Killer Mountain (2011)

Thanks for the memories!

One of my all time favorites.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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.

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

This another typical Syfy channel type movie. Low quality writing and directing. Below par acting overall with some actors actually doing a good job. The CGI when the chopper gets trashed is not bad. The scene towards the beginning when the fresh blood starts dripping from the outside top of the tent is very unbelievable. At that height and temperature it would have frozen or congealed a long time ago. The lead rescue climber is a self admitted out of shape, retired climber but with an extremely well regarded reputation. He only takes the job when he finds out his ex wife is one of those needing rescue. Of course there is duplicity from the rich big shots that want the rescue mounted. Relatively early on you see that the ex has survived so far (shucks). The creatures that inhabit the mountain look more like the ones from Alien than any Yeti ever thought up by any human imagination. Not only that but they seem reptilian in appearance and if that is true how do they survive such cold? Actually they look more like a poor man's Godzilla and about as realistic. Then there are the Bhutanese military that show up to steal the info on the site everyone is looking for.. The magic acclimatizing drug works just fine except the supplements are lost and that leaves the new crew with eight hours remaining before their lungs blow out and their brains, such as they are, explode. When it is found out that the entire operation is a search for the mythical Sham-Ba-La or Shangri-La. Then of course, the shots start to wear off and the good guys start bleeding, gasping, and dying. When Kate finally gets rescued they use flares to drive the animals off, yet earlier they operated in the outside. The end where the spoiled son discovers that the blood of the young creatures will heal starts him on the road to destruction. As he harvests the blood he is attacked by a swarm of the younglings and gets his. Where so many young ones come from in the frozen, very high altitude mountain aerie is beyond me, but this is one of those Syfy low budget films. Of course it ends with the pair of exe's getting out and blowing up the cavern.

Why shoot on location when there's a perfectly good version of Photoshop available? Anyone who's hoping to see some cool shots of impossible to climb mountains is going to be very disappointed with this film. Anyone who's hoping for a realistic male lead who's an expert at climbing is going to be very surprised. The lead in this film doesn't look like he ever climbs the stairs let alone a mountain. They did a bit better with the female lead but not by much and the only other woman in the film played a doctor who appeared to be easily frightened. Not sure what she was doing there in the first place, you'd have thought they'd have written a character made of sterner stuff. It starts off bad and goes downhill from there. Don't waste any money on it.