Blood Red Sky
Blood Red Sky
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Blood Red Sky is a particularly gory take on vampires and plane hijackings. The violence is explicit, in abundance, and gruesome. The film also turns on the emotional drama of a mother and son in dire circumstances that they know they may not survive. The small child will ultimately have to make the decision whether his mother, a vampire whose vicious nature is only kept in check by her love for her son, can be saved or not. She and other vampires savagely attack their prey, human and animal, and suck their blood, which they can't live without. The airplane hijackers kill passengers in cold blood. People, including women and children, are threatened, held at gunpoint, stabbed, shot, wounded, poisoned, trampled, get in fist fights, are set on fire, have teeth pulled out, forced to inject themselves, die from lack of oxygen, suffer an amputation by axe, writhe in pain, and bleed profusely. Military and medical professionals don't believe a child's story and inject him with a sleep agent against his will. Civilians have to fly and land the plane. Language in the spoken English and subtitles (some dialogues are in German) include a lot of use and variations on "f--k," "s--t," "bitch," and "arsehole." Terrorists attempt to make several Muslim passengers scapegoats for the hijacking.
Community Reviews
its just the same idea as goblin .
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Just an ordinary horror movie.
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What's the Story?
Nadja (Peri Baumeister) and her young son Elias (Carl Anton Koch) board a transatlantic flight from Germany to the United States at the start of BLOOD RED SKY. Nadja is traveling to seek treatment from a specialist in the US. She is clearly very ill and needs regular medication. Once the flight is well on its path across the Atlantic, a group of men announce they're hijacking the plane and taking control of it. They turn the plane around and head back for Europe, which means Nadja won't be able to receive her treatments. As the hijacking gets increasingly more violent and Nadja is both wounded and unable to reach her medication, she transforms into a vampire. Now she can attack back and try to save the plane and its full load of passengers, but she'll also slowly lose control over her actions, behavior she can normally keep in check thanks to her deep love for her son. A vampire's bite turns other people into vampires, and soon the number of uncontrollable and vicious vampires on board begins to increase. A kind man Elias met at the airport, Farid (Kais Setti), will prove essential in helping the young boy and the other passengers.
Is It Any Good?
A violent terrorist hijacking of a plane is apparently no longer enough of a plot for a feature-length movie. In Blood Red Sky, run-of-the-mill terrorists meet their match at cruising altitude in bloodthirsty vampires. Though it's never quite clear why the gang of thugs has hijacked the plane (to goose the stock market? sway elections?), a vampire's lust for blood is made extremely patent. The same might be said of Blood Red Sky's production design -- this is one exceptionally bloody movie. By the time the special forces enter the landed aircraft at the film's end, the entire tube is splattered red and scattered with mutilated bodies. You'll need a strong stomach to make it through the full two hours.
But, perhaps surprisingly given the campy premise (and some genre staples, like the cry, "Does anyone on board know how to fly?!"), the character drama keeps you attentive. Since we know from the prologue that the plane will in fact land and the little boy will get off in one piece, it's the mother-son bond that provides the suspense. Nadja's love for Elias barely inhibits her from going full vampire, and his dedication to her prompts unexpected bravery. Peri Baumeister's performance as Nadja is largely physical, while young Carl Anton Koch carries the film's heavy emotional load and Kais Setti offers a compelling turn as Farid, the intelligent observer. The blend of accents and languages on this transatlantic thriller also feels novel for the genre.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the portrayal of vampires in Blood Red Sky. How does it differ from or repeat usual themes in films and series about vampires?
Could this film have been set somewhere other than an airplane without significantly affecting the story? Why or why not?
How did you feel about the ending? Did Elias do the right thing? Why or why not?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: July 23, 2021
- Cast: Peri Baumeister, Carl Anton Koch, Kais Setti
- Director: Peter Thorwarth
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Horror
- Topics: Adventures, Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Run time: 121 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: March 3, 2022
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