Another suspense thriller about an unseen person in a car doing evil things (in this case, kidnapping young girls and allegedly sexually assaulting them, one resulting in murder), and with Joanna Cassidy driving a school bus, she turns into a vigilante to catch them when her daughter is abducted. Serious story that I found to be in bad taste because it turns campy at all the wrong moments.
For one thing, Cassidy is far too glamorous, looking like she's made up for a 1980's nighttime soap opera rather than driving a yellow school bus. She's apparently a hotshot big deal from L. A., so what is she doing in this small town all of a sudden behind the wheels of a school bus? At one point, she's chasing the filthy yellow car covered in Black such and all of a sudden finds herself over a cliff, reminding me of Karen Black in "Airport 75" and Doris Day in "Julie". I felt guilty for laughing but the situation had become so serious with all these silly elements that I couldn't help but laugh.
The story line becomes so messed up by this point with explosions and chases that you think you were watching a Mel Gibson or Bruce Willis movie. You're not supposed to be giggling and a situation where girls are being abducted but elements of the script become so absurd that it's difficult to keep it in. Cassidy is so out of her element in this film and this community, and the ability of the bus to go where Cassidy drives it is ridiculously absurd. So while I can't completely hate it as it did keep me entertained, I did find so many elements of it to just be far too over-the-top to really look at as anything more than a TV movie joke.
For one thing, Cassidy is far too glamorous, looking like she's made up for a 1980's nighttime soap opera rather than driving a yellow school bus. She's apparently a hotshot big deal from L. A., so what is she doing in this small town all of a sudden behind the wheels of a school bus? At one point, she's chasing the filthy yellow car covered in Black such and all of a sudden finds herself over a cliff, reminding me of Karen Black in "Airport 75" and Doris Day in "Julie". I felt guilty for laughing but the situation had become so serious with all these silly elements that I couldn't help but laugh.
The story line becomes so messed up by this point with explosions and chases that you think you were watching a Mel Gibson or Bruce Willis movie. You're not supposed to be giggling and a situation where girls are being abducted but elements of the script become so absurd that it's difficult to keep it in. Cassidy is so out of her element in this film and this community, and the ability of the bus to go where Cassidy drives it is ridiculously absurd. So while I can't completely hate it as it did keep me entertained, I did find so many elements of it to just be far too over-the-top to really look at as anything more than a TV movie joke.