Red Eye

**
Release Date: September 2nd 2005

A woman is kidnapped by a stranger on a routine flight. Threatened by the potential murder of her father, she is pulled into a plot to assist her captor in offing a politician.

Director: Wes Craven (Scream, A Nightmare on Elm Street)

Starring: Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox

Wes Craven has come away from what feels like the umpteenth Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream sequel to make Red Eye, a small and broken up film about control, and the difference between what's morally right and emotionally accepted.

Red Eye is the term used to describe any flight occurring late at night and arriving the following morning. Just like its title, it gives little to go on, and all we know is a flight will definitely take place. Is it a post 9/11 scare? Is it a disaster movie? The first third of Red Eye is ambiguous, and happens to be the better third too.

Lisa's (McAdams) flight is cancelled. She meets Jackson (Murphy), a man who's abstruseness is intriguing and dark. A harmless interest for Lisa becomes uncomfortable awkwardness when Jackson 'miraculously' ends up seated next her; the first of many anticipated formulas. Lisa is forced by Jackson to make a decision between who lives and who dies (her Dad, who's played by Brian Cox, or a very important politician).

Now the less information we're given the better; if we're left in a state of gripping tension then as an audience we are hooked until the end. A great horror/thriller needs this. A closed narrative keeps us asking the right questions. In Red Eye's case, we could have been limited to Lisa and Jackson's actions, instead after the first half hour, little is left to the imagination.

The middle third of the film is repetitive; Lisa tries to warn others whilst Jackson stops her at every moment. The final third becomes a cat and mouse chase. It's suspenseful up to a point but the outcome is underwhelming.

At least the acting cannot be faulted. McAdams makes her situation believable and Murphy goes to show that he can play the mentally unhinged very well.

Overview: Wes Craven is one of the leading directors in the horror/thriller genre. Don't use this as an example though as it's surely not his best work.