Hush

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Year:	2009
Country of origin:	UK
Director:	Mark Tonderai
Genre:	British tension
Starring:	William Ash, Christine Bottomley, Andreas Wisniewski
Rating:	4/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1093369/
Tagline:	Only you saw it. Only you can save them
Favourite line:	"Remember me, you cunt?"

What can you make for £1,000,000 these days, eh?
That's barely enough to cover Angelina Jolie's nail varnish requirements in most movies but, in Hush, a taut, nervy British horror-thriller, the budget is used to maximum effect.
See, I don’t watch many British films. I tend to find them deathly dull; Social drama's about how grim life is 'Up North,' or emotional, human interest pieces about alcoholism and domestic abuse.
Not my cup of tea, certainly.
So it was with some caution I hit play on this movie, and was somewhat unprepared for what I was about to watch.

The plot:
A couple on the verge of breaking up are in the middle of a long car journey, driving around Britain's motorways so that the man, Zakes Abbot, can perform his job of switching advertisement posters. As two lanes merge into one, they almost hit a lorry in front of them and, as the larger vehicle takes avoiding action, it's rear door swings open, and Zakes is convinced he's seen a naked woman inside, caged up. Caught in a dilemma about what to do, they try to get the police involved. The strain on the already fragile relationship is too much, as Beth thinks he cares more about the posters than about the alleged kidnapped woman, and tells him she is leaving him. Then Beth herself disappears, and Zakes must take extraordinary measures to try to find her.

Punchy, massively tense, this borrows liberally from various US sources; Duel is an obvious reference, but so too is Breakdown. 24 could even be cited for the giddying camera-work and almost real-time nature of the events unfolding. Then throw in a dash of Hostel, and you're nearly ready.
With a small cast, and a small sequence of locations, the director drains every last penny from his million pounds and crafts a highly enjoyable, edge of the seat movie that punches well above it's weight.
Very good indeed.