Forget what anyone says – Wes Craven is the daddy of horror. Not only for his invention of Freddy Krueger, but thanks to his revitalisation of the genre with the slasher flick Scream.

Using the tools of his trade, Wes has turned his attention to a thriller with a simple, yet intriguing premise.

Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) is a nervous flyer. She’s standing around at an airport having just been to her Gran’s funeral. But her plane’s delayed and her desire to get back home is getting stronger all the time.

When nice-guy Jackson (Cillian Murphy) chats her up over a drink, and then – seemingly by coincidence – happens to be sitting next to her on the flight, it seems her journey has taken a positive turn.

That is until he admits that there’s no coincidence here – Jackson wants Lisa to make a phone call to the hotel where she works in order to help facilitate the murder of a politician.

If she doesn’t obey, a hitman will bump off Lisa’s Dad.

A simple premise that treads no new ground is academic in a Wes Craven movie.

His penchant for verbal sparring between the leads is as strong now as it ever was, perhaps even more-so due to a lack of 'he's behind you!' shocks that simply can’t squeeze into a movie that spends a large amount of screen time on a plane.

So it's down to Murphy and McAdams to keep things tense, a job they pull off admirably, although Carl Ellsworth's taut script, replete with snappy Scream-like dialogue (Wes has a way with people talking on the phone) deserves much of the credit.

The final reel is classic Craven as Murphy lets loose, but really it’s the preceding hour that shreds the nerves as Jackson Rippner (yep, spot the bad guy) tortures his hostage with verbal attacks and the occasional head-butt.

It's about as original as ice cream in the summer, but Craven’s the kind of director who makes his ice cream taste better than Wall's.

Rich Phippen