Director Alessio Liguori attempts to put a different spin on the creature feature in Shortcut from Gravitas Ventures. The film follows a group of five classmates trapped inside their school bus after a mysterious creature invades the road. Every passing minute decreases their survival chances against the constant threats of that unknown entity.
Screenwriter Daniele Cosci is clearly attempting to mix eighties classic The Breakfast Club and the Stephen King short story The Raft. The Breakfast Club trope comes into as the characters are comprised of your standard teen movie character types. There’s juvenile delinquent Reggie (Zak Sutcliffe), nerd Karl (Zander Emlando), prodigy Queenie (Molly Dew), jock Nolan (Jack Kane), and misfit Bess (Sophie Jane Oliver). The Raft element comes into play as the group has to band together to survive a supernatural force.
Guiding these teens on their journey is the token black bus driver Joseph (Terrence Anderson). Also thrown into the mix is an escaped con with a murderous streak. With it’s eighty-minute run time, I was hoping that Shortcut would be more fun. Sadly the film is another forgettable horror flick.
One of the hand, I give credit to the directors and the effects team for initially giving us brief shots of the creature, but that’s where the positive ends. I didn’t care about any of the kids and some of them who are first-time actors, make a horrible debut. The subplot involving a previous foe for the creature comes off as tacked and feels like it belongs in a different movie.
During the age of COVID, fresh movies in the theaters are hard to come by. Now is the time for studios to invest time towards filmmakers and give them a chance to shine. Sadly Shortcut isn’t the new horror film, movie buffs need.
Final Grade D-
Shortcut will open in limited release on September 25 with a VOD release to follow on December 22.
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