Killer Mountain

Stunning visual effects and scenes of intense adventure highlight Sheldon Wilson's Killer Mountain. An exciting saga of mountain climbing and brutal survival, this is horror film with strong characters and a magnificent story to tell. Among the stunning vistas of mighty mountains stand a group of individuals called upon to meet the greatest challenges any group of intrepid explorers may have ever faced. Their skills and character are truly put to the test, especially when it becomes quite clear that it is not the mountain alone they are confronting. Haunting scenes of an icy hell, veiled in mystery and a dark terror, will keep audiences spellbound in this sterling adventure. Fine performances from a terrific cast add to the cinematic quality and give us people we really care about as they struggle to conquer the unknown. The influence of Everest and Howard Hawks' original The Thing are clearly seen throughout and the director's reverence for these sources is well integrated in the experience.

why is every movie or TV show that is made in vancouver, bc, canada garbage.The acting is awful. You can always tell right away when you are watching something made here.I've seen tons of movies and TV shows made here and its the same awful thing time and time again.If a movie or TV show is decided to be made here its like its been cursed or something.You can make the same movie somewhere else and all of a sudden it seems to be a lot better. I think its because the film and TV industry here is subsidized so heavily by the government that it does not matter how bad it is because the producers are making tons of money whether the TV shows or movies are just the worst thing ever filmed.

Something about some mountain climbers scaling a 25,000 foot peak; looking for the mythical Shambala, and getting their hands full with a mysterious thing that likes to wreck helicopters, base camps, and of course any people it can get its hands on. Also, some trigger-happy demented army Captain and his grunts show up out of nowhere to croak anybody the creature doesn't get first.

There's a few random scares here and there; and that's the magic word for this film: random. The plot is incoherent and meandering, and nothing ever makes sense. The cast do the best they can with the transparent characters and the absence of a story, but they get chopped up in the attempt, just like their characters do every time the monster or the homicidally obsessed army captain show up. I guess the film had to throw in the lunatic army guy to spice things up; even though mountain climbing is an adrenalin rush for its practitioners, its excitement level simply does not translate to screen very well.

It's not too clear what the creature is supposed to be, or why it's slamming everything and everybody on sight. Is it protecting Shambala from interlopers, or is it just hungry from the lack of eatable meat at 25,000 feet of elevation? Is it a resurrected dinosaur? A crash-landed alien? A deformed Yeti? A toothy dragon? A mutated freak from genetic experimentation? Don't ask me; all you ever see is a high body count. Think Michael Bay-type movie making, but with a smaller budget. If you go in looking for nothing but brainless action, then Killer Mountain is OK to kill a couple of hours.

In a flashback to 1954 Bhutan, a Himalayan mountain group suffers though terrifying tragedy. It looks like a man is sucked into a black hole, but this is incorrect; rewinding, this is actually our first look at one of the movie's monsters. Presently, another crew has followed this 1954 group up the mountain. They have been lost for four weeks. Colorado climbing school teacher Aaron Douglas (as Ward Donovan) is asked to lead a rescue expedition. The expert climber declines as he has retired and put on a little weight. However, wealthy financier Andrew Airlie (as Walter Burton) persuades Mr. Douglas to change his mind, after noting that Douglas's ex-girlfriend Emmanuelle Vaugier (as Kate Pratt) is among the missing...

Accompanying Douglas on his rescue crew are handsome young Torrance Coombs (as Chance) and sexy doctor Crystal Lowe (as Nina Preston). Mysteriously popping pills, Mr. Airlie manages to include his wise-guy son Paul Campbell (as Tyler). They have ulterior motives. A lot of "Killer Mountain" doesn't make a lot of sense, but it manages to surprise you, just a little. After a laborious amount of running time, there are some good low-budget action. Sheldon Wilson and Peter Sullivan also score with star Douglas – note how he taps his stomach when initially declining to go on the expedition – and a few of his sporting players. Especially noteworthy is the interplay between the co-stars.

***** Killer Mountain (8/27/11) Sheldon Wilson ~ Aaron Douglas, Torrance Coombs, Paul Campbell, Emmanuelle Vaugier

Yeah, that this is a bad movie will surprise nobody. But at least it's the first film I've seen which has been set in Bhutan, although given the nature of the production the place is interchangeable with any oppressive Asian country.

The story mixes mountaineering with monsters, to a somewhat muted effect. The problem with KILLER MOUNTAIN is that it has no sense of style, no real direction to give it spark or emphasis. It's supposed to be thrilling and scary, and yet it's neither; at no time do we feel for or empathise with the characters or care about their plight.

It's also a low budget B-movie saddled with some truly lame CGI effects, including the return of the dreaded CGI helicopter. The story sees a rescue party set out to aid some missing mountaineers, but before long there are some nasty CGI creatures thrown into the mix. They're mostly shown in near-complete darkness, because the effects really are that bad. The producers can't even add a Lance Henriksen or John Rhys-Davies into the mix, so there's nothing here for anyone.