Black Cab

This Shudder Original, now available on Blu-ray, has some great ideas (and the occasional ‘jumpy’ moments) but is let down by its somewhat convoluted storyline. That said, lead actor Nick Frost is in top form as the psychotic cabbie from hell.

Four friends are sitting in a pretty empty looking restaurant in an English city (presumably Manchester) for a get-together. They are couples Anne (Synnove Karlsen) and Patrick (Luke Norris) and Jessica (Tessa Parr) and Ryan (George Bukhari). Loudmouth Patrick talks too much - in particular some tasteless jokes - and right away he comes across as a bit of a jerk, while the others mainly listen and sip wine. When he makes the evening’s big announcement, namely that he and Anne, who has displayed an oddly tense behaviour throughout, are getting married, Anne suddenly heads to the restroom instead of raising a glass together with the others. Her friend Jessica follows her and tries to persuade Anne not to marry Patrick, without giving any specific reason. Instead of sitting down at the table again, Anne storms out of the restaurant in order to fetch a taxi, leaving a perplexed Patrick behind.

Minutes later, he too leaves the restaurant together with his mate Ryan but when he attempts to get in the same taxi Anne has just climbed into, Jessica gets irritated and tries stopping him from joining her friend. The quarrel goes on for several minutes, with Patrick growing more irritated by the minute over Jessica’s attempts to stop him from getting into the taxi. Meanwhile, Ryan looks on in bewilderment at the unfolding scene. Eventually though, Patrick gets his way (he’s the kind of guy who always does) and off he goes with Anne in the black cab. Minutes in, the cabbie introduces himself as Ian (Nick Frost) and strikes up an initially friendly and lighthearted conversation. Soon though, more sinister undertones emerge when he mentions that he has driven Anne before in his cab, namely when, some weeks ago, he picked her up from the hospital’s maternity ward and drove her home. Despite Anne insisting that Ian must be mistaken, she can no longer hide the truth after Ian is able to recollect her address. This slice of unexpected news hits Patrick like a brick and he’s understandably angry that he has to find out from a stranger about Anne’s pregnancy. That’s just the beginning of the nightmare, with Ian asking ever more private questions and advising Anne to get out of his cab right now and run a mile into the other direction, rather than marrying douchebag Patrick. At this point, the script’s logic begins to crumble because any passenger in Ian’s cab would have urged him to stop by now and let them out… or would call the local taxi headquarter to complain about cabbie Ian’s unprofessional conduct… or would even call the police. But no, a ery angry Patrick simply tells Ian to shut up and drive Anne to her address.

Well! Instead of doing what he’s told, Ian says he needs to stop in a side lane for a few minutes to inquire about his little son, who is apparently sick. However, after the phone call, at which point Patrick yells “I don’t give a f**k about your son, just drive us home” Ian opens the car door and tasers Patrick, who collapses in his seat, before tying Anne’s hands behind her back and warning her that if she screams or makes any attempts to escape, he will taser Patrick some more and kill him. Oh, he also tasers the couple’s smartphones, now unusable. It is then that Ian reveals the story of a female ghost (Tilly Woodward) - the ghost of Maybelle Hill Road - who keeps stalking him. It is the same female ghost which Anne also saw in recent dreams. As Ian gradually changes from friendly cab driver into a full-blown psychotic nutcase, we (and Anne) learn about his own back story and how it is connected to the female ghost… and ultimately also to Anne….


To give any more of the plot away would spoil the twist (two twists, in fact) towards the end, so let’s stop here. Frost is excellent as a deranged maniac willing to kill in pursuit of his own agenda, which ultimately backfires. It’s obvious that the production (essentially a two-hander) didn’t have much of a budget though seeing how the majority of the screen time (a crisp 87 minutes) takes place in a cab and later in a ramshackle abode, it doesn’t really matter. The plot, or the backstory, rather, is a little convoluted and while the ghostly apparition tends to be creepy at the beginning, as the film goes on, you’re just not frightened anymore. BLACK CAB won’t scare your socks off though this supernatural thrill ride is entertaining enough.

Bonus Material includes ‘Behind the Scenes’ picture gallery.