DVD Review: Mark Hamill in Airborne

Brit director, Dominic Burns’ (How To Stop Being A Loser) latest feature, Airborne is not going to revolutionise the horror genre, but it does prove to be a nice slice of well executed, direct to DVD fun.

As a snow storm rapidly approaches the UK and airports begin to close, one last flight takes off from an East Midlands airport. On board are an eclectic bunch of characters from tough guy gangsters, disgruntled army men and a mysterious antiques dealer (Julian Glover) with an extremely expensive, ancient Chinese vase. As hell slowly starts to break loose at 30,000 feet, the air control team (lead by none other than Mark Hamill) are left to work out what is happening.

Airborne completely lives up to its billing as a Twilight Zone style thriller, boasting an unpredictable narrative that continually flips viewers assumptions. Burns’ plays with genre – Airborne beginning as what feels like a terrorist focussed horror, that slowly turns into a serial killer flick with elements of mythical horror. While it may not be the sort of horror that will keep you awake at night, Burns has his tongue planted firmly in his cheek and embraces the B-Movie nature of the subject matter.

For a straight to DVD release, Airborne also features strong production values alongside convincing performances. Burns’ film is well crafted, boasting parallels to the likes of Tom Holland’s The Langoliers and Richard Donner’s Twilight Zone episode, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. The young director executes a stirring sense of mystery and tension throughout the claustrophobic airborne settings.

Perhaps even more exciting than the sky high antics are the scenes in the British control centre. Here aviation chiefs and military argue about the possible high-jacking and Airborne becomes chock-full of conspiracy-filled twists and turn. It is a particular joy to see Mark Hamill back on-screen, with the iconic star bringing a welcome sense of credibility and gravitas to the somewhat far-fetched plot proceedings.

As well as Hamill, Airborne boasts a strong cast of British character actors from Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade’s Julian Glover and also none other than Billy Murray (who it seems is bound by contract to appear in every direct-to-video Brit flick). It is highly entertaining to see these much-loved stars appear in fun, home-produced horror.

Whilst Airborne is unlikely to unsettle, it is otherwise a tense, unpredictable and thoroughly likeable horror. With Burns’ tongue-in-cheek style and exciting performances from Mark Hamill, Julian Glover and Billy Murray – Airborne is an extremely worthwhile watch.

RATING: 4/5