Black Mountain Side

This independent, low budget Canadian horror film is the sort of movie that critics will appreciate, but general audiences will likely find it strange and slow. The storytelling isn't very good. It reminded me of a person telling someone about their weird dream. It jumps around sporadically, it leaves out details, it raises questions without answering them, and while it has moments that are interesting, it ends abruptly before completely telling the whole story. It's definitely a slow burner. It's a creepy movie, but it's hard to call it scary. The archeological element is interesting but not explored satisfactorily. While many critics will admire this movie as a piece of art, it's a bit of a mess in terms of storytelling. If watching some guys smoking a lot of cigarettes while mentally breaking down sounds interesting to you, give this movie a shot. Otherwise, the creepiness of what's uncovered in the ice isn't interesting or frightening enough to thrill most viewers.

On the positive side, I thought that director Nick Szostakiwskyj made very good use of the Canadian northern wilderness as a setting. It was bleak and snowbound and foreboding. It leant the proper atmosphere to the movie - there was a tension to this almost from the very beginning. The story revolves around a team of archaeologists who discover an unusual structure of some sort buried underground and under the snow. It's mysterious. It's very old and there are items discovered that don't belong anywhere near this area. And after the discovery, strange things begin to happen, starting with the pet cat of one of the team being discovered killed. Then the rest of the movie shows a slow descent into what appears to be madness and violence among the team.

The atmosphere was effective; the story - to me - less so. The basic question once the madness began was whether this was a form of cabin fever - madness caused by the isolation the team was facing - or whether there was a supernatural element involved in all of this; something to do with this strange structure that the team uncovered. I'd lean toward the latter, but it wasn't entirely clear and the possibility of mass hysteria was certainly present.

The story is set over a period of about six weeks. i will confess that at times the story seemed to bog down and drag a little bit, so that the six weeks started to feel a bit literal at some points. But overall the movie was mildly interesting and the performances from the cast were decent enough, although I'm not sure I'd give this many marks for originality. It was - at best - OK. Nothing special, but not bad. (5/10)

This movie sounded right up my alley when I read the synopsis. An ancient structure is uncovered in the Canadian wilderness which has no right to be there. It's hard to describe the way the storyline spirals out of control with out giving away any spoilers, but the ancient structure, which is the focus of the film previews, seems to be all but forgotten by the end of the movie. I wish I could go into more detail, but I really don't want to give away any spoilers. And the ending isn't even an ending, albeit a very predictable scene due to some very clumsily inserted plot dialogue early on. The sort of statement that immediately makes you think, "I wonder when that's going to happen then." But nothing is really explained, there are several plot points left unresolved, hell, the entire story remained unresolved, with plot dead ends, and a very unfulfilling ending, which just seems lazy. To be fair the acting is pretty good throughout and the Canadian scenery is awesome, without that it would have got a 2.

Movie starts out with beautiful cinematography, believable dialogue, believable characters, and the kind of pacing I prefer in a 'psychological horror' film. I watch enough movies to recognize a smaller budget film, so I usually prepare for the worst when I see the markers for an indie flick, but early on, the unfamiliar actors and lack of orchestral soundtrack did not bother me. In fact, I liked the absence of music. Helped set a cold, uninviting mood.

Then about halfway through, when the big events start unfolding, the acting doesn't keep pace with the drama and frankly, distracts from a few of the scenes. Also, I'll be careful not to spoil anything, but on the big reveal, I really hoped for something different. Thought the choice they made there really hurt the mood they'd built so effectively. Went from 8 stars to 7 stars because I just couldn't take that part seriously.

To summarize, I liked the premise, (though this isn't the first time I've seen it...it's one of my favorite premises for a horror film), and I liked the general dialogue, the action, and resolution. I have a feeling they didn't have a huge budget, but they made a very solid, often bizarre, and at times creepy, horror film. Would really like to see what the writer/director/cinematographer could do with a bigger budget and more experienced cast.

Also, bravo to the filmmakers for not writing a bunch of fake reviews here. Seems a common trick lately, so thank you for letting the film stand on its own!

Having lived in the north and through -50 nights, I am trying very hard to ignore the fact that none of these actors would have made it through day 1 if it was really cold out. No gloves, doors hanging open while they chat, running about with their jackets unzipped, no hats. Somehow the reality that they are all running about in about -5c early spring with water dripping from the eves just spoils the effect for me. Ironically it didn't need to be the dead of winter to be good ... so why????