The Shortcut (2009)

Two brothers come upon a rarely used shortcut in their new town

Director:

Nicholaus Goossen

Writers:

Dan Hannon, Scott Sandler

Stars:

Kent Allen, Wendy Anderson, Raymond J. Barry

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kent Allen	...	Mr. Hartley
Wendy Anderson	...	Derek's Mom
Raymond J. Barry	...	Old Man / Ivor Hartley (as Raymond Barry)
Jeremy Bastian	...	Benjamin Hartley (1940s)
Katrina Bowden	...	Christy
Cavan Cunningham	...	School Administrator
William B. Davis	...	Benjamin Hartley
Benjamin DeWalt	...	Benjamin Hartley (1950s)
Nicholas Elia	...	Tobey
Josh Emerson	...	Taylor
Dave Franco	...	Mark
Jonelle Gunderson	...	Sally (1950s)
Shannon Jardine	...	Ms. Milan
Scott Lyster	...	Dougie
Christine MacInnis	...	Mrs. Hartley

Storyline

Two brothers come upon a rarely used shortcut in their new town

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Plot Keywords:

shortcut | climbing through a window | strangulation | double barreled shotgun | dragging a body | 

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence and terror, language, sexual material, thematic elements and brief teen drinking

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dark Legends - Neugier kann tödlich sein

Filming Locations:

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Happy Madison Productions, Minds Eye Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 100 min (European Film Market)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

It is announced at the beginning of the film that the year is 1945, and there is a prominent banner for Hartley High School's Homecoming. A young man entering the Marines says he's going to be stationed in Germany, which is important because he has to "Stop the Nazis." Homecoming dances at USA high schools are in October or November, which means the dialogue takes place in October or November of 1945. Hitler committed suicide in April of 1945, and the Nazi party quickly dissolved. World War II was over by the time this conversation took place.

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Connections

References Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)

User Reviews

More bizarre than i thought it would be, still contains most of the regular teen-horror-flick attributes

The plot and the whole story of this movie reminded me very much of 2003 slasher-horror flick called 'Wrong Turn'. Although i realized that 'The Shortcut' is somewhat different, it still follows the same concept, group of teenagers (in 'Wrong Turn' they were young adults) find an old, unused path through the forest, unfortunately for them these kind of paths often seem to be inhabited by madmen. And unsurprisingly that's also the case in 'The Shortcut'.

The cast is really nice, at least i thought so. Dudes are perfect for madmen fodder and the chicks are hot. Killing scenes are well-made, surprisingly well for this kind of B-horror movie. One thing that surprised me was that unlike the other horrors that are similar to this one (e.g. 'Wrong Turn'), in 'The Shortcut' the whole madmen thing is tried to explain, the few sequences of the villain's past are shown that help us understand the whole story and who is who. I thought that was pretty thoughtful and good, as long as those "flashback" sequences weren't long, and indeed they weren't. The whole villain thing is kind of bizarre, and i find it just because of those flashbacks, because that way you get to know that character better. In movies like 'Friday the 13th' or 'Wrong Turn' you don't consider the villains too bizarre, they are just usual bad guys that love to slash teenager's throats, but in 'The Shortcut' you get a different dose of villains, and it's definitely true that the psycho-killer with a "normal" face is scarier than psycho-killer with deformed face, well...at least on a movie.

Definitely watch this movie if you're a fan of horror films in general, if you're not, stay away from this terror-chiller. It's more disturbing than you think it will be, trust me.