Fear of Flying
Buckle Up for a Scary Trip
By Jenny Peters

For more than thirty years, director Wes Craven's name has been synonymous with the word "horror" as well as with expectation of extreme blood and gore. In prior films like "Scream" or "Nightmare on Elm Street," he stretched realism in favor of big scares. Knowing this makes "Red Eye" a surprise, for this time Craven shifts away from his tried-and-true genre and has made a distinctly compelling film strongly rooted in the reality of today's fears of terrorism. The scares are still very effective; in fact, even more so than in those horror flicks, because "Red Eye" is much closer to something that could really happen.

Rachel McAdams stars as Lisa Reisert, a Miami hotel manager whose position of power makes her a perfect target for a clever band of terrorists. She meeting the charming Jackson (Cillian Murphy) while waiting for her red-eye flight to wing her home from Dallas, and all seems well. That is, until she gets on the plane and discovers that not only is he her seatmate, but he's not quite as nice as he first seemed.

The resulting flight sequence is a brilliant two-hander, with both actors giving completely believable performances as the tension and fear builds between them. And once the plane finally lands and the action heats up, the film is as exciting as any good thriller of recent memory. Craven understands exactly how to bring an audience to the edge of their seats, with a terrorist scenario that is all too believable and expertly realized.

It's hard to say too much about "Red Eye" without giving away important plot points that should be left for discovery by the viewer. And since the whole point of a good thriller is to experience it not knowing what is going to happen next, our advice is to avoid watching the trailer, don't read or listen to any more reviews, and just go and see it.