Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Area 407’

Written by Scott Edwards 

Returning home from a vacation can be one of the most traumatic things for anyone to do. Having to give up your freedom and return to the real world can be very depressing. Having a way to escape your everyday life is needed for everyone once in a while, but when it comes down to the fact that you have to return to it, it may not have seemed worth it in the long haul. 

Sisters Jessie and Trish are heading back to L.A. from New York on their Christmas vacation. Jessie, the older of the two just got a new camera in order to pursue her dream as a photographer but her little sister Trish has other plans. Taking her sister's camera, Trish is taping everything that is going on from the cab ride to the airport to their flight home on New Year’s Eve. Not knowing if everyone is okay with this, Trish tries to keep it a secret from a few of the passengers as they do not want to have their problems aired anywhere. 

Meeting a nice man named Jimmy sitting behind them on the flight, Trish finds out all kinds of great facts about him. He was a photojournalist in Afghanistan and Iraq for the past couple of years and is now looking for something a bit less stressful in Los Angeles. As the flight carries on and everyone on the plane has a little celebration for New Year’s Eve, they hit a rough patch of turbulence. As the passengers are being knocked around the cabin, the captain announces that they have lost cabin pressure and to stay seated as the plane is going down.

With the airplane split into two pieces after impact, the survivors in the tail end of the plane have to formulate a plan to survive until they are rescued. Not hearing anything for several hours, the group starts to get concerned that there is no help coming and need to come up with a better plan to save themselves. Hearing some sort of rustling in the bushes and someone screaming that does not sound like a person, the group finds out that they are not alone. With the flight attendant being dragged away by something that seems to be larger than a person, the group finds out that there is something hunting them, and time is of the essence if they are to survive until the morning. Looking for safety, the group finds a small shack to rest up in, but when someone new arrives and does not offer them any help, all hell breaks loose.

This is one of those ‘handheld’ horror flicks that always seem to capture me. This movie has its strong points along with some down time and I can see how that would irritate an audience. With an unseen predator chasing the survivors of a plane crash, it is interesting to see how the members of the group cope with the life and death situation they are faced with. In this kind of film, you always have a character that you would want to see killed off first and to that formula, it does not happen soon enough. Just a fun little romp that keeps you trying to see what they cannot as the camera is rolling the entire time. Might make you want to think twice about flying over classified locations, and three times about not leaving the scene of a crash. Stay Scared.  

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