Nothing brings a squabbling couple together like a deranged trucker with a cage in his trailer.
The British thriller “Hush,” part of the IFC on Demand service, explores the bond between lovers on the cusp of breaking up by putting them in an unimaginable crisis.
But while the slasher film du jour lines up pretty actors and then knocks them off with clockwork regularity, the body count here is a fraction of the standard horror flick.
Good.
“Hush” uses its modest resources wisely, letting us get to know the film’s slacker lead and the love of his young life.
Zakes and Beth (William Ash and Christine Bottomley) are driving – and fighting – en route to Zakes’ latest job. He’s the guy who tacks up the advertisements in gas station toilets and other glamour spots.
He stops bickering long enough to notice a woman trapped in the back of a truck driving in front of them.
Beth insists they help her out. Zakes calls the police but figures there’s little else he can do. Their options fade away when their lives intersect with the mystery trucker.
Zakes’ loyalty and love for Beth is put to the ultimate test.
Writer/director Mark Tonderai, a former DJ, feels like a veteran of the genre already, and not in that been there, killed that manner of a Wes Craven or John Carpenter. Tonderai clearly is working with a small budget, and a modest story, but the emotions never feel compromised.
Tonderai leans heavily on a spare soundtrack with echoes of the “Saw” franchise, but his film’s pacing is darn near perfect.
Even better, Zakes is the kind of horror movie protagonist who won’t inspire audiences to shout obvious commands his way. His career may be adrift, and he might just lose Beth’s love at some point, but he’s a resourceful hero, one who works within the bounds of reality. A mid-file revelation about Beth’s fidelity only deepens his commitment to her.
“Hush” has a generic title, but it’s another smart, jolting horror movie on a budget, and one not to be missed.
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