Shuttle (film)
| Shuttle | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Edward Anderson |
| Produced by | Mark Williams, Mark Donadio, Michael A. Pierce, Allan Jones |
| Written by | Edward Anderson |
| Starring | Tony Curran Peyton List Cameron Goodman Cullen Douglas |
| Music by | Henning Lohner |
| Cinematography | Michael Fimognari |
| Editing by | William Yeh |
| Distributed by | Magnolia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | March 6, 2009 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Shuttle is a 2008 thriller film/horror film about a group of young travelers who are kidnapped by an airport shuttle driver with unknown motives. The film was written and directed by Edward Anderson, and stars Tony Curran, Peyton List, Cullen Douglas, and Cameron Goodman.
Shuttle premiered at South-by-Southwest Music and Film Festival March 8, 2008 in Austin, Texas. The film opened theatrically in limited release in the United States on March 6, 2009.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Mel (Peyton List) and Jules (Cameron Goodman) are best friends returning to Los Angeles from a trip in Mexico. Seth (James Snyder) and Matt (Dave Power) arrive and introduce themselves to them. Jules takes Mel into the bathroom to help her deal with her motion sickness, where Mel tells her that she has broken up with her fiancé.
Mel's luggage has been lost in the airport, so she plans to return the next day to collect them. Outside, they board a shuttle bus after its Driver (Tony Curran) offers to charge them half the price of a regular shuttle. On board, they meet Andy (Cullen Douglas). Seth and Matt arrive and attempt to board, but the Driver informs them that he must keep a tight schedule and he's running behind. Mel informs him that the men are friends of theirs.
During the trip, Mel shows Matt her signing skills. While taking an unusual detour, they are run off the road by a car, and the Driver gets out to survey the damage, which turns out to be a flat tire. Jules opts to call a taxi, but there is no service where they are. Matt offers to help change the tire. While his hand is on top of the tire, the Driver looks for some nuts for the wheel. Suddenly, the bus falls off the jack and onto Matt's hand, severing his fingers. They quickly drive off to the hospital.
During the ride, the Driver calmly pulls over, much to the astonishment of the passengers. He pulls a gun on them and demands cooperation, taking everyone's phones and wallets. Mel and Seth argue about doing something, and Mel tells them that they need to stop what is going on. Jules finds a flare under the seat from the safety kit used to bandage Matt's hand, and Mel comes up with a plan to get the window open. Andy sees her and causes a commotion. A struggle ensues and the flare is set ablaze. The Driver sees this, stops the bus and removes the flare. Jules runs for the front and finds the door locked and the key missing.
The Driver re-enters and slashes Seth's face with a switchblade as a warning to the others. He drives them to an indoor ATM booth, and has Jules extract some money. While she is inside, she knocks some paper into a bin and sets it on fire. The Driver sees this, and rushes towards her, but she slams the door. Mel escapes, but the Driver shouts at her that he will let Jules suffocate from smoke inhalation if she doesn't return to the bus. She has no choice but to surrender.
He then takes them to an all-night supermarket, where he tells Mel to buy some supplies on a list he's written for her and nothing else. On the bus, he chains Seth and Andy together and makes them take valuables and passports from the luggage on board. Seth tells Andy if they get loose, the Driver can only get one of them. Inside, Mel sees a security camera and signs to it that she needs some help, before giving the cashier a note telling her to check the security tapes and to call the police when she leaves. Seth gets free and makes a run for it, only to be run over by the bus. The Driver places the body in the back.
He then scolds Mel for buying ice when she didn't need to, but she tells him it's for Matt's fingers. Back in the store, the cashier checks the cameras only to find out they were never switched on. Later, Mel shows Matt a knife she hid in the ice, which she uses to cut their belts off. Matt uses the ice bag to smash the window, and they all shout for help. The Driver walks towards them and pulls out the gun. Mel cuts his wrist with the knife. Matt then hits him over the head with the bag, as Mel grabs the gun and threatens to shoot the Driver. She makes him hand over the keys to the belts, and Jules is able to get herself and Andy free. Mel tries the radio, only to find that it doesn't work.
She takes the wheel of the bus and drives, leaving Matt with the gun and Andy with the knife. Andy then nonchalantly stabs Matt in the throat, which no one notices at first. He grabs the gun and puts it to Mel's head, telling her to get away from the pedals. Andy then reveals himself to be in league with the Driver. Andy torments the girls for a while until the Driver gets him to stop. He drives to a bridge and they throw the bodies off.
Later, Mel manages to get a tire iron from under the seat, and keeps it by her side. Andy wraps tape around the girls' mouths and takes a cuff of their hair. Mel hits him several times with the tire iron and the Driver is forced to stop. She pulls herself free, and the Driver attempts to get the gun, only for her to hit him on the hand, and knock it towards Jules. Mel seizes control and drives away, but he rushes towards her. She slams the brakes and accelerates to throw him about. She reaches for a knife and stabs him in the knee. Andy comes over to attack her but she grabs a fire extinguisher and hits him with it. The bus crashes into a wall during the struggle.
After finding Andy dead and the Driver and Mel unconscious, Jules escapes and flags down a passing car. A man gets out, but before he can help her, he is run over by the Driver. He then takes them to a warehouse. The Driver makes Jules dye Mel's hair blonde and then makes them strip down to their underwear and wear white high heels for an inspection. The man who inspects them is revealed to be the man that ran them off the road earlier. The Driver inspects their bags and finds that Jules has Antifungal medication for a yeast infection. Since Jules is of no use to the Driver since he needs the girls to both be in good health, he takes her onto the bus and gasses her with a tube connected to the exhaust.
He finds Mel, who threatens to cut her face with a shard of glass, which would make her useless to him as well. Instead, she stabs him in the arm with it. He attempts to disarm her, but she stabs it into his thigh before hitting him in the face with some light fixtures. She finds the gun and shoots him, the bullet skimming his head. Thinking he is dead, she tries to escape in the bus. However, before it can start the Driver attacks her again, and they grapple before he forces her into a crate with the supplies she bought earlier, which include a flashlight, a loaf of bread, water, her motion sickness pills, an Asian language learning book, and a litter box.
Trapped inside the crate, which is destined for East Asia, she examines a photo of sex slaves who are all blonde and wearing white high heels. The crate is then loaded onto a ship. It becomes clear to her that she is to be sold as a sex slave. She begins sobbing as she realizes her fate.
The final shot is of Mel's bag turning up at the airport with no one to claim it.
[edit] Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 55% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 22 reviews.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ "Shuttle (2008) – Release dates". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0880648/releaseinfo. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
- ^ "Shuttle Movie Reviews, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10010703-shuttle/. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
