Hundreds of passengers get stranded because of a vast blanket of fog. By way of emergency measure, a relief bus number thirteen is called in in order to drive a handful of travellers to Blackbushe. The bus is about to get lost in the fog, in more ways than one...
While not wholly without merit, "The runaway bus" fails to shine. Viewed as a thriller or crime movie, "The runaway bus" invests too little time in individual characterizations or in clueing. As a result the viewer finds it difficult to try and guess the identity of the robber(s) involved. The denouement seems to fall out of the sky. In more capable hands one of the ideas - a ghost village used only for military purposes - could have generated far more suspense or eeriness.
The comedy is not consistently amusing either. Still, there are a few funny moments here and there, thanks mainly to a magisterial Margaret Rutherford. People working in the travel or the hospitality business will recognize her type of hectoring dictator.
While not wholly without merit, "The runaway bus" fails to shine. Viewed as a thriller or crime movie, "The runaway bus" invests too little time in individual characterizations or in clueing. As a result the viewer finds it difficult to try and guess the identity of the robber(s) involved. The denouement seems to fall out of the sky. In more capable hands one of the ideas - a ghost village used only for military purposes - could have generated far more suspense or eeriness.
The comedy is not consistently amusing either. Still, there are a few funny moments here and there, thanks mainly to a magisterial Margaret Rutherford. People working in the travel or the hospitality business will recognize her type of hectoring dictator.