Shuttle   Starring: Tony Curran, Peyton List, Cameron Goodman and Cullen Douglas Metrodome RRP: £15.99 MTB5453 Certificate: 18 Available 04 May 2009

When Mel and Jules return from a girls' weekend vacation, they find themselves stranded at the airport, late on a rain-drenched night. Wanting nothing more than to get home safe and sound, they board an airport shuttle with a helpful driver and a trio of other passengers. But what begins as a short ride home slowly descends into darkness after a detour into a seedy neighbourhood leads to a series of terrifying events. As the night wears on, the driver forces each passenger in turn to perform simple, yet strange tasks, and Mel begins to suspect there is something more sinister at work than a simple robbery. It is only in the final shocking conclusion that Mel and Jules discover the driver's true intentions and must summon all their wits to save themselves...

Shuttle is a horror/thriller movie which could have been a lot better that it actually is. The acting is universally impressive, there are enough shocks and twists to keep you on the edge of your seat guessing what on earth is going on, however the conclusion is so ridiculous as to make the entire journey seem stupid.

There are a few too many elements that are set up and then go nowhere. The fact that Mel works with deaf children and can sign is set up, but then only used later for Mel to sign a message to a store video surveillance camera. If she could do this out of site of the driver, then why could she not hunt around back for a staff telephone? And then that plot thread is casually dropped. I mean, I know it makes sense - as the police would not be able to track them down (unless they checked the airport surveillance cameras, but even then we don't know if Mel imparted the fact that that's where they were abducted from in her message).

Why does the driver send Mel into a store anyway? Surely, having done this before he'd know what items he needed. Why risk the girl running away or being able to call the police?

There's also a very strange scene where Jules admits a big secret to Mel... but I couldn't for the life of me fathom how this enriched the plot in any way - other than making us dislike Jules.

Then there's the issue of why on earth the driver picks up his victims for the airport. Surveillance cameras are all over those places and once the girls are found to be missing it's surely only a matter of time until the police check the cameras (he's seen outside the airport arrivals gate, so he could be on camera. Surely there are easy places for him to pick up his victims - and surely some kind of screening process should have been in place. I mean... why go through the risk of abducting a girl and driving her half way across the country if she's no good to you because she does not meet your exact requirement?

While far from a bad film, it brings nothing new to the genre. And, sadly, there are just way to many holes in the plot to allow the viewer to suspend disbelief for the duration.

5

Darren Rea