Alice Oscura, Featured Writer
Directed by horror master Wes Craven and written by Carl Ellsworth (The Last House on the Left – 2009), Red Eye (2005) celebrates its 20th Anniversary on the 19th of August.
The simplistic nature of the plot and the film’s ability to create Hitchcockian inspired suspense, tension with a dash of fear on the side using minimalist settings is still charming audiences 20 years later.
Red Eye starred Canadian actress Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls, The Notebook) and Irish actor Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later, Peaky Blinders).
The story focuses on a young woman named Lisa Reisert (McAdams) who holds a managerial position at a luxury hotel in Miami, the Lux Atlantic Hotel. At the beginning of the film, Lisa is in Dallas rushing to catch the red eye flight back to Miami after attending her grandmother’s funeral. However, due to bad weather the flight is temporarily delayed.
At the airport in Dallas while waiting to board her flight, Lisa meets a mysterious but charming man who introduces himself as Jackson Rippner (Murphy). I don’t know about you guys but if a dude introduced himself with a name that bears an uncanny resemblance to an infamous serial killer like Jack the Ripper, my first instinct would be to run away in the opposite direction. There can’t be a bigger red flag than that name. It’s a dead giveaway that the character is not trustworthy! Not to mention the fact that Cillian Murphy’s intense ice blue eyes unintentionally always gave me the creeps because I always felt as though he was peering into my very soul. Gave me the heebie-jeebies!
The majority of the film takes place on the airplane itself and is reminiscent of the claustrophobic film settings in Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) and Dial M for Murder (1954). This is where the story’s tension builds up between the two lead character due to the elegance of their brilliant performances and smoothly paced plot development without all the bells and whistles of Craven’s usual horror territory. McAdams and Murphy balance each other’s characters out on an invisible scale with their cat-and-mouse game in high altitude while the other passengers on the plane seem to be oblivious of the lives that hang in the balance of a simple phone call to be made.
They engage in a bit of small talk and light flirting until it’s time to board the flight in bound for Miami. Once on board the plane, Rippner wastes absolutely no time in revealing his true intentions for engaging Lisa’s attention. As one of the hotel’s managers, she is able to authorise the switching of rooms/suites for high profile guests. In this particular case, Rippner’s employer wants to have the United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, Charles Keefe (Jack Scalia) and his family assassinated via a rocket launcher, hence the need for a change in the Keefe family’s accommodations. Jackson threatens to have Lisa’s father (Brian Cox) killed by his hitman who’s parked outside his house and awaiting instructions.
We also have the additional depth to Lisa’s character via a glimpse into her back story. She is later revealed to be a victim of an assault which even left her with a terrible physical scar that is shown more than once during the film. It adds trauma as a motivational tool unto the personality of the female lead in order to display a vulnerability that gives way to a strength and determination that’ll make any female audience member proud of her gumption.
In order to bolster the tremendous suspense, we have nail biting moments such as the bathroom scene, the passenger with Dr Phil’s self-help book that interacted with Lisa and the case of the missing pen. Simple, clean and neatly executed into a tightly wound-up package just waiting for the climactic moment to burst out from its confined space and lead its audience to the final confrontation. Will the hit on the Keefe family succeed? Will Lisa be able to get to her father before Jackson’s hitman does? And can she outsmart the cunning hitman to his game?
Red Eye is the truest and best example of a suspenseful psychological thriller that thankfully breaks the mould by shedding the weight of overdone tropes and predictable storylines in order to elicit an atmosphere of fear and anxiety from its audience. Definitely deserving of a top shelf placement in anybody’s movie collection and should be considered as one of Wes Craven’s best works.
FUN FACT: The scene where Lisa gets splashed with coffee was not staged; McAdams was genuinely surprised by the coldness and amount of liquid that spilled.
Dark Alice Score: 8.5 out of 10
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Alice has an old soul and a curious mind. I believe that anyone can be a hero and that the good guys should always win! I dislike cruelty to animals and think that they have far superior qualities to humans. My motto is there is no future without the past. I also have a weird penchant for Paranormal TV shows even though the slightest sound makes me jump. I enjoy writing reviews and throwing in fun facts to pique the readers’ curiosity. My ultimate goal in life would be to become a published writer one day. Read More