Matt Stone
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2000
- Messages
- 9,063
- Real Name
- Matt Stone
Red Eye
Directed By: Wes Craven
Studio: Dreamworks
Year: 2005
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 (Anamorphic)
Running Time: 1 Hr. 25 Mins.
Rating: PG-13 (Some Intense Sequences of Violence and Language)
Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital (English, French), 2.0 Dolby Digital (English)
Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish
MSRP: $29.95
Street Date: 10 January, 2006
Review Date: 13 January, 2006
(Ratings are out of five stars)
Summary
I’m a horror geek. You don’t have to have read too many of my posts on this fine forum to know that. I defend the genre to my last breath, and worship the masters of the macabre. Wes Craven is one such master. Starting out as one of the pioneers of the 70s horror genre (noted for it’s bleak, visceral nature), with films like Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes, Craven made an early name for himself. He went on to again help reinvent the slasher with 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm St, and further reinvented the genre with 1996’s Scream. Craven joins my select all-star team with the likes of John Carpenter and Sam Raimi. That’s not to say that he isn’t without the occasional stinker. His career is spotty at best, but he’s made so many important films that it’s hard to fault him for it.
Coming off of the absolute bomb, Cursed, Craven decided to step out of the true horror genre and tackle a more accessible thriller. I generally laugh at society’s need to draw a line between horror and thriller (see: Silence of the Lambs), but in this case it’s accurate. Where horror tackle’s physical violence and vulnerability (as well as internal conflict), the thriller shies away from outright violence and opts to focus on internal, non-physical horror. Red Eye is just such a thriller. It-girl, Rachael McAdams takes on the role of Lisa, a self-motivated hotel manager traveling cross-country from her Grandmother’s recent funeral. Batman Begins villain Cillian Murphy plays the films antagonist who pulls Lisa into an assassination plot. I won’t give away much of the plot, because it’s pretty thin. This film had a terrific teaser trailer (that premiered in front of Episode 3, if I recall correctly) that revealed very little about the plot. Unfortunately the marketing executives being as they are decided that a more up-front campaign was in order and released a series of TV spots and trailers that gave away most of the film.
If I sound like I’m down on the story, I am. At least, a little bit. Character interaction is really where it’s at in Red Eye. The interplay between McAdams and the excellent Cillian Murphy is the central aspect of this film and really keeps the narrative moving. Craven mentioned on the commentary that this film is really an independent character piece set in a big production thriller. He couldn’t be more right. The entire second act is composed of McAdams and Murphy talking. You’d expect it to get boring, but both actors’ subtle, nuanced performances keep the film rolling right along. Behind the scenes, Craven and the rest of the crew use their vast horror/thriller knowledge to keep you on the edge of your seat (to abuse an overused phrase). The editing is very fast paced and highlights the movement of the characters. Robert D. Yoeman’s cinematography is spot-on perfect. Composition is beautiful in every shot and the camera movement is used effectively to create tension and the feeling of movement. I didn’t know Yoeman’s name before seeing this film, but realized I was already a fan having seen his great work on Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic, and Dogma.
Individual performances drive Red Eye. The plot is fairly ho-hum, but the characters interact so well with each other that it doesn’t really matter. Much like other recent thrillers (Cellular and Phone Booth both come to mind), the film’s simplicity works to its advantage. It provides a stage for the actors to work on and not much more.
Film Rating: :star::star::star:1/2
Video
The last Dreamworks film I had the chance to review was the surprisingly impressive The Island. I wasn’t happy with the transfer on that DVD, but fortunately Dreamworks has redeemed themselves and provided a very clean, very film-like transfer. The color palette in the film is fairly subdued, but flesh tones look very accurate and the few exterior shots look beautiful. I watched this film on my Infocus 4805 projector, and was unable to find any edge enhancement or pixelation problems. This was a nice change of pace from the artifacting found on The Island. I noticed a bit of grain in a few shots, but it was nothing obvious. As I’ve stated before, I’d take some grain over the soft look of a lot of newer transfers any day of the week. This is a very, very good transfer.
For the un-enlightened, a Full Frame version of the film is also available.
Video Rating: :star::star::star::star:1/2
Audio
Aside from a notable action sequence found toward the end of the film, Red Eye is primarily a talking heads film. Most of the sound comes out of the front and center channels with some occasional LFE. Marco Beltrami’s score is very good and utilizes the surround channels more than any on-screen action. Some may be upset at the lack of a DTS track on this release, but the Dolby Digital track sounds very good. Voices sounded crisp and accurate with no audible hiss from the boom. This isn’t a film you’re likely going to put on to impress your friends, but there aren’t any significant problems with it.
Audio Rating: :star::star::star:1/2
Extras
The Making of Red Eye (11:38) – A quick behind-the-scenes summary of the making of the film. Both video featurettes repeat a lot of the information Craven covers in the commentary. This is a standard, by-the-book, interview based feature.
Wes Craven: A New Kind of Thriller (10:50) – This featurette focuses more on the thriller-nature of the film, but it’s along the same lines as the first extra. Craven expounds on his desire to try something new after the cursed production of his previous film. Nothing too groundbreaking here.
The big extra on this disc is a commentary with Wes Craven (with added comments from Producer, Marianne Maddalena and writer, Carl Ellsworth). As I stated before, I’m a huge Craven fan. I’ve loved all (or at least most) of the commentaries I’ve listened to on his other films, and this isn’t different. Wes is very good at verbalizing his feelings about making the film, his actor’s performances, and the overall process of completing a film in today’s studio environment. Craven covers the entire production, including tweaking the film after early audience reactions, and developing the film organically as it was being filmed. Apparently a good deal of unscripted material made it’s way into the film as more of an improvisational directing style. Very interesting stuff if you’re a Craven fan.
A big loss for Dreamworks is leaving out the excellent first teaser trailer for the film. I’d love to have that on DVD, so I see it as a real missed opportunity. Your mileage may vary.
Extras Rating: :star::star::star:1/2
In Closing…
Okay, so I’m biased, but not biased enough to dig Cursed. Craven’s one of my favorites, and Red Eye is his best film since Scream 2 (not saying too much there). He’s used his expertise to craft a film that relies on the excellent character acting rather than plot. Still, I can’t get over the feeling that a lot of this film was film-making by committee. Too much of it was dependent on studio concerns regarding early audience feedback. I think it’s important for a director to lead, and sometimes that means making pragmatic decisions. The end result of a film should not depend on the opinions of the masses. This is still a very fun film to watch. I highly recommend it to those of you who have liked recent fast paced thrillers along the lines of Cellular and Phone Booth. If you’re on the fence, give it a rental first. It may not be the best film you’ve ever seen, but it’s a good hour and a half of fun.
Overall Rating: :star::star::star:1/2
Matt Stone
13 January, 2006
