DVDs in Review

Hush

Title: Hush (2008)

Release date: July 20 2009

Certificate: 15

Format: Reviewed on DVD, available on Blu-ray

DVD RRP: £15.99

Rating: 3/5

First off, 'Hush' is being marketed as a horror (in fact "the best British horror in years" according to the front of the box) but don't be swayed - this far more of a thriller than a horror, as far as typical consumer expectations go.

The action is all real to a certain extent. It could, on a really bad day, actually happen to you and that's what make the best thrillers. Mixing Spielberg's 'Duel' and Hitchcock's 'Rear Window', it tells the tale of a man oddly named Zake (William Ash) travelling home on a rain-drenched M1 in the north of England with his partner Beth (Christine Bottomley).

They fight, it's bad weather and they'd both rather be at home ignoring each other instead of being enclosed in a car (which itself is nothing special), so when Zake thinks he sees a women screaming in the back of a lorry he welcomes the excitement and calls the police.

Beth is furious he didn't do more and storms off and then disappears. Zake is stricken with panic and then sees the same lorry again and frantically follows it on a hunch that she's the driver's next victim.

That's essentially it - Zake's quest to get his partner back while no-one believes him or is willing to help. There's also a few traitors and twists along the way, much like the underrated Kurt Russell thriller 'Breakdown', but the main thing that set 'Breakdown', 'Duel' and 'Rear Window' apart was the acting.

'Hush' simply doesn't have good enough acting. It all feels like you're watching a high-octane episode of 'Coronation Street' with everyone playing their parts as either far too shocked or much too sinister. Film noir was all about the many shades of grey. While 'Hush' does effectively use plenty of noir iconography and really rack up the suspense, when it comes down to a character level there are far too many broad strokes.

It's a noble attempt at revamping a plot-driven B-movie that only needed some better principal actors and a series of twists that weren't based so heavily on chance or ridiculousness. Still there's plenty worse 'horror' films on the market… The DVD from Optimum contains a commentary, featurettes, interviews and deleted scenes.