LAST PASSENGER is a British movie and a low-budget addition to the string of "single location" thrillers. In this one, a handful of passengers are stranded on an abandoned train at night, a train that's being driven by a man who may or may not be out of his mind. What ensues is reasonably good given the set-up, with plenty of suspense and low-rent heroics as those trapped try to work out a way to improve their situation.

One of the real strengths of LAST PASSENGER lies in the calibre of the cast members. Dougray Scott is a particularly dependable face when it comes to genre fare (such as the lacklustre DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS miniseries) and he acquits himself well with the family-man-turned-group-leader role here. Kara Tointon is little more than a pretty face, but there also decent turns from the reliable David Schofield and Lindsay Duncan. Newcomer Iddo Goldberg is a hoot as the volatile Pole who plays his own part in the proceedings.

A few elements of LAST PASSENGER are a little cheesy, such as some of the CGI effects, and there's a nod to UNDER SIEGE 2 at one point which destroys the carefully-maintained realism seen elsewhere. But for the most part this is gripping, tension-filled stuff and a film whose restraint works in its favour.

Dr. Lewis Shaler (Dougray Scott) is riding a late night London train with his seven year old son Max (Joshua Kaynama) Max is a bit rambunctious and through him he meets another passenger, the flirty Sarah (Kara Tointon). We get to know these characters as we watch others, especially a disagreeable young man (Iddo Goldberg) who catches everyone's attention. Soon the train has a problem which demands the remaining passengers take action. We then get to meet two elderly passengers (David Schofield, Elaine Middleton).

The passengers work together to confront the problem. We get to see character testing, character building, and some heroics. The acting was good. The plot and action was enough to hold my attention, but not enough to get excited over. Most films of this type have a subplot consisting of events that are taking place outside the train. This one does not. This is more of a concept film that keeps the viewer on the train.

A film you will forget shortly after you watch it.

Parental Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

Several reviewers have described Kara Tointon, the fetching young woman who meets the handsome doctor, Dougray Scott, on the train from London to Hasting as "flirtatious." This is a blot on the character's virtue. True, she invites his attention after discovering he's a widower with a young son and needs a wife, and it's true that she almost forces her phone number on him when they're about to part, and gives him a warm kiss to boot. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's not that uncommon. It happens to me every time I take the last train from London to Hastings and I'm not a doctor, not even a graduate of the Technological Institute of Gdansk, as one of the other passengers is.

There are six passengers on a train speeding towards destruction at Hastings. A madman we never see has killed the guard, disposed of the engineer, and locked himself inside an impenetrable cabin, intent on suicide and taking the passengers with him. Two passengers die, one of cardiac arrest and the other of gravity, without a drop of blood being seen. So it's not a slasher movie or a horror movie.

It's not an action movie either because there is in fact very little in the way of kinetics. Mostly the passengers huddle and try to figure out how to stop the unstoppable train. They bang on doors. They climb outside to uncouple the car but they fail. The viewer is less likely to be thrilled or horrified than gripped by suspense. I mean, when everything seems to fail, what DO you do? But it's a commercial movie and it hits the mark. Dougray Scott is just handsome enough to inspire trust but not envy. It's hard to determine whether Iddo Goldberg, who plays the Polish technician is a "good" guy or a "bad" guy. He misbehaves. He continually drops salvos of F bombs. He looks young but sinister. Worst of all, he smokes in a no-smoking zone.

If you want a more ambitious movie, try "Runaway Train," partly written by Kurosawa and directed by Konchalovsky. The obscure but rapid-fire symbolism will have you gasping for breath.