Reviewing "Blood Red Sky": A terrific action horror film offering great genre thrills

Blood Red Sky is an action/horror film on Netflix. Starring Peri Baumeister as a desperate German widow suffering from a mysterious illness traveling to America with her son Elias to receive treatment in New York. Once they get on a plane, however, it quickly gets hijacked by a group of terrorists who seize control of the plane and use innocent academic Farid, who has befriended Elias, to frame the plane as having been hijacked by Islamic extremists. To say anything more about the plot would reveal a big twist that flips the entire story on its head.

The story is essentially a mishmash of various action and horror genre tropes, bridging elements of Die Hard with those of From Dusk Till Dawn, set on a plane in flight to ramp up the tension and prevent anyone from leaving the primary setting of the film. The story isn't exactly fresh, but it is nonetheless a refreshing "X genre meets Y genre" movie. The performances are great too, with Baumeister getting across her desperation to save Elias aboard the plane even as the hijackers attack her and take hostages, and Elias's actor Carl Koch turning in a great performance as the determined and brave Elias, eagerly standing up to the hostile hijackers without fear and rushing ahead to save those in danger, especially his new friend Farid. The villains also have some interesting dynamics, with the no-nonsense ringleader Berg (played by Dominic Purcell of Prison Break fame) having to constantly contend with psychotic hijacker Eightball (Alexander Scheer).

The cramped corridors and the claustrophobia-inducing setting of the plane works wonders for the film, forcing the protagonists to use their understanding of the plane's passageways and systems to outmaneuver and outwit the hijackers and foil their scheme, while allowing for some fun dynamic camera movements.

Blood Red Sky is a fun action/horror film with an action-packed plot, a few unexpected surprises that change up the plot and style of the film, and some genuinely affecting performances, proving that performances in genre films can be great too. I also appreciate how the film has minimal exposition to set up its central conflict and characters, relying on visual storytelling. Is the film original? Not really. Is it entertaining and thrilling? Yes! I would definitely recommend this film.

Score: 8/10