Red Eye **** (2005, Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox) – Classic Movie Review 4,327

It’s fun to watch Rachel McAdams fight back against creepy charmer Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy) in Wes Craven’s sweaty-palm 2005 cat-and-mouse Hitchcock-style thriller film Red Eye. Her dad (Brian Cox) is being pinned down by a would-be killer. 

‘Fear Takes Flight’

Taking her plane seat, the beautiful and, it turns out, resourceful young Lisa Reisert (played by Rachel McAdams) finds herself next to creepy charmer Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy), who soon terrorises her, threatening the death of her dad Joe (Brian Cox) if she won’t co-operate in a senator’s killing. Dad is being pinned down by a would-be killer.

It’s fun to watch Rachel McAdams fight back in director Wes Craven’s sweaty-palm, edge-of-seat, 2005 cat-and-mouse Hitchcock-style thriller film Red Eye, which, after a tense hour, goes into frenzied overdrive for its big finale.

McAdams and Murphy are word and note perfect, and Craven brings out everything that is best in Carl Ellsworth’s screenplay and story (written with Dan Foos). [Jackson Rippner! Ha! But we’ll let that pass.] And Marco Beltrami’s score helps the tense mood.

Red Eye is highly recommended as a rare, neglected non-horror feature from Wes Craven.

Wes Craven (The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream) died on August 30 2015, aged 76.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4,327

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