FLIGHT 666 (2018)

THE CARD:

Liz Fenning, Jose Rosete, Joseph M. Harris, Greg Furman, Clariss Thibeaux, Shamar Phillipe, Jesse James D’Angelo, Renee Willet, Justin Hoffmeister, Paul Logan, and lots of motherfucking ghosts on a motherfucking plane.

More details here.

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW



THE ANGLE:

A flight departs Los Angeles bound for New York and we are introduced to the passengers and crew including newlywed couple Brandon and Dani (Phillipe and Thibeaux), tired but seasoned flight attendant Alice (Fenning), lazy and drinky flight attendant Liam (D'Angelo), Sky Marshal Thaddeus (Rosete), veteran pilot Jack (Harris), newbie co-pilot Ryan (Furman), nervous and suspicious loner Mr. Peck (Hoffmeister), and Army soldier on his way home Austin (Logan).  The flight hits violent turbulence as they move through an unusually active electrical storm half-way through the voyage.

Please, Lord, don't let Ray Liotta show up!

After the plane stabilizes, passengers begin to see visions of ghostly female figures throughout the plane, including the bathroom.

"Leeeeave the seat down, assshollle!"

And all the food becomes infested with worms, causing passengers to puke.

Still better than United.

And the ghosts start invading phones and tablets with creepy voices and leaving spooky messages on the windows.

At least they're a better speller than Danny Torrance.

Captain Jack is skeptical of the crew's reports and Ryan and the rest of the crew insist they land, but the storm prevents them from doing so.  The paranormal activity intensifies and and passengers witness the ghosts throughout the plane.

Please be careful as items in the overhead bins may have become undead during the flight.

Once all the passengers and crew believe the stories of ghosts on the plane, they collectively begin to piece together who or what the ghosts want in a mile-high spectral whodunit. Once they discover the secret of the ghosts' demands, perhaps the spirits will be at rest.  Perhaps.

Don't mess with anyone sitting in Worst Class.

THE FINISHER:

Released by the notorious company The Asylum, which is known for such copycat mockbusters such as Transmorphers and Day the Earth Stopped as well as proudly terrible fare Zoombies and A Haunting in Salem, Flight 666 is a shockingly well-done and engaging ghost thriller.  Seriously, this one caught me by surprise as I anticipated a shitstorm, which is possibly another title in the works by The Asylum.  This is likely the most well-written of Asylum films I’ve seen whose typical script quality ranges from passable to hack jobs to deranged Crayon scribbles of a mental patient.  Big budget or not, almost every movie set on a plane tends to get the flight jargon wrong or delivered unconvincingly.  But the writers did their research and the technical talk by the pilots is written and delivered believably.  That might be a small nitpick, but touches like this help to elevate the tension.  

A solid storyline is supported by fine performances from almost everyone involved but mostly from Thibeaux, Harris, Fenning, and Rosete.  Their natural abilities keep the viewer involved as well as on edge.  Harris is particularly chilling and believable as Captain Jack  who dismisses the claims of ghosts aboard even as he too sees eerie figures circling the plane.  Competently directed by Asylum veteran Rob Pallatina (Alien Predator), the film does so much with so little: a stage built airliner (with the widest aisles in existence, but hey you gotta shoot a movie), decent plane CGI, and creepy ghost effects.  Include this one along with The Ghost of Flight 401, Turbulence, Flight of the Living Dead, and what the hell Snakes on a Plane in your Halloween marathon of ... ahem… scare-liner stories.