Let's begin.
Source: YouTube
Length: 10 minutes
Number of Ratings from IMDb: 11
Country of Origin: Australia
Director: Martin Murphy [Nightride, Lost Things]
Most of this film takes place on a night bus ride, hence the title:
Not the best title screen, but you can't say it's not effective.
We meet our unnamed protagonist, who, for some reason or another, decides to get on a bus.
At the same stop, a bunch of drunken businessmen also get on. For some reason, they're all wearing masks, though perhaps it's just something drunk businessmen do in Australia. Regardless, the driver pays them no mind, most likely because they paid. Unfortunately for everyone, not all is as it seem as the last masked businessman boards.
Though everyone else is too drunk to notice, this is not the businessman who walked out of the pub with the others. That guy is gone. This guy doesn't even stumble when getting on board - he just makes his way to the back, and his "friends" have to idea that something is wrong. Only our unnamed friend is suspicious, though it's just a small hunch at this time.
The bus begins moving, and at first, all seems well. Two of the drunken businessmen are chatting about... something. The above scene is probably the most incomprehensible discussion in English I've ever heard in my life. Not only are the Australian accents strong and not only are they drunk, but from the little I gathered, the topic is business deals in foreign countries. Because of this, however, I deem the scene greatly amusing.
(Note the Italian subtitles provided - I think I know why they're present, which I'll talk about a little later on).
So, everything seems normal. The bus driver takes no notice of his passengers (aside from appearing slightly disgruntled at their intoxicated state), and the businessmen are too immersed in their own world to be on the alert. Our hero looks back to scope the scene, and here is clue #1 that something is wrong.
Keep in mind that everyone wearing a suit is supposed to be drunk off their ass. This guy is sitting up straight, keeping his eyes forward. If I was on a public bus, looked back, and saw that, I'd be a lot more freaked out than our unnamed friend, who turns back to his seat, with a small look of nervousness on his face.
Still, he ignores the ruckus in the back of the bus for a few more minutes, but then decides to look back again, leading to the creepiest scene of the short. He first notices what appears to be dripping blood from a supposedly drunk man's hand. He then looks a few seats back and sees this.
Good lord, talk about an effective jump scare. That scene alone would make me get off the bus immediately. Alas, our young friend is not as cautious as I am, and so again, turns around back to his seat, though a bit more spooked (for good reason) than before.
Minutes pass, then two of the drunken businessmen get off the bus, leaving just the driver, the young protagonist, the killer, and two other (now-dead, unknowingly to everyone else) businessmen. From here on out, the short intensifies immensely.
Far more creeped out than prior, the unnamed young man is about to pull the stop-wire and secure his safety by deboarding the bus. Unluckily for him, however, the masked killer pulls it first, and makes it to the front of the bus as if he's getting off.
He isn't.
After quickly dispatching with the driver and barring all the doors of the bus, our killer takes the wheel and drives the terrified young man to sit down, knowing three are dead already, with no idea of how to combat the mysterious killer.
Meanwhile, something amazing happens.
The police either happen across or were called to the corpse of the newly-deceased bus driver who was thrown out the door unceremoniously before the killer began driving. They are now on the trail of the bus, but will they be able to catch up before the killer takes another life?
I won't spoil the ending, but I did like this bit of dialogue, spoken by a police officer to another character:
Officer: Now you're not obliged to do or say anything, but anything you do or say may be taken as evidence.
Sounds far more proper than the American version, in part due to the use of "obliged," and in part due to the accent. Bless the Australians.
Anyhow, the ending is rather sudden, and there was no credit scene on the version I watched. I've only found a little information about it, but it's relatively interesting.
Director Martin Murphy directed only two other films: one, a comedy short, released in 1996, and a full-length horror film entitled Lost Things, from 2003, which I've not seen.
Recall the Italian subtitles? Obviously there weren't present in the original version, but I think they're there because this was either on a VHS tape from Italy or on an Italian movie station. I say that because this short was featured in the 1997 Torino Film Festival, which is an international film festival held annually in Italy. Sometime after the showing at the Festival, I figure that a television station played it (note the "Tele +" symbol in the bottom right hand corner) and this is a recording of that airing.
Here is another related, semi-interesting read regarding the score of the film.
As far as I can tell, at the time, this short was well-received, and it's pretty easy to see why. It's creepy and claustrophobic, and in my opinion, well worth a watch.
On a final note, it's amazing to me that while over 200 people have seen the video I watched (according to the YouTube view counter), only 11 have rated the film on IMDb. I deem this a sad shame. Do yourself a favor, and watch this one when possible - I don't think you'll be disappointed.
My rating: 8.5/10
Here is the IMDb page to this short.
Thanks again for reading. My plans over the next few weeks are to review probably around five more short films before getting on to longer films. I'm sort of working my way up to a bigger project like that.
- Michael
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