Coming off the heels of “Fear Street” and “A Classic Horror Story,” Netflix continues its summer of horror with the original German film, “Blood Red Sky.” Think Snakes on a Plane with fangs, but no comedic tones are set in this original thrill ride. After a brief rise in vampire based productions which kicked off from the success of “Twilight” and box office smashes like “30 Days of Night,” the ancient mystical creatures of the night have been slumbering. Does “Blood Red Sky” have what it takes to join the immortal classics such as: “Fright Night” and “The Lost Boys,” or will this film just be a quick nibble on the neck.
Nadja (Peri Baumeister) is taking her son (Chidi Ajufo) across the pond to New York for a medical procedure in hopes of curing an ancient ailment. The rather routine flight has some unexpected passengers, as a terror group quickly hijacks the plane shortly after takeoff. An unexpected disruption occurs when one of the mercenaries’ attacks Nadja and separates her from her son. Nadja’s ailment and gift are reveled through a series of backflashes as she recovers from her attack and formulates a plan to rescue her son. The operation becomes a fright flight from hell as the terrorist go on a stake hunt after realizing what is picking their crew off one by one. Nadja fights with tooth and claw in desperate attempt to save her son, while trying to hold back the unbridled rage that comes with her curse.
With this film being German based and featuring terrorist, “Blood Red Sky” will immediately be compared to the classic action film, “Die Hard.” In turn, the comparison brings forth the only major flaw of this Netflix original film. “Blood Red Sky” lacks deep character depth in spite of its lengthy two hour run time. The mother son duo of Baumeister and Ajufo put in terrific lead performances along with one of the hijackers, a wild card by the nickname of eight ball (Alexander Scheer,) however the rest of the cast come and go without much regard or detail. Even the direct reason for the hijacking is only alluded to. Director Peter Thorwarth does splash the film with a tidal wave of both terror and action. Perfectly shot sequences keep the viewer entertained during the long opus. The script, from Thorwarth and his co-writer Holtz, offers up some new mythology to the old vampiric lore and the special effects are fangtastic. “Blood Red Sky” is a very good and entertaining entry to be added to the long list of vampire films, but the lack of evoked emotion towards the film’s characters will make this outing quickly forgotten after the last bite.
Scream Score: 7.9/10
