turns out to be more than just a mode of transport. It should have been a tense, psychological horror about isolation and the supernatural. Instead, it's a mystery that forgets to drop clues and a ghost story that forgets to be scary. The pacing is painfully slow, and while director Bruce Goodison does have an eye for lighting and atmosphere, it's not enough to salvage the film's plodding nature.

Nick Frost as the sinister cab driver is the best thing about this film, though for the wrong reasons. Rather than playing his role with the chilling subtlety it needed, he instead delivers a performance best described as Ghost Story: The Pantomime Edition. He overacts to the point of absurdity, making it impossible to take him seriously. Meanwhile, Synnøve Karlsen, as our protagonist, plays her role with such visible disinterest that you'd think she wandered onto set by accident and was too polite to leave.

Ultimately, Black Cab is a film that squanders its premise, fumbles its horror, and crawls at a pace that makes even the slowest taxi meter look like it's running on turbo mode. Unless you've already watched Pulse for the umpteenth time and are desperate for something new, this is one ride you might want to skip.