The Haunted Airman

With Halloween about a week away, I was in the mood for a scary movie.  I saw that Robert Pattinson was in one (or so I thought), and I decided to give it a try.  However, The Haunted Airman failed to frighten me.  Instead, it bored me to death (no pun intended).

This made-for-TV film is based on the novel The Haunting of Toby Jugg by Dennis Wheatley, and the story follows Toby, a former war pilot who spent his nights dropping bombs on enemy towns.  During a plane crash, Toby becomes a paraplegic, and his Aunt Julia  (Rachael Stirling) thinks it best for him to stay in a desolate hospital to receive proper care in his current state (we later find out she has ulterior motives).  There, he is under the watch of Dr. Hal Burns (Julian Sands), who Toby finds eerily peeking in his window at odd times throughout the day.

Toby is madly in love with Julia, although she is his aunt, and writes her letters daily.  He receives no response, and soon finds that Dr. Burns has been intercepting Toby and Julia’s letters (big surprise).  Toby has trouble sleeping, and often dreams of spiders attacking him (a mildly creepy idea for someone who cannot move their legs to escape).

The plot essentially builds to nothing, and Toby’s supposed “haunting” seems to really just be a struggle to deal with his new, unfortunate life.  The scariest event in the whole movie occurs when a fellow patient shows up dead in Toby’s bedroom, and this scene ends up having no real significance to the film.

The Haunted Airman seems like a British attempt at a Lifetime Movie.  However, it lacks that Lifetime Movie drama and suspense that prevents you from pulling yourself away from the television, until four hours later, you realize the movie is still not over, you’re late for an appointment, you haven’t eaten, and you just don’t care because you need to see the end.

The nice thing about The Haunted Airman, though, is that it is only about an hour long.  If you love Robert Pattinson, a majority of the film is zoomed in on his face, with some close-up massage scenes as well, and even a semi-nude bath scene.  Pattinson’s acting was okay, but I just kept waiting for his fangs to come out.  I would like to see him play a role with some color on his face.

I’m not sure if the book clarifies more than the film does, but The Haunted Airman failed as a scary movie.  It’s a confusing story with little drama, and no gore or sex to make up for it.  I can find no reason to waste an hour on this film, other than an obsession with Robert Pattinson.