The Haunted Airman
List Price:
Our Price: $5.27
You Save: $19.71 (79%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.54 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Julian Sands, Rachael Stirling, Robert PattinsonBrand: Koch International
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 68 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-10-13
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: E1 Entertainment
Product features:
- HAUNTED AIRMAN, THE (DVD MOVIE)
DVD Reviews of The Haunted Airman
DVD Review: Too short and too shallow
Summary: 3 Stars
Robert Pattinson finds himself facing the same mountain that Daniel Radcliffe has begun to successfully scale: living down the pop-culture mantle cast upon him. Unlike Radcliffe however, Pattinson has wisely chosen to start the process with all due haste so as not to be forever known as "that Twilight vampire guy". However, before Twilight was even a twinkle on his horizon, he made The Haunted Airman, a made-for-television movie first aired in the UK in 2006 and canned until this 2009 release when the American audience will get another taste of pre-Twilight Pattinson. Unfortunately, there's a strong parallel between the two roles. It may help show that he can do more than brood and talk wistfully about a romance he can't let himself have (although there is an element of that here as well) but there's still one distracting drawback: he still looks like a vampire. So much so that it outshines an unfortunately dim narrative which never fully establishes itself because of its stunted 70 minute run-time. You can see the plans for a good feature-length story, but the whole thing just peters out instead of climbing to the fully deserved dramatic climax. What a shame. Consequently it does little to help convince non-Pattinson fans of his range (which does exist).
Grounded flight lieutenant Toby Jugg (Pattinson) has taken psychological refuge in the care of Dr. Hal Burns (Julian Sands) who proposes a unique style of treatment (for all his patients) to get people back on their feet. As Burns treats Jugg and forces him to confront facets of his fears, he also denies his patient communication which begins to make Jugg doubt the good doctor's intentions. The object of Toby's written affections, Julia (Rachael Stirling), seems to mirror his sentiments but her compliance with Burns' doctrine causes the patient a growing sense of unease. Eventually Toby begins to doubt his senses and eventually begins to wonder if the things he sees are real or hallucinations of his mania.
The familiar thriller skeleton was reanimated in the time of a world war to give the well-worn material a new spin - but it still feels all too old. The parts of The Haunted Airman that seem worthwhile in their own right never receive the development they deserve. Instead, it spends all its time rehashing the very generic story and consequently becomes just another lazy psychological playground. There was ample opportunity to tie Toby's delusions into the unique time period setting and explore it fully from that angle, but it just never happens. Writers Chris Durlacher and Dennis Wheatley taunt us with the story they could have told and then just yank it away with no remorse.
As was said before, what really makes the film significant is the performances within and whether or not they distract from Pattinson's pop-culture rampant appearance in the Twilight series - even retroactively. For most, this will be the second film they see Pattinson star in, making Twilight their frame of reference for the actor's abilities. Pattinson's Toby Jugg easily has more depth than the brooding and terse vampire Edward, but thanks to the makeup effects and the black and white sequences in the film we're reminded all too readily of the bloodless cheeks he sports in the other franchise. At least Radcliffe didn't go on to play a young magician or facially scarred youth in his first non-Potter features, he at least had some sense of the distance he needed to place between his fame and his long-term career. The film's rerelease almost four years later for mass consumption does little to bolster his credibility. His performance may be stronger but it screams an unfortunate theme of dull characters. Even Little Ashes, in which he portrayed Salvador Dali, offered little variation in his distant and aloof style which has pervaded both Toby and Edward.
Then we have Julian Sands, an actor it's nigh impossible to say anything good about without adopting the same tongue in cheek attitude you think he's using for all of his parts - even though he's not. That's just how he acts. His smarmy overacting affects every scene and after awhile you either learn to laugh along with his performance or it just bugs you. The former is recommended for The Haunted Airman, or the 70 minutes will feel like forever.
Visually the film has a very interesting aesthetic. On one hand the black and white treatment wanders too close to the Twilight feel forbidding anyone to forget Pattinson's franchise role, but outside of that influence the film's aesthetic has definite appeal. Ultimately, the direction of Chris Durlacher (known for a string of made-for-television movies just like this one) lacks any real subtlety and as a result the hokey spider and spider-web visuals feel childish instead of creepy.
DVD Bonus Features:
You would like to think that they'd try to supplement a too-short film with some sort of padding (an interview or even a production piece) but it seems that's just not the case.
Description of The Haunted Airman
Flight Lieutenant Jugg (Twilight's Robert Pattinson), confined to a wheelchair after being wounded in action, arrives at a remote mansion in Wales to recuperate. Suffering from terrible nightmares and visions, he suspects the methods of his psychiatrist, Dr. Hal Burns (Julian Sands). His beautiful aunt, Julia (Rachael Stirling) seems to be the only person he can trust ? until circumstances make him doubt even her intentions. Based on the novel ?The Haunting of Toby Jugg? by Dennis Wheatley.Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
SpeakSHW; Release date: 2005-09-27; DVD
Best price: $5.41
Price in other shops:
RobsessedRelease date: 2009-11-10; DVD
Best price: $3.86
Price in other shops:
The Cake EatersUniversal; Release date: 2009-03-24; DVD
Best price: $3.67
Price in other shops:
Yellow HandkerchiefRelease date: 2011-01-04; DVD
Best price: $2.96
Price in other shops:
The MessengersSony; Release date: 2007-06-05; Published: 2007-06-01; DVD
Best price: $3.12
Price in other shops:
Love & DistrustTrinity; Release date: 2010-11-02; DVD
Best price: $7.25
Price in other shops:
How to BeMPI; Release date: 2009-11-17; DVD
Best price: $2.18
Price in other shops:
Bad Mother's HandbookLGF; Release date: 2010-08-24; DVD
Best price: $6.03
Price in other shops:
Little AshesKoch International; Release date: 2010-01-26; DVD
Best price: $13.21
Price in other shops:
Remember MeSUM; Release date: 2010-06-22; DVD
Best price: $7.39
Price in other shops: