I always cringe when I hear that Wes Craven is still billed as "the master of horror".  The man hasn’t made a good horror film in a little over a decade, and hasn't managed to creep me out with any of his films since the original Nightmare on Elm Street.  How a writer/director can go from Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes to the horrible crap that is Cursed, is beyond me.  Maybe there is this thin line that I don’t know about that existed between "master of horror" and "total sellout".  Maybe Wes can still prove he has what it takes to get back to his grind house roots.  Maybe he’ll jump on the wave with Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino and bring back the old-school 70’s horror styles.  Maybe I’m dreaming because Craven's last attempt to bring something at all compelling to the audience ended up being a film called Red Eye.  More proof that Wes Craven isn't really trying to hitch a cool ride on a nice wave…nah, he’s just a total wash out.

Now, be careful with Red Eye, as you should with any Wes Craven film.  Through the first half of the film, you might second guess yourself and think that he is actually building an interesting and involved plot.  Be prepared to be very let down.  Wes does do a pretty good job at building whatever tension Carl Ellsworth’s script will allow, but it all falls incredibly flat toward the end.

Cillian Murphy plays his role as an informer to a very sinister plot quite well.  Murphy’s character, Jackson Rippner, is part of a group of men looking to take down a very important political figure, and to do this they need the cooperation of Lisa Reisert - who’s played by the gorgeous Rachel McAdams.  If Lisa does not play by the rules, the terrorists, along side Mr. Rippner, will kill her father.  The story gets very interesting the whole time Jack and Lisa are on the airplane flight.  Slowly, the audience begins to understand Lisa’s situation as she too is learning of her dilemma herself.   The script is solid and Wes Craven's direction is very bold and meshes well with the tension of the climaxing plot.

The problem with Red Eye is mainly the ending.  Never have I seen a film that decided to compromise entirely to the strongest bunch of clichés of all time.  Red Eye doesn’t even portray the cliché’s particularly well either.  It’s almost as if Wes and Carl Ellsworth had nothing to do with the writing or structure of the last 30 minutes of the film.  I almost want to spoil the whole ending just so you are that much more reluctant to see it.  A complete let down that some might be able to shrug their shoulders to and accept, but fans of old school Wes, they will want to tear their own eyes out.

If it wasn't for such a horrible finish, Red Eye would still be just an okay set of thrills sent through the regular set of okay techniques.  Though, for a briefer moment of time, it will hold a great deal of your attention.  Still, is it worth it?  Possibly worth a rent if you are in the mood for a cooler flick than some of the other teen horror/thrillers out there, but really, it's just that exactly.  A teen thriller that's easy to swallow.