7500

To begin with, I waited two years to see this movie. I was so excited for a real, scary ghost movie set on a plane that featured actors I at least recognized (I'm easily amused). But then, six months went by, then a year, and now two years and no release date. I checked online every once in a while to see if there was a new release date, but still nothing. Finally, after all this anticipation, I was finally able to watch it. I am going to break my own no-spoiler rule and this review will contain a big SPOILER because I am still angry at the way this turned out after the long wait. You've been warned.

Several people are on a flight to Japan, all with the usual obligatory personal problems that movie characters need to have in order to make things interesting. The most shady-looking guy on the plane starts to feel ill, coughing up blood and convulsing, and Ryan Kwanten is a paramedic who jumps in to try to save the guy but is unsuccessful. The dead guy had a mysterious box with him and was very nervous about the flight or what was in the box or... well, it doesn't really matter.

The problem with this movie is that it had potential, with somewhat good actors, an interesting premise (you see a lot of movies set on planes, but they're usually straight action or terrorist plots, never creepy or supernatural) so I thought yes, this will be different, this will be good. There's even a creepy "death doll" that has nothing to do with anything. Why they didn't build on that and make it the focus of the film, I will never understand. But just when I was really enjoying it and there was a definite creepy vibe and some mysterious things happening, it hits you with the twist.

SPOILER

So at some point the oxygen masks come down and the plane almost crashes, but it pulls out and everything is fine. Oh but wait no it isn't. Because (wait for it, you're gonna be shocked) everyone on the plane is dead and has been for half the movie. Gasp! So the fog and the hands reaching out to grab people from the toilet, not to mention the dead guy who mysteriously started moving again, had nothing to do with anything. This is a cop-out ending of the worst kind. It isn't even hinted at, and there's no way you could have guessed it. The previews make it look like a ghost-on-a-plane movie, and I expected to be creeped out and enjoy a nice little ghost movie. But no. Either the writers wrote this movie and it was filmed before every other horror movie with this same ending in the last ten years (hence it getting shelved once they realized their mistake) or they just didn't watch those movies at all and thought they were being really clever. Either way, after the long wait it was more than a let down. It makes the rest of the movie a complete waste of time. If the characters have been dead the whole time, then everything that happened didn't happen at all. I don't understand why this ending is so popular.

I was really enjoying this one until the last five minutes, so I can't say I don't recommend it at all. If you're not as easily annoyed by lazy writing as I am you will probably enjoy this. I just wish Hollywood would go back to putting some effort into movies and not just recycling.

The Prowler

I've been on an 80s slasher movie kick lately, and this is one I had never heard of. I'm not sure the title is really the best they could have done, but maybe I missed something. I've been having a hard time finding enough movies like this, where people are killed off one by one and the most fun part if figuring out who the killer is, but I enjoyed this one in spite of my desperation.

A masked killer in an Army uniform is bumping people off (with a pitchfork, randomly enough) and there's some back story about a murder back in the 40s. Good, suspenseful kill scenes (the suspense is my favorite part of these movies) and a hint as to who the killer is kept me watching despite the bad acting (it's an 80s horror flick, enough said). I will say, the way I figured out who the killer is was based on a cliché near the beginning of the movie, but this was before that was a cliché so you can't really blame them. It's always fun to watch these old movies and get upset at all the clichés and then realize oh, no that hadn't been done yet 47 times at that point in time.

If you're into 80s slasher flicks, you'll enjoy this one. Not the best I've seen, but pretty good. It's a little bit gory, not too slow, and it kept my attention. I know, not a glowing review but a fine way to spend a night in.