Shuttle

This is a pretty unknown thriller that was actually good. The writer/director managed some tense sequences and the actors are above the usual C-grade for a small movie and they managed sympathetic performances that led me to care about their welfare. The story isn't above flaws but the characters, who've been kidnapped and are being transported to an unknown location via shuttle bus, are proactive and not daft, and so I contentedly went along with it. In fact, there was a surprising twist that I quite enjoyed too.

Oh hello, I guess this movie wasn't that small if Roger Ebert reviewed it. Now that I've checked out his one-star review, I remember glancing at it sometime back and deciding not to watch this movie. Good thing I'd forgotten about that; this is one of the rarer instances where we disagree.

On the surface, 'Shuttle' looks like it's going to be one of those slightly laughable high-concept movies like 'P2' - kids get on the wrong airport shuttle bus and all hell breaks loose. You'd be forgiven for expecting little more than incompetently handled third-rate genre clichés. This is one of those rare instances when you'd be wrong. Defying all the odds, writer/director Edward Anderson manages to craft a tightly structured thriller with a genuine sense of mounting dread and performances well above the norm for straight-to-DVD fodder. He's able to create some sequences of real tension and displays more talent and understanding of the mechanics of suspense than many more experienced directors. I, for one, found the story involving, the protagonists likable, and enough unexpected reveals to keep me guessing 'till the very end as to the true nature of the crime being perpetrated. All in all, 'Shuttle' is a solid horror-thriller that chooses suspense over violence, and does so admirably well for such an inexperienced director. I've no idea what Anderson's been doing in the three years since making this movie, but I hope his evident talents won't go ignored much longer.

On the whole, SHUTTLE is a perverse and mean-spirited motion picture, yet the powerful final moments of the film are truly sensational but diabolical none the less. The movie begins with two weary young women who have just ended their Mexican vacation, and need a ride back to town. They board the airport shuttle bus, and are taken hostage along with the other passengers. How will this divergent group free themselves from their psychotic abductor? The plot is straight-forward to the point of banality, yet here is where the story begins to lose plausibility. The fiendish driver takes them on a late night journey that seems endless and lasts most of the night. It really stretches credulity that no one would notice this out-of-control bus, and it would seem that they would have encountered more traffic if the airport had been located in the wilderness of Alaska. Their malevolent driver is menacing to the extreme, and a maximum of physical and psychological torture is dispatched. It is only in the final few minutes that the true motive for the kidnapping is revealed, and this electrifying final impression of abject loss makes the suspension of believe just about worth it.

Solid Hollywood good night thriller. Reminds me on Judgment Night, just this time there is a wrong bus instead of wrong turn. Consequences more severe in style of modern thriller of this decade. Good camera, predictable scenes, pretty solid plot composition, but no development of characters at all, regarding that part the movie is pretty shallow. Although good, plot composition leads you to pretty predictable climax as well. All in all, a solid chiller, kind a refreshment in dark thriller/horror style regarding Hollywood movies which are coming worst every year in most of the cases. Would recommend you if you are a fan of this movie genre. 5 out of 10.

What can you say about the film where the general idea behind it is good... but the construction is so appalling? Watching the last few minutes offered some semblance of satisfaction... but recalling almost everything that led up to this point... such as: twists you can see from a mile off, cretinous behaviour from all concerned and a ludicrously indestructible villain meant whatever good feelings I may I had towards the movie came crashing down like a lead balloon.

These two girls have just come back from Mexico, and are trying to get a ride home from the airport. Rather than take an official bus, they rather unwisely choose to hop on a dodgy looking blue van driven by a seedy looking geezer... with the offer of a 50% discount. A couple of lads desperate to get off with the two ladies join them, along with a nervous-looking businessman. His role will quickly become clear for anyone with a half functioning brain. Surprise, surprise... the truck doesn't stop where they want it to. Then, when the vehicle halts abruptly when it gets a 'flat'... that's where the ordeal begins.

And not just for the protagonists. Constantly, we see people having countless opportunities to run for it, kill the bad guy, escape with the van... and do they take any of them? Nope. Admittedly, this would have ended the film much sooner (not a bad thing). But to endlessly harangue us with these venues of retreat, only for the foolish characters to choose THE WORST POSSIBLE OPTION and muck them up is just an insult to the audience. This is a common problem to be found in a lot of recent films... if our heroes are going to fail, at least let them do it in a believable way, not by having them act dumber than roadkill. It also majorly diminishes what sympathy we may have had for the hapless fools... when they're the architects of their own downfall.

As for the evil dude, he can be involved in a major automobile accident, bludgeoned over the head repeatedly, stabbed in the thigh and shot through the skull... and STILL muster up enough strength to not only survive, but force a young woman into a box. Is he a cartoon? It just adds to the lunacy, anyway. And the few curveballs the script throws our way could be anticipated by the most inattentive of viewers. Shuttle could have been a noteworthy horror with originality, but thanks to poor treatment just ends up being a forgettable also-ran... 4/10