Have you ever woken up with a crackpot idea that you just couldn't wait to make? Did that idea happen to be combining Passenger 57, Snakes on a Plane, and 30 Days of Night? If so, you're in luck... or maybe a little sad that somebody made it before you did.

Blood Red Sky is a slightly arduous adventure through the skies with a group of passengers we didn't want to be on board and a single mother with a mysterious condition who will do anything to keep her son safe. The concept is an absolutely out of control blast, if a little poorly executed.

The film is wonderfully shot and the production value is on par with any large American studio. Performances are excellent across the board and the concept is thrilling, original, and fun. Sky's weakness comes in the form of handcuffing its action sequences with slow flashbacks, never quite fully utilizing all of the tools in its box of craziness, and phoning in a totally out of character ending.

Sky never really commits to the ridiculousness of its theme and instead opts to take itself almost entirely seriously. This works great for certain plot elements and there's even a few scenes of nuanced discord between members of the same team that are clever and well written. The problem is that it doesn't work so well when things start to heat up. In taking itself so seriously, Sky never quite reaches the 11 mark of the dial that something like Snakes on a Plane did. While not a higher quality film than Sky, Snakes was certainly a more fun one. This is not to say that Sky wasn't fun or that I didn't like it. It was, and I did, it's just that it could have been better if it didn't give itself such a modest ceiling.

Sky suffers in the commitment department on another foot as well: Tone. Parts of Sky feel like they want to be horror, parts are action thriller, and others still are drama. While not uncommon or impossible to mix these genres ("Well, Clarice, have the lambs stopped screaming?"), Sky never really chooses where it wants to end up and so doesn't commit to any one subject to guide its way. This leaves us with several different tonalities throughout the film and a box of rounded metal instead of sharpened, narrative knives.

Conversely, there are several scenes in the film that took me fairly off guard because they just don't pull punches. Usually films would pause and then reverse course, but Sky simply plows on ahead. It's great and should be commended for that boldness... Which is why the ending is so disappointing. We could have had something that really mattered, leaving the audience going, "Oh noooo!" as we smile and reflect during the credits. Instead we get a nice little banal gift that makes us go, "Huh. Alright then." It doesn't ruin the film, but it certainly is a letdown.

One of my favorite parts of Blood Red Sky is its use of language. I don't mean flowery, pretentious H.P. Lovecraft type language, but literal usage of multiple languages. Throughout the film we are regularly treated to English, German, and Arabic. Characters seamlessly switch between their tongues and speak each fluently when the situation is relevant. It's an incredibly human element that you just don't see in American film and would feel out of place if it wasn't so perfectly executed.

Blood Red Sky is sure to delight and surprise you, you just might not remember it very well a week later. I enjoyed my time with this one, but I wish it was a few minutes shorter and a little more refined. Give it a whirl. Sink your teeth into it and see what you think of its high flying shenanigans.