Black Cab
Rightly or wrongly, it’s something which is drummed into women travelling on a night out, to never get into a stranger’s car alone, to always make sure that it is a licensed black cab they are using to get home safely, to always let a friend know where they are so there is a continuity in their actions, a witness who can confirm what happened, discouraging a driver who might be contemplating inappropriate behaviour.
And Anne did all this, out celebrating with her boyfriend Patrick and their mutual friends, he taking the opportunity to announce their engagement which prompted an argument, Jessica concerned for her friend who she knows has misgivings, Patrick taking exception to what he felt is nobody else’s business, their quarrel continuing as they enter the cab and the driver attempts to intervene while only succeeding in making matters worse.
Directed by Bruce Goodison from a script by Virginia Gilbert, The World’s End’s Nick Frost is Ian, driver of the titular Black Cab while Last Night in Soho’s Synnøve Karlsen is Anne and Poldark’s Luke Norris is Patrick, far from a prince as he pressures his fiancée, overriding her wishes and demanding he accompany her despite her preference to be alone, his reassuring manly presence standing for little when Ian hits him with an illegal high voltage taser.
Opening with a dreamlike passage through dark and misty country lanes and past ominous signposts, Anne the helpless passenger, pregnant and with no control, fearful for the life within her, the tone switches to a more straightforward thriller as the awkward night out unfolds but the film then tries to drive a middle lane between the two contrary styles, a hostage drama of threats and violence splitting the fare with supernatural elements.
Initially affable and chatty cabbie Ian swiftly becoming intrusive and inappropriate before overstepping into the wildly indiscreet, revealing that he previously gave Anne a ride home from the maternity ward when she had not yet told Patrick of her condition, Frost is genuinely terrifying as he unravels, swiftly removing the diminutive Anne’s ostensible protection from the equation, the contents of her clutch purse no match for his overwhelming physical bulk.
Considering only the performances, the palpable desperation of Karlsen and the menace of Frost, Black Cab might have been a ride worth taking, but with the backstory of “the Ghost of Maybelle Hill” and Ian’s ongoing rants of the wronged man lifted from identikit urban legend and any number of alpha male safe spaces, the familiar scenery along the way doesn’t warrant the journey to the predictable and disappointing destination.
Black Cab will be available on Shudder from Friday 8th November
