Director: Bruce Goodison
Screenplay: Virginia Gilbert and David Michael Emerson
Starring: Nick Frost and Synnove Karlsen
Country: United Kingdom
Running Time: 88 min
Year: 2024
One of my favourite things about reviewing titles for Blueprint: Review is the prospect of finding the next cult classic. The next underrated gem that I can gush about to people for the foreseeable future. When I caught wind that Shudder were preparing a Blu-ray for their small budget horror film Black Cab, and all I knew about the film was that it starred British legend Nick Frost taking a villainous turn, I was sold. The question is, how was the end result?
Black Cab stars Last Night in Soho’s Synnove Karlsen as Anne, a woman who’s in a less than stellar relationship with Patrick (Luke Norris). After a rough dinner night, the pair get into a cab driven by Nick Frost’s Ian, a man who picked Anne up a few months before, after finding out that she was pregnant. Before long, Ian reveals his true nature and kidnaps the pair with a sinister goal in mind.
The premise of Black Cab is pretty fantastic. A small, contained thriller playing one of Britain’s most loveable actors against type for 90 minutes. The problems arise when virtually everything aside from Frost comes into play. The film’s low-budget nature really works against what should have been a home run. There’s tons of poorly implemented visual effects relating to a ghostly sub-plot which I won’t spoil, but unfortunately ends up being integral into the plot of the film. Every single time the ghost element is used for horror, it’s with a cheap, been-there-done-that jumpscare that you can see coming from a mile away. While Frost and Karlsen are committed to the film, Norris feels like the weak link of the trio and doesn’t end up offering enough to make you care about anything that happens to him.
The pacing’s quite an issue too, with the film’s first twenty minutes keeping the viewer engaged, offering questions that you can’t wait to find out the answers to. The problem arises when thirty minutes into the film, you’re seeing the same events play out time and time again. Anne will try to escape from the cab, Ian will stop her. It’s such a shame because the premise itself lends to a film that really could benefit from well-written monologues, scenes of genuine tension and more but almost none of that is on display here.
Frost’s performance, as mentioned before, is the highlight of the film but it feels a little at odds with the tone of the picture when he’s constantly cracking jokes, one liners and more. They’re funny, sure, but it makes everything feel tonally confused. Are we supposed to hate him for his horrific actions or are we supposed to enjoy seeing him like this? It’s confusing, but it’s undeniable that Frost is giving it 110% to the film and he’s the reason to watch it.
At the worst of times, Black Cab is dull, unscary and by-the-numbers. At the best of times, it’s a moderately entertaining thriller that occasionally delivers on what’s advertised – a crazy, villainous Nick Frost, showing us a side to him that we haven’t seen before. I wish I had more positive things to say about the film, because I was really rooting for it, hoping it would be that next underseen gem. Unfortunately, it’s a dud, but has me interested in seeing Frost go in a similar direction with a more focused filmmaker and screenplay.
Film: 
Black Cab released on Blu-ray and DVD 7th April via Acorn Media/Shudder. I viewed the Blu-ray and thought it looked alright. Given the film’s low-budget, this isn’t going to be a stunner by any means. It seems that the film was shot digitally and there’s moments of artefacts that would have been impossible to fix for any release. It results in a disc that doesn’t look great by any stretch, but it’s more than likely the best this would have looked on Blu-ray. Audio wise, there’s two mixes. DTS-HD 5.1 and DTS-HD 2.0 mixes. I tested out both tracks and preferred the 2.0 mix, as it suited my set-up more but both sound pretty great. Absolutely the highlight of the A/V portion of the release. Optional English subtitles are included.
Aside from a small behind-the-scenes photo gallery, no extras are included on the release. The physical release comes in the typical packaging you’d expect from a Shudder release and for Shudder enthusiasts, this’ll sit nicely on your shelf.
Black Cab’s home media release is fairly lacklustre, with an acceptable transfer, great audio and virtually nothing on the bonus features front, save for that photo gallery. If the premise sounds interesting enough to you, give this one a shot.
Disc/Packaging:
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