“Shortcut” is an odd hybrid: an Italian-made but British-set creature feature that echoes a low-budget, ‘50s-era, sci-fi popcorn-muncher that you might have found playing on late-night TV in the ‘80s. The monster is kind of cheap-looking and not particularly scary, the gore is non-existent, the acting is variable and the characters tend to make boneheaded decisions.
Yet, for all of that, “Shortcut” does sport a certain goofy charm and at least it has the good sense, at a brisk 80 minutes including end credits, to not wear out its welcome.
As the film begins, we’re introduced to several teens being transported on a school bus somewhere in the remote European countryside. Exactly why they are there and where they are going — home? field trip? prison? — is never fully explained.
But they are a “Breakfast Club” of teen-movie tropes, ranging from moody punk Reggie (Zak Sutcliffe) to the overweight geek Karl (Zander Emlano) and the braniac Queenie (Molly Dew). And, thanks to their driver Joseph (Terence Anderson), who never has seem to have heard of Google Maps (though all the kids have cell phones), they are traversing a deserted ribbon of forest road that makes the path to grandma’s house in “Little Red Riding Hood” look like I-45.
So, of course, when Joseph finds the road blocked, he backs up to a turn off to take an even creepier path (boneheaded decision number one or is it number two if you include the whole Google thing?). But never let it be said that director Alessio Liguori and writer Daniele Cosci haven’t studied their American grindhouse-movie manual well. Joseph, who’s African American, is the (spoiler alert) first in the cast to take a gruesome exit from this life, in the grand tradition of black guys dying first in old-school horror movies. (But, maybe, in his case, it’s deserved because, you know, not using Google Maps).
To make a not-so long story even shorter, there’s a monster on the loose and our kid-heroes have to try to learn to put aside their differences to defeat it (which, unsurprisingly, involves a few other bad decisions).
“Shortcut” is being released widely in theaters and drive-ins at a time when there aren’t a ton of new titles at the multiplex. So it’s easy to be tempted by its retro appeal and occasionally effective moments (as when the kids hear the monster running on top of the bus).
But don’t compound Joseph’s ill-considered decisions with one of your own. Don’t be like Joseph.
cary.darling@chron.com
Unrated
Running time: 80 minutes
Where: Opens Sept. 25 throughout Houston
**1/2 (out of 5)
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September 24, 2020 at 12:30PM
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Horror film ‘Shortcut’ not long on frights - Houston Chronicle
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