Entertainment Earth

8/10/2018

FLIGHT 7500 (Review)

Title: Flight 7500
Director: Takashi Shimizu
Writer: Craig Rosenberg   
Cast: Leslie Bibb, Ryan Kwanten, Amy Smart, Jamie Chung, Scout Taylor-Compton, Nicky Whelan
Min: 97
Year: 2014


Hottie air hostesses Laura (Leslie Bibb) and Suzy (Jamie Chung) are talking as they wait for the passengers to board Flight 7500, which is headed to Japan. Suzy asks Laura about her relationship with the married airplane captain, Pete (Johnathon Schaech). Suzy, herself, is engaged, and they talk about that, too. Suzy seems to be happy. But, Laura questions this, based on her look in a single pic of with Suzy and her hubby to be. Soon, the passengers board the plane and our two, lovely ladies greet them. 
We are introduced to them ourselves, they include: newly weds Rick (Jerry Ferrara) and pretty but uber snotty and bitchy Liz (Nicky Whelan), goth hottie Jacinta (Scout Taylor-Compton), who sits next to them much to the chagrin of Liz but seeming pleasure of Rick (who could blame him, though?), Raquel (Christian Serratos) who is worried that she might be knocked up, two couples in the form of: Jenn (Aja Evans) and Jack (Ben Sharples) and Brad (Ryan Kwanten) and Pia (Amy Smart), who have recently and secretly broken up, Jake (Alex Frost), who is a scumbag thief, and creepy and suspicious businessman Lance (Rick Kelly) who boards on the plane with a wooden box.
During the flight, Lance has a panic attack and bleeds forth from his mouth. He ends up dying and his body is moved to first class, which is emptied out. And, wouldn't you know, creepy-ass shit begins to happen to those on the flight.  
Flight 7500 is one of the most delayed horror movies of the 2010's. I remember seeing the trailer that promised that it would come out on August 31, 2012. With the gorgeous female cast and the fact that Takashit Shimizu, he of Ju-on and The Grudge fame, was in the directing chair, my interest was piqued. But, the movie was pulled back in May 2012 for a 2013 release, then it was pulled again and seemingly completely disappeared. Then, out of the blue and with no fanfare, it hit video on demand and DVD on April 12, 2016! 
I finally got around to catching it. And, so the question is, is it as bad as all the delays and rescheduled release dates would have you believe? Well, no, but it is most certainly not a good flick either. I'll begin with what works, though.

First and foremost. the acting is solid throughout. Featuring a strong cast of actors you know from various other genre works, like Ryan Kwanten of True Blood, as Brad, all the characters are bought to life in a strong manner. Most of the characters are likable save for Frost's Jake who is easily the most dispicable character in the movie, Whelan's Liz, who is just too much of a twat, and Kelly's Lance, who well, is just plain, fucking creepy. Thus, it can be said that that they achieve the character's respective archetype strongly.
May, I also comment that the female cast is insanely hot? From a critical standpoint, this might not seem like it is all that important, as it isn't. But, I cannot fucking lie, it is ultimately a plus, at least for me, as having easy on the eyes ladies is always very welcomed. That they are all as talented as they are beautiful is even better. I mean just listen to this cast again, in case you seemingly lost it the first time around: Amy (The Butterfly Effect) Smart, Scout (Rob Zombie's Halloween 1&2) Taylor-Compton, Jamie (Sorority Row) Chung, Leslie (Trick 'R' Treat) Bibb, Christian (The Walking Dead) Searratos, and Nicky Whelan! Now, that, dear friends, is fucking hot!
There are also a couple of genuinely creepy moments, something Shimizu is obviously talented at. I also like the fact that it does not involve any female ghosts with long black hair, which some, myself included, might have thought that it did. The fear factor also ties into the movie's issues, though, as there simply isn't enough of them. You see, once the climax came, I was taken back, and thought to myself, wait, this is about to end?! Already?! It feels like after all the building up and slow burn of it, suddenly rushes to the ending and begins to throw in more scares and action cause it needs to, not cause it should. 
And, then there is that ending. It is suppose to be some sort of a twist, but the only reaction it got from me was, "really?!" It is funny that the character of Brad is watching a Twilight Zone episode (the classic Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, in which William Shatner's character sees a monster on the wing of the plane, that he is on, from his window seat). Why it's worth mentioning (other than the fact that both the episode in question and this movie both involve "scary" shit happening on a plane) because the movie thinks it is the classic series with its shock ending. Only it feels like a much more lazy edition of the Twilight Zone, than anything actually scary or shocking. It leaves you with a very ho-hum feeling when it is all said and done.
And, with this being a PG-13 movie there is no gore or nudity. Usually these types of movies, rely more on restraint and creepiness rather than splatter or boobies. But, some of the scary stuff begins to happen too fast, we don't actually see anything. I realize that is too keep what is happening to the passengers a secret, but it comes off a little frustrating at times. With that in mind, some gore would have helped the flick, and kicked it up a notch. 
Flight 7500 took forever to finally get released. You might think to yourself, as such, it's probably a flying turd. But, it really isn't that bad. Thing is it isn't really good, either. The movie is, however, just alright, truly middle of the road, or is it air? Well acted, with a beautiful, female cast, and a few creepy moments, it also suffer from not enough of them, not much happening, and a rushed climax. It also has a really lazy, twist ending. Unless, you are a fan of any of the cast, I can't surely recommend it. But, if you do see it and keep your expectations low, as I did, and you might get a little bit of enjoyment out of it. That being said, you probably shouldn't see this one before boarding a plane, yourself. 


 

 2 out of 4

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