Advanced Search Beta »
Basic Search Fields
Red Eye
Metascore
71 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 36 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 36
  3. Negative: 1 out of 36
view
per page
  1. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Michael O'Sullivan
    90
    Will keep you awake, jittery and perched on the edge of your seat for pretty much the entire flight.
  2. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    88
    The gripping, seat- clutching suspense in this baby will pin you to your seat.
  3. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    83
    A good measure of the movie's white-knuckle fun comes from Craven's old-hand familiarity with the way thrillers tick.
  4. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    83
    With so much going for it, it's sad that Red Eye goes into such a third-act tailspin and cliched slasher-flick finale.
  5. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    80
    When Craven says "Jump!" we all do it at once, and giggle at how easily we've fallen under the spell. The key is that Craven is laughing with us, not at us.
  6. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Luke Y. Thompson
    80
    May not seem to be your typical Wes Craven movie. It's not really horror, there are no marketable monsters, and unlike "Cursed," "Scream 3" and other recent Craven offerings, it's actually an enjoyable time at the movies.
  7. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    80
    The plot is not absolutely airtight, but Craven's filmmaking is too fast-moving and too involving for this to matter. As a movie, Red-Eye is in every way as well crafted and sharply designed as the Boeing 767 Lisa fatefully boards.
  8. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    80
    The casting of the two leads is a nice surprise in Red Eye, as is its modest scale. One of the ironies about the film is that its relatively small-movie feel allows Mr. Craven to focus on the sorts of things - the performances and little bits of business from the extras - that a director like Michael Bay doesn't have time for, partly because he is so busy blowing stuff up.
  9. Slate
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    80
    A minimalist exercise in maximalist suspense.
  10. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: David Denby
    80
    Red Eye, which is exactly eighty-five minutes long, has been made with classical technique and bravura skill, and it's leaving moviegoers in a rare state of satisfaction.
  11. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    Helped enormously by Rachel McAdams, whose performance is convincing because she keeps it at ground level; thrillers are invitations to overact, but she remains plausible even when the action ratchets up around her.
  12. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    75
    McAdams, who resembles a more compact and subtle Geena Davis, captures both the strength and the insecurity beneath her sharp-witted heroine's aim-to-please facade.
  13. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    75
    Craven ("Scream," "Nightmare on Elm Street") is already a legend in horror film circles, but this is the first time he has tried his hand at a slick, relatively bloodless suspense-thriller, and the genre suits him.
  14. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    75
    The movie is fun, fun, fun.
  15. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    75
    In short, Red Eye hits the bull's-eye.
  16. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    75
    Murphy, in the boogeyman role, toggles between seductive and sinister with enough conviction to make you forget that his character makes no sense at all.
  17. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Peter Hartlaub
    75
    Favoring precision filmmaking over cheap thrills, with a vibe more Alfred Hitchcock than Freddy Krueger, Red Eye establishes two intelligent characters and lets audiences sit back and enjoy an entertaining battle of brains and wills.
  18. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Sara Brady
    75
    Red Eye packs only about 15 minutes of solid scary, but really, that's about all the time a human heart can spend lodged in one's throat.
  19. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Rick Groen
    75
    Sitting through Red Eye is like watching a master carpenter at work on a custom bookcase. No one would call the result art, but you're sure bound to admire the sheer craft of the thing, the clean lines and seamless joints and meticulous attention to detail.
  20. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    75
    Craven's films aren't showy, but that should never be held against them. In their streamlined construction and rock-solid simplicity lay their brilliance.
  21. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    75
    A terrific thriller...until it turns into yet another Wes Craven movie.
  22. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    70
    Red Eye has a devilish charm. It pulls just about every nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat trick imaginable, yet gets away with it through what is, admittedly, a clever and original gimmick.
  23. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Pete Vonder Haar
    70
    Craven eschews horror trappings and gore for a well-paced and engaging thriller that keeps the audience involved despite the fact that most of what takes place onscreen is a conversation between two people.
  24. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    70
    If constructing a thriller could be likened to building a house, then Wes Craven's Red Eye is a perfect piece of architecture: It's clean-lined and soundly structured, without a foot of wasted space or any materials left unused.
  25. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Dennis Lim
    70
    Craven's terror-alert white-knuckler is zippy, unpretentious.
  26. Variety
    Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    70
    Departing less from his horror bailiwick than he did with "Music Of The Heart" in 1999, Wes Craven retains shocks but dispenses with scares in the negligible Red Eye.
  27. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    70
    That's not to say it's great; it's not. Maybe it's not to say it's good, because it's only sort of good. It is to say, however, that it's nifty.
  28. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Joshua Katzman
    70
    If you're willing to suspend disbelief, this is a pretty good ride.
  29. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    67
    Red Eye's no classic, but with its smart, twisty little script and those two killer performances, it is a helluva lot of fun.
  30. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    63
    Unfortunately, Red Eye goes from being a powerful thriller to a far more predictable story of revenge.
  31. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    63
    A silly script and uneven pacing.
  32. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    60
    After nearly a decade of duds, Wes Craven reasserts his claim to being a master of suspense with this solid little airborne thriller.
  33. Empire
    Reviewed by: Liz Beardsworth
    60
    Not the most sophisticated psychological thriller, yet slick fun.
  34. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: M. E. Russell
    58
    Despite some fast-paced direction by Wes Craven, Red Eye finally gets so silly, it's practically popping its wing-rivets.
  35. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    50
    Between them, first-time screenwriter Carl Ellsworth and director Wes Craven don't come up with a single clever way to generate suspense, and the movie's onboard atmosphere is so phony.
  36. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    38
    A one-trick action thriller that feels like a poor cousin of an episode of ''24." Call it ''12."
prev next
Page:
  • 1

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 123 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 48 out of 84
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 84
  3. Negative: 20 out of 84
  1. jefequeso
    6
    Red Eye is basically what happens when you take an hour of solid psychological tension-building, then tack on a half an hour of "an ode to Scream" at the end. It's a mostly unremarkable film, with the only stand-out aspect being the acting, which is quite good. Cillian Murphy is, as always, a joy to watch, and Rachael McAdams is surprisingly convincing as the ubiquitous "young woman in a frightening situation." The first hour or so of the movie is almost entirely carried by the interaction between these two, which is tightly scripted and relatively intelligent. And then...it all kinda falls apart. The last half hour isn't bad, per se...but it takes a sudden leap into the sort of tedium and ridiculousness that characterizes modern slashers--a phenomenon that can be attested to the fact that Wes Craven, master of the unconvincing horror film, directed Red Eye. The end leaves several gaping plot holes and loose ends, most of which come as a result of the last half hour. Overall, it's not a waste of time. It has good acting and overall solid execution. But a lame last half and lack of anything particularly original keep it from greatness.… Full Review »
  2. Lopez17
    7
    Wes Craven in the past has given us some of the greatest horror classics whether they be "The Last the House on the Left"(1972), Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984), The Hills Have Eyes"(1977), "The Hills Have Eyes Part II"(1985), "Scream"(1996), "Scream II"(1997) and "Scream III"(2000). Craven has always delivered a new and terrifying twist on one of cinema's oldest and most revered genres the one thing about Craven I've always liked is that he doesn't try and do the same thing twice. Actually, I take that back he did do the same thing twice actually three times with the Scream series (It got ridiculous after two). Craven has always managed to give us a new and original look at horror, Craven has always stuck to the ground so the real question is what if the master of modern horror took to the skies. Wes Craven's "RED EYE" is a smart and engaging economic thriller that while lacking the grounded terror of most Wes Craven films it does in fact evoke the oldest of all fears, the fear of flying. People fear flying for many reasons some fear it because they are afraid of heights like me. They fear flying because they are afraid the plane will have some kind of problem and crash; the reason for fear of flying is infinite and in this film it churns out a story that resonates well with modern audiences it is a story about one girl and one terrorist trapped on a red eye flight to Miami. Craven is a master of horror, has proved with this film that he can expanded past the trappings of the horror genre, and create an action thriller that works as a character driven story as much as it does as an action picture. The story of this picture in some ways lacks originality as it is reminiscent but not derivative of other films of it's type sort of like Wolfgang Petersen's "Air Force One" or George Seaton's "Airport " and don't get me wrong I enjoyed the story, I loved it but it could have worked out a little better in my opinion. “ Red EYE" is one of the most engaging and tension filled films I have watched to date it works so much better than it should and even when it should sink, it floats. It is not so much about terrorism as it is about conquering your fears and overcoming your doubt that is what Rachel McAdams has to do in the picture, she is pushed to the breaking point, figuratively speaking. The film is like being trapped in a giant tube 30,000 feet in the air with a lunatic (Talk about your stressful situation) and through shear will power, amazing direction and solid performances this film is worth the watch. It a tension builder a potboiler that from the opening scene starts to build up, up, and up until it finally boils over in the hot-blooded finale. Rachel McAdams I have never really been a fan of I mean she is a good actress and everything she just never truly made a film(Besides "The Notebook") that I liked, then came along "RED EYE", McAdams is so honest and so powerful in her performance that she just explodes onscreen. McAdams does not play the usual “girl in a bad situation", no, her character Lisa Reisert is a tough resourceful young women who isn't afraid to kick some ass, and boy doe she kick ass. McAdams as it may seem is the one who steals the show but sorry to say that honor goes to the man who never gets the respect he deserves, Mr. Cillian Murphy. Cillian Murphy, I remember first seeing him in Christopher Nolan's reboot "Batman Begins" as the ever so menacing and yet poorly drawn out screen adaptation of Scarecrow Murphy was brilliant in that but sadly downplayed as a second rate villain next to Liam Neeson as the immortal Ra's al Ghul. Murphy demonstrated skill and craft in "Batman Begins" so much that I actually became a fan of his from just that film, now with "RED EYE" Murphy has solidified himself as one of my favorites and proved to me that he's more than just some bit player in a high profile film, Cillian Murphy is a true actor. People expecting more chills than thrills will not exactly get what they want but those who are looking for an intelligent, tension riddled and intense thrill ride need look no further than Wes Craven's "RED EYE.†This shows the director’s craft and skill at much more than just horror and proves that a thriller can be much more than just big explosions and wall-to-wall action.… Full Review »
  3. RyanG
    0
    This is a terrible movie. Honestly one of the worst films I have ever seen. The acting in the first 15 minutes of the film (save Rachel Adams) is horrific, the rest of the film is not much better. I cannot convey or articulate how utterly bad this movie is in every respect. That it scored a 71 overall with the critics is baffling. Although this site is usually offbase with its scoring of films, the score on this film is criminally overrated. Terrible film, just terrible. I cannot stress this enough. Terrible.… Full Review »
See all user reviews »