Now available on Shudder
A couple gets in a cab with a friendly driver, soon arguing in the back seat while he interjects. Things go from bad to worse when the driver shows some of his true intentions.
Written by Virginia Gilbert and directed by Bruce Goodison, Black Cab is a solid mix of thriller and horror that does lean heavily toward its thriller aspects. The writing works quite well even though keen film watchers will be able to guess a lot of the twists and turns here, there will still be a few that should surprise just about all viewers. The characters here are limited to a few and are well-written and well fleshed out. The direction here works well with the script to bring some tense scenes and some nasty surprises that horror fans should love. The film created here is entertaining, engaging, and keeps a good pace throughout.
The cast here is led by Nick Frost who is likely going to be the reason most folks check this film out. He’s a horror household name at this point and he does really well as a more serious actor as well which leads into this part perfectly. Here he plays the cab driver who picks up a couple in London and leads them into a ride from hell and then some. His work here is friendly and chilling depending on the scene while keeping the character cohesive, something that is not easy to do. His switching back and forth is masterful here and he really is the star of the film and the main attraction due to his performance and not a name-only situation. Joining him in the cab and through the majority of the film’s run time is Synnove Karlsen as Anne who shows that she can believably go through the whole gamut of emotions through one film and make each and every one of them believable. Her work here is great and balances out Frost’s in just the right way. The rest of the cast has a less screen time than these two and everyone is doing quite well as well. This is a small but strong cast, one clearly carefully selected for each part.
The film’s cinematography by Adam Etherington works great for the story, especially in the and around the cab. The use of light here is fantastic and so is the use of darkness to build contrast and effective images. The film’s look here is strongest when in the cab than the other scenes, but that does not mean that the other scenes do not work as they all have a specific look that works great for the story’s elements in that moment. The cinematography and lighting here are careful and done with great understanding of what is needed, what will work, and what will pull the viewer deeper into the story. The editing works with these images very well and helps build the tension throughout the film.
Black Cab is an effective thriller with horror elements that work, giving the viewers some serious chills and a strong performance from Nick Frost and Synnove Karlsen showcased by careful, calculated, and well-lit cinematography.