Things are a little shaky between Ann (Synnøve Karlsen) and Patrick (Luke Norris) even before they board a taxi driven by Ian (Shaun of the DeadNick Frost). But their disagreements about whether to rebuild the relationship damaged by his bad behavior become less important when they realize that Ian didn’t pick them up by accident, and has no intention of taking them where they want to go. His dark agenda is slowly coming into focus as The Black Cab it continues, although the journey to get there is more exhausting than the destination.
Ian drives a traditional cab, though The Black Cab taps into the growing modern concerns and prominence of ride-sharing horror stories. Thanks to real-world nightmares, “Uber from Hell” is creating its own cinematic soundtrack at the moment. But The Black Cab and it draws on old fears while building its structure; at the beginning of the film, Pat tells a classic “friend of a friend” thread about a young woman who thinks she’s being chased home by her co-driver, only to realize he’s trying to warn her of a madman lurking in her back seat. (It’s a variation on the same story that opened the 1998 slasher An Urban Legendwith good reason: it’s a scary, scary situation.)
Later in the film, Ian shares a ghost story that combines two classic myths: “the disappearing hitchhiker” (see: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Unsolved Mysteries) and La Llorona, the weeping mother of Mexican mythology. This aspect has to do with the secret Ann has been keeping from Pat as she decides whether or not to give him another chance—she’s pregnant, something Ian knows and compounds his inappropriate interest in the couple.
The Black Cab he does a decent job of building tension even though most of it takes place crammed inside Ian’s cab; it makes clever use of side and rear mirrors to create dynamic visuals, and the rainy night brings more atmosphere, especially as Ann becomes more desperate in her predicament. The story’s attempts to create suspense are ineffective; The Black Cab it’s one of those movies that starts with a prophetic dream that quickly comes true, so we’re primed to expect Ann to be caught up in something worse than Ian’s meaningless apology. The supernatural jump scares also don’t bring much to the table, especially when they start to feel repetitive. And when Ian’s nefarious intentions finally emerge, the pieces don’t quite fit together—they don’t provide an ending as satisfying as that “backseat killer” tale.
Directed by Bruce Goodison and written by David Michael Emerson (with additional material by Frost and Virginia Gilbert), The Black Cab there is one important thing to do. It offers a rare lead role for Frost (Hot Fuzz, The Worlds End, Fighting With My Family, Truth Seekers)who often appears in supporting roles, often as comic relief. Here he has been revealed as an intimidating antagonist at the beginning of the story, but he still continues to pull out weapons because we tend to like the characters who play them. Ian seems only friendly; once his facade is over and we see him kidnap Ann and Pat, he alternates between caring and cruel behavior, although his version of “caring” is still very effective. A great performance by Frost, made all the better by how amazing it is.
The Black Cab arrives November 8 via Shudder.
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