Rachel McAdams and Irish thesp Cillian Murphy each continue their ascent to international stardom in airborne thriller Red Eye. For director Wes Craven, this "classy" production marked a (slight) change of pace after cementing his reputation as Hollywood's horror maestro. Although it didn't scale dizzy heights at the box office, it did get a warm reception from critics and moviegoers alike.

Changing Course

A New Kind Of Thriller asks Craven to explain his brief departure from the horror genre; "It's always been a wish to do things outside of that genre," he says, "It wasn't like it was my lifelong dream to become a horror director." Even so, he draws comparisons between the classic thriller mould and his previous blood-spattered works in terms of building suspense. He adds that slasher flicks are about "vulnerability of the body" while Red Eye is "about vulnerability of the soul".

This featurette also looks at casting, with Craven noting, "Cillian is handsome but scary looking." But that could be because - as Murphy explains - he was frazzled, having just read the script on a transatlantic flight.

Although it skimps on behind-the-scenes footage, a Making Of featurette does offer some intelligent insights courtesy of cast and crew. Aside from notes on production design and word from the screenwriter, Craven discusses the dramatic pros and cons of setting a film inside a flight cabin. "It really contributes to the sense of claustrophobic, creeping terror," he says, but it also threw up the difficult question of how to make two people sitting next to each other look compelling. Meanwhile McAdams confesses that six weeks trapped in economy class really tested her mettle - "I thought I was going to go out of my mind!"

Brace Position

Craven talks more about breaking the visual monotony in an audio commentary shared with producer Marianne Maddalena and editor Patrick Lussier. "I didn't want to do a lot of dolly shots and give away that we were on a set," explains Craven, so much of the dialogue was shot in static frames with Lussier having to find the rhythm in the cutting room. We also learn that the cabin was mounted on an 80ft platform rigged with hydraulics that Craven explains "could bounce the set around from a mild bump to a bucking bronco."

In case you don't believe the bronco analogy, check out the gag reel. Inevitably McAdams keeps bumping her head into the overhead compartment while Cillian has trouble perfecting his menacing growl. He should have taken lessons from chilling child actress Brittany Oaks (Rebecca) who warns her mother, "Don't make me hurt you in public..."

Although it's a modest selection of extras, together they do paint a clear picture of the ideas driving the story. It helps that Craven is very articulate on the subject of filmmaking to ensure that your seats remain firmly in the upright position.

EXTRA FEATURES