On July 23, Netflix premiered the German horror film ‘Blood Red Sky’. We watched the movie and highlighted both the positive aspects and those circumstances that might prevent you from enjoying it.

‘Blood Red Sky’ is one of those films that evoke mixed feelings. It has a lot of interesting elements, but it also has its fair share of obvious flaws. So we decided to help you decide whether to watch this movie or not by highlighting several key reasons ‘for’ and ‘against’ it.

3 reasons to watch ‘Blood Red Sky’

Intriguing plot

If you don’t watch the spoiler-filled movie trailer, the story of how the military tries to figure out what to do with a plane hijacked by terrorists can grip you from the very first minutes of screen time. Never mind that the setup also features a boy who escapes from the aircraft and keeps telling everyone about monsters on board.

Excellent narrative pacing

The main story in the film is neatly interspersed with flashbacks, which not only don’t annoy but also effectively reveal the backstory and bring us closer to the characters. Moreover, this approach helps the film’s pacing: action scenes and horror episodes are timely balanced with coherent dialogue. This keeps the viewer from getting bored and constantly maintains their engagement.

Brutality and tension

True to its title, ‘Blood Red Sky’ offers viewers a lot of blood. There are killings with cold steel and firearms, and sometimes even with bare hands (and a little with teeth). The film’s brutality and tension can sometimes rival even the original ‘Train to Busan’ (the two films share similar themes and claustrophobic settings). Especially sensitive individuals would do well to stay away from the screen during such moments.

2 reasons not to watch ‘Blood Red Sky’

Dull action

Despite a decent budget by European standards (around €15 million), the film doesn’t look its worth. While the makeup is not too problematic (it’s generally decent), the action sequences raise many questions. Sometimes it feels like mindless chaos is happening on screen. At other moments, you can see that the participants in the scenes aren’t particularly invested in what’s going on and look more like budget cosplayers of ‘The Walking Dead’ acting for food rather than professional performers. You just want to shout: ‘I don’t believe it!’

Overall derivativeness

‘Blood Red Sky’ tries hard to appear original. But it hardly succeeds. It has a whole host of borrowed clichés: a hijacked plane, a mysterious virus, an eccentric villain (not the main one, but still), a child at the center of a horror story, and so on. The mix turns out to be quite organic, but while watching, you can’t shake the feeling that we’ve seen it all somewhere before. Plus, the degree of uncertainty prevents forming a solid positive impression: it’s not a serious film, nor is it trashy like ‘Dead Snow’, but something in between.