Airborne DVD Movie Review

"Come die with me" is the tagline for Airborne, the latest terror in the skies thriller to come out. This one's got a British accent, and not much else.

The premise is not bad: The doomed commercial aircraft is transporting an ancient Chinese vase containing an extra passenger who doesn't need any leg room… because it doesn't have any legs. Yeah, cue the rim-shot, it's a ghost. But the disembodied demon is just one of the worries on the manifest.

Misunderstandings and red herrings cause chaos, not the least of which is whether or not the plane is actually even on course. With a serious storm on the horizon, a group of shady thugs always ready to rumble, plus a possibly possessed flight attendant on board, the passengers have plenty to chew on and you can bet no one will be napping. Except maybe the audience.

The only things that kinda sorta halfway saves this half-assed horror movie are two standout characters. One's on the ground at East Midlands Airport, played by Mark Hamill. He's an experienced ATC agent, while his salty, seasoned counterpart is a Cockney drug kingpin, played by Alan Ford is all his f-bomb dropping glory. Hamill's acting comes off corny but funny, while Ford is actually a bit hair-raising in his believability.

Airborne is a so-so rainy day kind of TV movie, but you'd be better off with a classic Airport movie from the 1970s. Airborne may have some supernatural elements which qualify it for the horror genre, but it's definitely a lot tamer in the impending-danger department than those old suspensers.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson