Chad

late_but_earnest

I don't think that this film is "torture porn" but I found it to be relentlessly cruel.

We have the boogie man as a white slave trader.

I liked some of the plot twists but I really hated the hopeless nature of this film.

I may have reacted differently to Shuttle but I recently watched the original version of Funny Games . This film holds the viewer complicit for the violence that is going on on the screen.

Frankly speaking, if I didn't have to write something about Shuttle I would have turned it off.

This movie is not in my strike zone and would not recommend it.

Spiderbite

I watched this tonight thru Netflix streaming (in HD!) and I liked it. You do have to suspend disbelief a lot of the time like

But the ending is great and makes the movie even after a slow spot near the end. I found it to be a well-done low budget film that held my interest throughout even though I had to laugh at a few spots where it got a little ridiculous. Those would be the fun spots for a group viewing.

I give it ***1/2 out of *****

Don't Look Now is next. Not looking forward to trying that one again.

LickTheABCs

^ yeah, there are a bunch of times throughout the film where you'll undoubtedly roll your eyes (like almost every Horror movie), but I feel the ending is so soul-crushingly depressing that it kind of makes up for it.

advdfreak

I watched this the other night and thought it was pretty good. I was trying to figure out where I had seen the lead actress before and realized she was in Mad Men. I do have to agree that the lack of traffic or any other people walking around was unrealistic, but it's a movie. It had some good twists and definitely kept me interested. If I find this priced just right, I might be inclined to buy this. The ending really made me like the movie more even though it wasn't uplifting. Not all stories end happily.

Larry C.

The movie kept my interest despite the lack of realism. Some very cool moments. By far the best part of the movie is the great finish.

Larry C.

Wow not much comments on this one....

Trevor

Well, it's only been a day...

Trevor

Just watched this, thanks to Netflix streaming.

I thought it was well shot, had decent acting, a couple of interesting twists, and a cool ending.

But overall, I'd have to rate it as average or mediocre. I know this is common in horror films, but they took the 'injure the bad guy, drop your weapon while he's helpless, and run away' thing way too far. There seemed to be dozens of times where they just should have killed the dudes.

More later, off to lunch.

Larry C.

I know dammit. I figured most got an early jump on it. Maybe I should just shut up now.

LickTheABCs

While I agree with that, it happens so much in almost every horror film I watch, that It doesn't even phase me anymore.


I liked the movie. I didn't think it was the greatest or anything, but it was a little better than average film with IMO a great ending that just leaves you feeling depressed. It was one of the few movies that, I think, that the ending made me enjoy the rest of the movie much more.

Plus, Peyton List is hot.

Trevor

First, spoilers abound below. Don't read if you haven't seen the movie. I don't think we have to say that or use spoilers, since no one should be in this thread if they haven't seen the film.

Yeah, but in most movies where it happens it seems like the protagonists are either stupid, or don't plan their attacks in advance, or its sort of accidental; but here, they knew they were going to die, and actively planned the counterattacks. It just made the inevitable, 'drop the weapon, tee hee, and run away' that much more aggravating to me.
The ending was pretty cool, although very obvious for at least the last ten minutes. I'm pretty slow, and didn't figure it out until then, but apparently many people did earlier. I also didn't know for sure that Andy was bad until that last moment. I'm usually pretty slow on the uptake, or, if I may, immersed in a movie far enough to where I don't figure out twists ahead of time; but the slave trade thing was obvious for awhile there.

But speaking of Andy, his moment of turning there on the shuttle was well done, with the knife into the neck. Very well shot/acted I thought.

One small part of the ending that I really liked was the fact that he included her medication in her box. Do you all think that showed him having a little bit of compassion? Or was it just to keep the product healthy? I tend to think the later, but it seemed like some of the shots showed him as actually having a bit of compassion. Not that I symphathize with a cold-blooded killer...
The main actress? Very!

clckworang

Apologies for not coming here sooner to write some comments on the film. I actually watched it early, but i was recently laid off. Needless to say, I've had a bunch of things on my mind and just plain forgot to come here.

I basically agree with what others have said. I actually wasn't a huge fan of the ending, though. If it had played out more real, I probably would have been all right with it. Michael Myers, Jason and the like can get away with being unstoppable forces because there's an element of the supernatural about their characters. This wasn't true about the baddies here. They were at least supposed to be real people.

That one guy should have been dead or completely passed out so many times. It was just way too much. And after this guy kept getting up again and again, you would think that sooner or later that girl would have just made sure to crush his skull. Then she was able to seemingly overpower him other times, and yet at the end, when he should have been at his weakest state, she wasn't able to stop him. That was my issue with the ending. It didn't feel earned. I don't mind unhappy endings, as long as there is some truth in it. If the guy hadn't already been shot, stabbed, beaten, been through a bad auto accident, etc., etc., I probably would have found the ending far more effective.

I did think this was a good idea for a low-budget film. Most of it was able to take place on a bus. I'm sure that saved a lot on the budget. Some elements were too predictable. The driver was pretty obviously going to be a baddie, but I have to confess that I correctly figured that guy who looked like Dan Castellanta was in on it as well. And what happened to the security tape? That supermarket lady was getting ready to watch it. Was no one notified? That's fine if it didn't go anywhere, but I didn't like how the film brought this up and then just abandoned it. Why bother including the shot with the woman preparing the tape? Maybe I missed something with that, like it wasn't really recorded or something like that.

It was nice that it was available to stream on Netflix. That was very convenient. Anyway, sorry again for the late reply. I had good intentions but just way too much on my mind. I promise to do better next time!

Larry C.

Sorry bout the job dude.

Undeadcow

I really liked the sense of isolation which came from the abandoned streets and limited stage area, I think that fit thematically with the ending. I enjoyed the emphasis on character psyche. The tension felt a bit forced at times with the unrelenting bad guy (almost surreal which seemed at odds with the rest of the film) but overall enjoyable. Early middle parts seemed to drag a bit ("we're watching a movie about people driving around late at night"). This movie officially destroys Speed's reputation as being the best communal transit movie of all time, Shuttle's style was good but I felt the content was a little below average (despite the well executed end).

Darkgod

I thought the ending was the only thing that saved the movie, as it just seemed to plod along. It was almost a chore to watch at times, as it seemed nothing was going on. The ending bumped it up a bit, but still a 5/10.

Trevor

Anyone?
Yeah, that was one of the biggest problems for me.
I think they were trying to show that the tape had never been put in the recorder. But I could be wrong, and yes, that part was definitely not done well, looks like it confused everyone.
Don't apologize! How's the job hunt?
Agreed on all parts there. It was nice to see a film that tried to convey the feeling of tension without lots of gore and while we didn't really know exactly what was going on. Too many horror movies spell out the basic entire story right away, and the only tension is the chase/kill scenes. Here, while it wasn't done perfectly well, they at least tried to keep us guessing on big parts of the plot.

clckworang

Thanks, guys. The job hunt is going all right. The unemployment thing finally kicked in, so it's nice to have a bit of cash again. I'm sort of unofficially working with a couple of friends of mine who set up a marketing company last year. They have been growing a lot, so I think there's a good chance there's a place for me there. Keeping my fingers crossed anyway.

I think the pills were in there to keep the product healthy. That's the impression I got, especially since it seemed like it was a part of their standard procedure. Maybe there's a bit of compassion in there, though. In a way, I'm surprised that they would keep anyone who requires regular medication. It seems like a damaged goods kind of thing, but maybe the medication is also in there to assess how much to knock off the price of the person.

Larry C.

On an unrelated note I just noticed I made Trevor's never won a contest countdown