NateWatchesCoolMovies Hush is a pulverizing little exercise in extreme suspense. I'm not talking about this year's Hush, a sleek little home invasion shocker that's worth your time too. No, this Hush is a little seen British flick from back in 2008, and it's a proper nerve jangler. In the tradition of Duel, The Hitcher, Joyride and others, it takes place on a bustling motorway somewhere in great Britain. A young couple trundle through the night on a highway, and find themselves behind a great big creepy semi truck. In one split second, the doors of it's trailer come unstuck and open just a crack, allowing the to see what's inside. It's only a glimpse, but it's unmistakable: a girl, badly hurt and tied up, screams for help before the motion of the vehicle causes the doors to slam shut again. What would you do? This couple bravely pursues the truck and it's villainous driver across many miles of road, trying to rescue the girl inside, avoid getting killed themselves and put an end to whatever is going on. It's one merciless ride into gut churning suspense, and I marvelled at the film's ability to keep such high tension up for a streamlined ninety minutes of pure horror nirvana. It's not too lengthy, never sags or drags and always keeps the vibe as taut as the ominous chain holding those truck doors in place. Swift and sensible in resolution, stylish as all hell and scary in spades. Any horror fan owes it to themselves to take a look.

Spikeopath Hush is written and directed by Mark Tonderai and stars William Ash, Christine Bottomley, Claire Keelan and Stuart McQuarrie. Music is by Theo Green and cinematography by Philipp Blaubach.Warring young couple Zakes (Ash) and Beth (Bottomley) are driving up a dark and rain-soaked M1, when all of a sudden a grime covered truck swerves in front of them and the tail-gate lifts briefly to reveal a caged woman in the back. It signals the start of a fight for survival for the pair of them......The setting is suitably bleak, anyone who has had cause to be on a rainy British motorway at night knows how mind-numbing it can be. Even the stops at the service stations serve as mundane experiences, where the staff are on auto-pilot and other patrons are zombie like in the banality of their routines. Into the fray are a young couple who are on the cusp of breaking up (though Zakes in that macho way is ignorant to this fact), this is where Hush manages to rise above merely being a horror picture cobbled together from bits of other genre pictures. It examines how a fractured relationship reacts to a terrifying reality thrust into their lives, and with barely half a dozen principal characters in the story, this clearly isn't going to be a psycho truck driver movie that sees the antagonist offing a number of dim-wits with gory care-free abandon.Director Tonderai has done an impressive job with such limited resources, there's a realistic tense atmosphere brought out by the low budget. His staging of certain scenes really grab the attention, with a container base set cat and mouse sequence of events truly breath holding stuff. He doesn't compromise the pace of the movie with pointless filler, it's a standard three tiered horror structure (meet the principals/put them in peril/do or die finale), but the film always remains honest to its core ideas, with Zakes reacting to his various predicaments in a way that is not beyond the realms of reality. There's also some nice camera touches (under carriage tracking shot) and smart use of appliances (light sensors), so why is Hush not more loved and lauded?Fact is, is that hardened horror fans from the last twenty years will not be able to get away from that old familiar feeling of deja vu. From the cat and mouse on asphalt core story, to scenes such as a toilet hide out, there's territory that has been well trodden in better movies. There's a couple of twists, one that genuinely surprises, but one which is so telegraphed it annoys greatly. Then there is the use of the hand-held camera, which has become a staple requirement, it seems, of fledgling horror directors. Here it is used to dizzying great lengths, so much so it grows tiresome entering the last third and had this particular viewer wondering if the contents of his stomach was about to unload! There's also, perhaps inevitably, some implausibilities that are likely to test the patience of some.Undeniably it has flaws and struggles to shake them off at times, but the good far outweighs the bad here. And given the small budget and fresh ideas the writer/director puts into what is becoming a stagnated formula, Hush is actually something of a small triumph and well worth seeking out if you are stuck for a tension pumped thriller. 7/10

smorris405 I read other reviews of this film and decided too give a "2" rather than "1". Simply because the arguments made are valid and I like to keep an open mind.Generally, I love British thrillers. A poor budget or mediocre acting aside, the British usually do things better than the Americans (just my humble American opinion). However, this film takes all the bad things from American thrillers and gives them a British nuance. The film is as if C. Thomas Howell and Rutger Hauer, in "THE HITCHER" had a baby with LeeLee Sobieski and Paul Walker in "Joy Ride". The result is less than entertaining.So my dear horror and thriller fans, give yourself a break. Pass on this one. It will only disappoint.

english_artist I watched this not expecting much, and yeah some of the acting was a bit dubious but overall I was very impressed. When I started watching it I sat there with my finger on the stop button, but that button was never pressed as I was truly hooked. I really felt for the lead character and thought he played the part well. I was also surprised by a few twists here and there which would give Hollywood a run for its money.For a movie that was obviously on a budget (made with help from the lottery) I think it can stand proud with the multi-million pound big boys from the USA.A good thriller worth watching