ALSO RELEASED: CELLULAR (15) and THE PUNISHER (18)

HIGH school science teacher Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger) sees her husband Craig (Richard Burgi) off to work, then walks her son Ricky (Adam Taylor Gordon) to the school bus at the start of Cellular (15).

She returns home just before five unknown assailants, led by Jason Statham, break in and spirit her away to a remote house.

Jessica is locked in the attic where she patches together a shattered telephone and secretly places calls to unknown numbers in a last- ditch effort to save herself and her loved ones.

A young man called Ryan (Chris Evans) answers her call and listens as Jessica begs for his help. At first, he laughs off her story, but when it becomes clear that an increasingly distraught Jessica is telling the truth, Ryan pledges to help.

He contacts the police, including desk sergeant Bob Mooney (William H Macy), but they are too busy and time is of the essence.

Based on a story by Larry Cohen (who also wrote Phone Booth), Cellular is surprisingly suspenseful and entertaining hokum that makes the most of its simple premise.

Basinger is impressive although Evans is less convincing, even though he runs and jumps for all his worth. Macy brings a touch of quirky brilliance to his supporting role.

l Swearing, no sex, violence

Not so enjoyable is The Punisher (18), an ineffective Marvel comic remake.

Thomas Jane plays a grieving gangster who turns vengeful vigilante The Punisher after sadistic gangland leader John Travolta slaughters his wife and family.

None of the characters have any redeeming features and this gratuitous film is even more ghastly than it's initial outing in the 1980s, with Dolph Lundgren in the title role. And that's saying something.