Movies

Now Boarding: Terror Takes to the Skies in these Airplane-Set Horror Films

Published

3 years ago

April 12, 2021

Flying is never easy. Let’s be honest, it’s a total nightmare, and who knows when it’ll be safe to travel again. From turbulence to screaming babies, flying is like a horror film, and the genre has capitalized on the horrors of flight. These five airplane-set horror films full of snakes, zombies, ghosts, and death itself will have you rethinking your next flight.

Snakes on a Plane (2006)

Like Indiana Jones said, “Snakes, why did it have to be snakes?” Snakes on a Plane is the ultimate airplane-set horror film–a high-octane thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Escorting a witness, FBI agent Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) boards a flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles. But this is no ordinary transfer as an assassin releases a crate of deadly snakes on the plane to kill the witness. Flynn and the rest of the passengers must band together if they want to survive the lethal attack.

Managing to be both fun and scary, Snakes on a Plane has exactly what you would expect from a movie like this. For being more of a B movie, the film still manages to get under your skin with some unnerving sequences of snakes slithering in between the aisles, underneath seats, falling from compartment heads, and biting and latching onto their victims. Outlandish, and not for the faint of heart, Snakes on Plane is an all-around good time filled with B-movie madness.

Flight 7500 (2014)

Something mysterious is happening on flight 7500. From the director of The Grudge, Takashi Shimizu, comes a terrifying thrill ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

In the film, flight 7500 departs from Los Angeles International Airport bound for Tokyo. As the overnight flight makes its way over the Pacific Ocean during its ten-hour flight, the plane suffers turbulence resulting in a passenger suddenly dying. Unbeknownst to the rest of the passengers, a supernatural force is unleashed, slowly taking the passengers one by one.

The atmosphere is one of the highlights of the film as Takashi Shimizu crafts a moody, claustrophobic ghost tale. Flight 7500 is virtually a haunted house film set on a plane. Shimizu uses Japanese horror elements such as long, dark corridors and ghosts lurking in the background. You won’t find any long-haired ghost girls on this flight, however, as Shimizu uses the themes of death and grief to drive the story instead of the typical American jump scares.

Red Eye (2005)

No snakes or ghosts are needed to make this flight terrifying.

Primarily set on board on an airliner, Red Eye follows hotel manager Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams), flying back home from her grandmother’s funeral. Due to bad weather, the flight is delayed. While waiting for her flight, Lisa meets the irresistible Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy), and a romance begins to blossom.

As luck would have it, they’re seated together on the plane, but Lisa soon learns that this wasn’t a coincidence. Jackson hopes to assassinate the head of Homeland Security. To do that, he needs Lisa to reassign his hotel room. As insurance, Jackson has a hitman waiting to kill Lisa’s father if she doesn’t cooperate.

Red Eye is an airplane-set horror film filled with tension and classic suspense that only Wes Craven can pull off from start to finish. Tapping into our fears, the director crafts an intense psychological thriller with tight camera angles, ominous lighting, and tightly enclosed spaces, along with a menacing villain and a strong female lead.

Craven proved, once again, that he can scare us with Red Eye.

Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008)

airplane-set horror Resident Evil

Years after the outbreak in Raccoon City, a zombie attack brings chaos to Harvardville Airport as Resident Evil: Degeneration begins.

The outbreak begins when a survivor of the original incident unleashes a variant of the T-Virus, causing the plane to crash inside the airport. Raccoon City survivors Claire Redfield (Alyson Court) and Leon Kennedy (Paul Mercier) are once again thrown into chaos as they are needed to contain the contagion before it spreads.

Will Claire and Leon be able to terminate the virus before it’s Raccoon City all over again?

Not entirely set on an airplane, Resident Evil: Degeneration is relentlessly frightening and filled with non-stop action. Degeneration will satisfy fans of the franchise as the film is more faithful to the games than the live-action films. The motion-capture CG animation is well executed, making the film looks and feels like a 90-minute cut-scene from the games. The film has effective jump scares, a gripping storyline, and is definitely worth watching.

Final Destination (2000)

Death takes flight with Final Destination.

Final Destination follows Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) embarking on a trip to Paris with his senior class. Before takeoff, Alex experiences a premonition and sees the plane explode. Alex insists that everyone get off the plane, trying to warn them of the impending disaster.

In the chaos, seven people, including Alex, are forced off the plane. Moments later, they watch as it explodes. Alex and the other survivors have cheated death, but death is coming for them, and they will not escape their fate. One by one, the survivors soon begin to fall victim to the grim reaper because there is no escaping death.

Final Destination takes death to new heights. The film is packed full of unexpected twists and over-the-top death sequences. Who can forget that infamous bus scene? But it’s the film’s opening sequence that generates the most anxiety and excitement. Being both inventive and original, Final Destination is a staple in horror cinema and delivers perhaps the most frightening airplane sequence of all time.

If these films weren’t enough for you, check out these other airplane-set horror films: Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane, Flight:666, the Hitchcockian thriller Flightplan, and for what it’s worth, check out the opening sequences to Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare and Rings.

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Editorial

Yay or Nay: What’s Good and Bad in Horror This Week

Published

2 days ago

May 4, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Welcome to Yay or Nay a weekly mini post about what I think is good and bad news in the horror community written in bite-sized chunks.

Yay:

Mike Flanagan talking about directing the next chapter in the Exorcist trilogy. That might mean he saw the last one and realized there were two left and if he does anything well it’s draw out a story.

Yay:

To the announcement of a new IP-based film Mickey Vs Winnie. It’s fun to read comical hot takes from people who haven’t even seen the movie yet.

Nay:

The new Faces of Death reboot gets an R rating. It’s not really fair — Gen-Z should get an unrated version like past generations so they can question their mortality the same as the rest of us did.

Yay:

Russell Crowe is doing another possession movie. He’s quickly becoming another Nic Cage by saying yes to every script, bringing the magic back to B-movies, and more money into VOD.

Nay:

Putting The Crow back in theaters for its 30th anniversary. Re-releasing classic movies at the cinema to celebrate a milestone is perfectly fine, but doing so when the lead actor in that film was killed on set due to neglect is a cash grab of the worst kind.

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Lists

The Top-Searched Free Horror/Action Movies on Tubi This Week

Published

2 days ago

May 3, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The free streaming service Tubi is a great place to scroll when you’re unsure what to watch. They are not sponsored or affiliated with iHorror. Still, we really appreciate their library because it’s so robust and has many obscure horror movies so rare you can’t find them anywhere in the wild except, if you’re lucky, in a moist cardboard box at a yard sale. Other than Tubi, where else are you going to find Nightwish (1990), Spookies (1986), or The Power (1984)?

We take a look at the most searched horror titles on the platform this week, hopefully, to save you some time in your endeavor to find something free to watch on Tubi.

Interestingly at the top of the list is one of the most polarizing sequels ever made, the female-led Ghostbusters reboot from 2016. Perhaps viewers have seen the latest sequel Frozen Empire and are curious about this franchise anomaly. They will be happy to know it’s not as bad as some think and is genuinely funny in spots.

So take a look at the list below and tell us if you are interested in any of them this weekend.

1. Ghostbusters (2016)

Ghostbusters (2016)

An otherworldly invasion of New York City assembles a pair of proton-packed paranormal enthusiasts, a nuclear engineer and a subway worker for battle.An otherworldly invasion of New York City assembles a pair of proton-packed paranormal enthusiasts, a nuclear engineer and a subway worker for battle.

2. Rampage

When a group of animals becomes vicious after a genetic experiment goes awry, a primatologist must find an antidote to avert a global catastrophe.

3. The Conjuring The Devil Made Me Do It

Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren uncover an occult conspiracy as they help a defendant argue that a demon forced him to commit murder.

4. Terrifier 2

After being resurrected by a sinister entity, Art the Clown returns to Miles County, where his next victims, a teenage girl and her brother, await.

5. Don’t Breathe

A group of teens breaks into a blind man’s home, thinking they’ll get away with the perfect crime but get more than they bargained for once inside.

6. The Conjuring 2

In one of their most terrifying paranormal investigations, Lorraine and Ed Warren help a single mother of four in a house plagued by sinister spirits.

7. Child’s Play (1988)

A dying serial killer uses voodoo to transfer his soul into a Chucky doll which winds up in the hands of a boy who may be the doll’s next victim.

8. Jeepers Creepers 2

When their bus breaks down on a deserted road, a team of high school athletes discovers an opponent they cannot defeat and may not survive.

9. Jeepers Creepers

After making a horrific discovery in the basement of an old church, a pair of siblings find themselves the chosen prey of an indestructible force.

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Movie Reviews

Panic Fest 2024 Review: ‘Haunted Ulster Live’

Published

4 days ago

May 2, 2024

Jacob Davison

Everything old is new again.

On Halloween 1998, the local news of Northern Ireland decide to do a special live report from an allegedly haunted house in Belfast. Hosted by local personality Gerry Burns (Mark Claney) and popular children’s presenter Michelle Kelly (Aimee Richardson) they intend to look at the supernatural forces disturbing the current family living there. With legends and folklore abound, is there an actual spirit curse in the building or something far more insidious at work?

Presented as a series of found footage from a long forgotten broadcast, Haunted Ulster Live follows similar formats and premises as Ghostwatch and The WNUF Halloween Special with a news crew investigating the supernatural for big ratings only to get in over their heads. And while the plot has certainly been done before, director Dominic O’Neill’s 90’s set tale of local access horror manages to stand out on its own ghastly feet. The dynamic between Gerry and Michelle is most prominent, with him being an experienced broadcaster who thinks this production is beneath him and Michelle being fresh blood who is considerably annoyed at being presented as costumed eye candy. This builds as the events within and around the domicile becomes too much to ignore as anything less than the real deal.

The cast of characters is rounded out by the McKillen family who have been dealing with the haunting for some time and how it’s had an effect on them. Experts are brought in to help explain the situation including the paranormal investigator Robert (Dave Fleming) and the psychic Sarah (Antoinette Morelli) who bring their own perspectives and angles to the haunting. A long and colorful history is established about the house, with Robert discussing how it used to be the site of an ancient ceremonial stone, the center of leylines, and how it was possibly possessed by the ghost of a former owner named Mr. Newell. And local legends abound about a nefarious spirit named Blackfoot Jack that would leave trails of dark footprints in his wake. It’s a fun twist having multiple potential explanations for the site’s strange occurrences instead of one end-all be-all source. Especially as the events unfold and the investigators try to discover the truth.

At its 79 minute timelength, and the encompassing broadcast, it’s a bit of a slow burn as the characters and lore is established. Between some news interruptions and behind the scenes footage, the action is mostly focused on Gerry and Michelle and the build up to their actual encounters with forces beyond their comprehension. I will give kudos that it went places I didn’t expect, leading to a surprisingly poignant and spiritually horrifying third act.

So, while Haunted Ulster Live isn’t exactly trendsetting, it definitely follows in the footsteps of similar found footage and broadcast horror films to walk its own path. Making for an entertaining and compact piece of mockumentary. If you’re a fan of the sub-genres, Haunted Ulster Live is well worth a watch.