The Shortcut

The Shortcut

Some urban legends are real.

R 2009 · 100 min · ★ 4.7 · Mystery, Horror, Thriller

When Derek moves to a new town and discovers a shortcut through the woods to his high school, he learns about a crazy old man who lives near its path: Legend has it that he abducted a group of teenagers years ago. Ignoring the warning, Derek and his friends set out to uncover the dark secret that's buried deep in the woods. But will they survive to tell it?

Directed by Nicholaus Goossen · Written by Scott Sandler

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Rent or Buy

Cast

Drew Seeley Derek
Shannon Woodward Lisa
Dave Franco Mark
Katrina Bowden Christy
Raymond J. Barry Old Man / Ivor
Kent Allen Mr. Hartley
Wendy Anderson Derek's Mom
Jeremy Bastian Benjamin (1940s)
Cavan Cunningham School Administrator
Shannon Jardine Ms. Milan
Tracy-Lynn Pugsley Irene
Nicholas Elia Tobey

Make it a double feature

2h 40m together

The Shortcut

Trevor Moore: High In Church

Both from Nicholaus Goossen.

More from Nicholaus GoossenSee all →

Hustle

MovieDramaComedy

After discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player with a rocky past abroad, a down on his luck basketball scout takes it upon himself to bring the phenom to the States without his team's approval. Against the odds, they have one final shot to prove they have what it takes to make it in the NBA.

Marcello Hernández: American Boy

Marcello Hernández: American Boy · 2026

Marcello Hernández: American Boy

Filmed in Miami, Hernández's special features his comedic take on his first-generation American upbringing before a local audience.

Trevor Moore: High In Church

Trevor Moore: High In Church · 2015

Trevor Moore: High In Church

MovieComedyMusic

Trevor Moore recorded his first solo one-hour special, High In Church, at The Gramercy Theatre in New York. Accompanied by a live band, dancing girls and music videos, Trevor performs an hour of brand-new sketches and songs spanning all musical genres.

Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh

Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh · 2018

Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh

MovieComedyMusic

Adam Sandler takes his comical musical musings back out on the road, from comedy clubs to concert halls to one very unsuspecting subway station.

Trevor Moore: The Story of Our Times

Trevor Moore: The Story of Our Times · 2018

Trevor Moore: The Story of Our Times

MovieComedyMusic

Trevor Moore's special finds him struggling through an insufferable brunch with his girlfriend and her friends as they discuss pop culture and hot-button issues. Naturally, he can't stop himself from expressing his own views on the topics through a series of songs and music videos, including "My Computer Became Self Aware" and "Bullies."

Nikki Glaser: Bangin'

Nikki Glaser: Bangin' · 2019

Nikki Glaser: Bangin'

Nikki Glaser bares all in a blistering stand-up special about sex, sobriety and getting over her own insecurities. And she won't spare you the details.

A Day with the Meatball

A Day with the Meatball · 2002

A Day with the Meatball

A day with Adam Sandler's dog, Meatball.

Grandma's Boy

Grandma's Boy · 2006

Even though he's 35, Alex acts more like he's 13, spending his days as the world's oldest video game tester and his evenings developing the next big Xbox game. But when he gets kicked out of his apartment, he's forced to move in with his grandmother.

Happy Gilmore 2

Happy Gilmore 2 · 2025

Happy Gilmore 2

Happy Gilmore isn't done with golf — not by a long shot. Since his retirement after his first Tour Championship win, Gilmore returns to finance his daughter's ballet classes.

Typical Rick

Typical Rick · 2016

An "Odd Couple" type comedy following the exploits of Gary and Rick, childhood friends from the Midwest who move to Hollywood to chase their dreams well past their prime.

Nick Swardson: Taste It

Nick Swardson: Taste It · 2015

Nick Swardson: Taste It

MovieComedyTV Movie

Nick returns to the Paramount Theater to drop his new TASTE IT hour special. Fans of Swardson get his fresh takes on booze, chicks and diarrhea, along with new stories, new jokes and a new t-shirt. Nick is back and it tastes good.

Drugstore June

Drugstore June · 2024

MovieComedyCrime

After the pharmacy in her small town is robbed, a girl who still lives at home with her parents takes matters into her own hands to solve the crime, while at the same time trying to get over her ex-boyfriend and become more of an adult.

Esther Povitsky: Hot for My Name

Esther Povitsky: Hot for My Name · 2020

Esther Povitsky: Hot for My Name

MovieComedyDocumentary

Esther goes home to Skokie, Illinois to understand why her unique relationship with her parents motivated her to become a comedian. Documentary footage is intercut with stand-up, giving audiences a hilarious look into her origin story.

More Like This

Swimming Pool

Swimming Pool · 2003

MovieCrimeThriller

A British crime novelist travels to her publisher's upmarket summer house in Southern France to seek solitude in order to work on her next book. However, the unexpected arrival of the publisher's daughter induces complications and a subsequent crime.

Notorious

Notorious · 1946

MovieDramaRomance

In order to help bring Nazis to justice, U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin recruits Alicia Huberman, the American daughter of a convicted German war criminal, as a spy. As they begin to fall for one another, Alicia is instructed to win the affections of Alexander Sebastian, a Nazi hiding out in Brazil. When Sebastian becomes serious about his relationship with Alicia, the stakes get higher, and Devlin must watch her slip further undercover.

The Silence of the Lambs

The Silence of the Lambs · 1991

The Silence of the Lambs

MovieCrimeThriller

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.

Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko · 2001

MovieFantasyDrama

After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.

Girls with Balls

Girls with Balls · 2019

Girls with Balls

MovieHorrorComedy

All girls volley ball team The Falcons end up stranded in the middle of nowhere after their mini-van breaks down. Little do they know they landed in degenerate hunters' territory and the hunt is on. Thus begins a very long night where they must run for their lives and test their team spirit. But the girls are more resourceful than it appears. In the heart of the forest, the tables are about to turn between hunter and hunted...

Mystic River

Mystic River · 2003

MovieThrillerDrama

The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.

Snakes on a Plane

Snakes on a Plane · 2006

Snakes on a Plane

MovieActionAdventure

FBI agent Neville Flynn boards a flight from Honolulu, Hawaii to Los Angeles, escorting a key witness to testify against a mob boss at an upcoming trial. An on-board assassin releases a crate full of hundreds of deadly venomous snakes in an attempt to eliminate the witness. Flynn and a host of frightened passengers and crew must band together to survive the slithery threat.

North by Northwest

North by Northwest · 1959

North by Northwest

MovieThrillerAdventure

Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.

Rebecca

Rebecca · 1940

MovieMysteryRomance

Story of a young woman who marries a fascinating widower only to find out that she must live in the shadow of his former wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years earlier. The young wife must come to grips with the terrible secret of her handsome, cold husband, Max De Winter. She must also deal with the jealous, obsessed Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper, who will not accept her as the mistress of the house.

The Killing

The Killing · 1956

MovieCrimeThriller

Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.

To Catch a Thief

To Catch a Thief · 1955

To Catch a Thief

MovieMysteryRomance

When a string of jewel robberies hits the French Riviera, suspicion falls on retired thief John “The Cat” Robie. To clear his name, he sets out to trap the copycat himself—entangling a wealthy widow and her beguiling daughter in a seductive game of pursuit, deception, and desire.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For · 2014

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

MovieActionCrime

Some of Sin City's most hard-boiled citizens cross paths with a few of its more reviled inhabitants.

Dead Shack

Dead Shack · 2017

MovieActionComedy

On a weekend getaway at a rundown cabin in the woods, Jason, a cautious teen, his crude best friend Colin and his fearless older sister Summer are forced to work together, grow up and save their hard-partying parents from their predatory neighbor intent on feeding them all to her undead family.

Yella

MovieDramaThriller

A young East German woman leaves her controlling husband/business partner and relocates to a West German city to start anew as an accountant, but he soon catches up with her.

Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights · 1990

Pacific Heights

MovieThrillerDrama

A couple works hard to renovate their dream house and become landlords to pay for it. Unfortunately one of their tenants has plans of his own.

Battle Royale

Battle Royale · 2000

MovieDramaThriller

In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.

Mr. Brooks

Mr. Brooks · 2007

MovieCrimeThriller

A psychological thriller about a man who is sometimes controlled by his murder-and-mayhem-loving alter ego.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter