A brilliant debut for writer-director Edward Anderson, "Shuttle" is the kind of horror movie that sticks with you long after you've seen it. It starts out as a standard, but gory thriller, and ends up in a place you absolutely don't see coming.
Best thing about it is that there is really no other movie like it. Its tone and feel are similar to what we recently saw in the UK's "Eden Lake" and in the original "Last House on the Left." But honestly there hasn't been a movie like this one ever before. The closest thing I can think of is a Spanish movie: Amenebar's "Thesis." Unfortunately, discussing why this is the case really takes us into spoiler territory.
Needless to say, "Shuttle" is a great low budget horror movie. One hell of a terrifying ride, even for a grizzled old horror fan like myself who has seen just about everything.
Anderson opens the film with two model-good-looking twenty-something girlfriends (Peyton List and Cameron Goodman) returning from a drunken holiday. They nearly hook up with two other male travelers. Arriving at the New York airport late in the evening, they opt to take a shuttle home. The boys hop on to, and the shuttle takes off. One flat tire later in a bad neighborhood, and things start to go horrifically wrong, beginning with a disastrous tire change that ends up severing the fingers of one of the boys.
Eventually, it becomes clear that the driver (Tony Curran) is apparently a maniac, a thief -- or perhaps a little bit of both. He takes the entire bus hostage, but he seems mostly interested in the two girls. That's about all I can reveal about the story. All the performances are decent, especially that of Curran as the villainous driver of very few words.
"Shuttle" is simply one of those movies where I went in not expecting much and I came away totally blown away. That's not to get your expectations too high, but ... well a positive review is a positive review. See this movie! No, it's not a perfect movie. But for a debut it's fantastic -- probably about as good as Eli Roth's first film, "Cabin Fever."
At the time of this writing, the film was slated for some very limited screenings across the U.S. before heading to DVD in April. It's apparently already enjoyed a limited release in Europe.
the suspense and thriller aspects of this film defintely make it a must-see.
AngeloBell.com
Posted by JesseNick on May 1, 2009
This was a surprisingly good movie coming out of nowhere. I notice how Lucius Gore respects the readers and doesn't spoil the movie, but in his Martyrs review (an amazing movie, better than Shuttle for the record), he goes into extreme detail giving away the entire plot and all its twists. Just because he was one of the few who didn't like the movie. Great journalism, Lucius. I'm done with this site, it's not worth the risk that he'll ruin my experience the next time a great movie comes out that he doesn't happen to enjoy.
Posted by MRS on December 5, 2009
Posted by Brendan B on September 21, 2010
Hmmm..this was a pretty good film..the ending was a little weak maybe,seemed they had to have a shock ending to really make the film a top class one but it wasnt quite the ending of an Eden Lake. Still for a low budget flick it was very well done.
Rank this film on a '666 scale' of one to six (left to right). Based on 2191 votes.
