"Red Eye" proves once again that imaginative wrapping enhances any package's appeal.

The thriller steadfastly follows a formula, but Wes Craven's direction is so strong and inventive, you find yourself greeting the cliches as an old friend. In a climactic chase scene, you often can guess where and when the culprit will appear. But camera angles, editing and cinematography combine for cathartic thrills. As evidenced by "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "The Hills Have Eyes" and "Scream," Craven knows the combinations that make an audience jump.

For a Craven flick, "Red Eye" is largely free of gore. Rachel McAdams plays Lisa, a super-efficient Miami hotel manager returning to work after attending a Texas funeral. When first seen at what passes for D/FW International Airport, it's clear that Lisa has a fear of flying.

But she has the ostensible good fortune of a tentative friendship with fellow traveler Jackson Rippner (the vaguely reptilian Cillian Murphy). Despite his prophetic name, he seems like a charming fellow, if somewhat aware of his charm.

After take-off, he's not even remotely charming, and Lisa's fear of flight proves well founded. Rippner quickly reveals that he's part of a plan to assassinate the deputy secretary of homeland security and his family, all due to check into Lisa's hotel. If she fails to follow his dictates, he will order the killing of her lonely father.

Fast-thinking Lisa employs all the expected tricks, and the film becomes a cat-and-mouse game between heroine and heel.

"Red Eye" continues McAdams' string of cinematic good luck composed of "Wedding Crashers." "The Notebook" and "Mean Girls." The character of Lisa is a self-described "people pleaser, 24/7," and McAdams is a people-pleasing actress. She's pert, agile and accessible.

Murphy has both the self-aware charm and the snarling menace necessary for his role. All the supporting characters are strongly acted, with a special nod due Jayma Mays as Lisa's addled assistant.

The film's opening scenes are lethargic, with tiresome early banter between Lisa and Rippner. But when the plane takes off, so does the movie. You're in good hands with Wes Craven.