It's the 10 Year Anniversary of the Criminally Underrated 'Red Eye'

Red Eye came out 10 years ago today. This good old-fashioned gem of a thriller has always been criminally underrated.

Sure, with the villain’s name as “Jackson Rippner,” it wasn’t exactly subtle, but that was its charm. Today, Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy might be better known for True Detective’s terrible second season and as The Scarecrow, respectively, but back in 2005, both delivered performances that elevated a simple home-invasion-on-the-road movie into a pulse pounding and unexpectedly funny ride. Too many thrillers try to be gravely serious or winkingly farcical, but this one straddled the line expertly. Scenes like the pen-stabbing were a mixture of gross-out, darkly funny, and redefining the meaning of owning a horror movie trope.

So on its 10 year anniversary, we salute this strange, under-appreciated gem of a not-quite horror, not quite home-invasion, not-quite date gone wrong movie, and use it as a lesson to never drink a Sea Breeze with a charming stranger in an airport if they have a name that’s suspiciously similar to a famous serial killer.