The Passenger is an utterly grotesque and disturbing horror flick that delivers on the jump scares, but lacks when it comes to the story telling.
The Passenger has a very eerie premise, which is the perfect set up for a great horror movie. A group of strangers are traveling along empty roads when they accidentally strike a lone late night hiker. They quickly realize that helping her was very much the wrong decision.
What plays out over the course of this 90 minute film, is a lot of jump scares and truly grotesque looking “monsters”. The Passenger is a lot of fun for those who are into this sort of thing, but the story itself is a bit lacking. That said, the final scene of the movie is pure genius.
The beginning of this film is enough to pull in just about any viewer as it perfectly sets up what is to come later. It immediately gives off creepy vibes, even if it finds itself slipping into typical horror tropes more often than not. Unfortunately these are present in the first few minutes of the film — never, ever stop to help somebody you don’t know on a dark and dreary night. This is horror movie 101 people!
In all seriousness though, viewers will find themselves yelling at the poor decision making of these characters, but will likely still have fun doing it. Intense quiet moments are broken up by loud noises and sudden movements, causing some epic jump scare moments. The makeup and styling should be applauded here as well. It doesn’t always hit but when it does, it really does.
The creatures that are shown in The Passenger have faces that only a mother could love, and as a massive horror fan I am so totally here for it. Without giving spoilers, there is a moment involving a tongue that is absolutely, hands down, my favorite scene of the film (even though I had to watch it through my hands). These are the moments where this movie excels. But when it comes to story telling, this is unfortunately where it suffers.
The overall premise is an interesting one, don’t get me wrong, but it has been done before. Many, many times. Because of this it really needs to bring something unique and intriguing, but it never does. Still there is enough blood, gore, and monsters to keep most audiences tuned in — especially those who enjoy this genre of movie.
The Passenger has subtitles for those who do not speak Spanish and perhaps this is why I was pulled out of the story when I was. There were often times I had to be reading the words across the bottom of the screen, and then would have to go back to take a second look at the visuals. It goes to show how fast moving this movie is, and that the pace is well kept. Spanish speakers will likely have a lot better time with this one, since they won’t have to be going back and forth.
All of that being said, The Passenger is a fun horror movie that is sure to have viewers on the edge of their seat and hiding behind pillows, blankets, hands, or whatever they can find. There are some humorous moments that help to break up the intensity, but overall the story is what falls flat. It just doesn’t feel like anything we haven’t seen before, a million different times in a million different ways.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
NEXT: The Innocents Movie Review
About The Passenger
A group of strangers sharing a ride have their trip interrupted when the driver hits a woman hiking in the dark of night. They decide to help her, but quickly learn that something is wrong and that they shouldn’t have let her in at all.
Dark Star Pictures and Bloody Disgusting will release the Spanish horror film THE PASSENGER in Theaters June 3, 2022 and On Demand and DVD June 28, 2022. The film had its World Premiere at the 2021 Sitges Film Festival in which it was nominated for the Audience Award.
THE PASSENGER (original title: La Pasajera) stars Ramiro Blas (“La Fuga”), Cecilia Suárez (“The House of Flowers”), Paula Gallego (“Cuéntame”) and Cristina Alcázar (Cachorro). The film was co-directed by Raúl Cerezo (feature film debut) and Fernando González Gómez (Zombie World 2) based on a screenplay written by Luis Sánchez-Polack (Como Caido Del Cielo).
