Turbulence

If "The Relic" was really just a variation on "Don't Go in the Basement," then "Turbulence" is "Don't Go in the Coach Section."

Would you believe a cross between "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Airport 1975"? No kidding.

From the former, Ray Liotta is the Hannibal Lecter character — though at least he doesn't eat his victims (maybe he prefers airline food). From the latter, Lauren Holly is the Karen Black character, a flight attendant who tries to land a commercial airliner with help from a pilot on the ground.

The plot has Liotta's maniac serial killer being transported by federal marshals from New York to Los Angeles on Christmas Eve. But it isn't long before he has apparently killed everyone on board — including the pilots — and taken control of the 747. That is, he has killed off everyone except flight attendant Lauren Holly.

And since he's headed for death row anyway, Liotta plans to "go out in a blaze of glory" — by crashing the plane into a well-populated area of Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Holly tries to land the plane, unaware that the military intends to blow it up over the desert.

Most of the film is the usual cat-and-mouse horror cliches. And after exhausting the hiding-place possibilities (at one point someone actually falls out of an overhead compartment), the ante is upped with weather as they enter a "level six storm." "Is that on a scale from one to 10?" Holly asks the tower. Answer: "No — from one to six!" (At one point, the airliner actually does a 360-degree spin.)

The film's first third is a tease, suggesting that Liotta's character may be innocent, despite his conviction as a serial killer. But it's really pretty obvious from the earliest scenes that he's the real deal, especially since Liotta plays him as manipulative and charming, with a seething, repressed rage just beneath the surface.

When he finally cuts loose, however, Liotta delivers one of the wackiest over-the-top performances you'll see this year. (And, yes, I know it's January.) Holly just effects her best Linda Hamilton-"Terminator 2" pose.

In the end, the film becomes unintentionally amusing, as Holly tries to land the plane and crashes into a high-rise restaurant and a rooftop parking lot — with a truck sticking to the landing gear!

But then, how often do you see an "Airport" movie with its own built-in "Airplane!" spoof?

"Turbulence" is rated R for considerable violence and mayhem (some of it quite brutal and gruesome), as well as constant profanity and vulgarity.