Killer Mountain

source: Killer Mountain

Where do I start. Firstly the acting was average the characters were dire but the actors did there best. The story n plot were lacklustre. The snow scenes were clearly polystyrene balls... laughable. It was supposed to be sub zero temperature yet the two survivors came out with just jumpers on. The creatures were typical of SyFy......abysmal. The ending was highly predictable. If you don't mind SyFy productions then this is for you but there were no surprises tension or suspense.

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.

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.

A group of mountain climbers are sent after a previous group of mountain climbers that did not successfully reach the peak of their mountain in Bhutan. What stopped them? What lies waiting at the top? I hate to say it, but this is not SyFy's worst film. While not amazingly good by any stretch of the imagination, it has one thing going for it: lots of human drama and relatively little computer animation. Someone finally took the time to write a script where people matter and are not just decoration or background. Sure, some of it makes no sense, but that is par for the course. Not saying I am recommending this to anyone... just want to say that SyFy actually has it in them to make good films.

A SyFy channel film with bad effects courtesy of a PlayStation 2 and a bonkers plot. Killer Mountain starts with a flashback in the region of Bhutan in 1954 when some calamity fall on some climbers. We then cut to the present day when a rich tycoon wants a retired climber to go on a rescue mission which was led by his ex-girlfriend in a forbidden mountain. It turns out that the tycoon has an ulterior motive. He is dying and the mountain might be home to a legendary fountain of youth but its guarded by some monsters or alien parasites. Its not too clear. What we do know is that the mountain climb is treacherous but then the monster is unleashed and then the local army decide they would kill to get some of this Shambala magic. Its a mountain movie mixed with monsters and bad weather. Like other SyFy films its bad writing, bad directing, poor special effects and a C list cast.

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

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.

Killer Mountain starts as billionaire medical research businessman Walter Burton (Andrew Airlee) contacts leading climber Ward Donovan (Aaron Douglas) & says that an expedition to the highest unexplored mountain in the world in Bhutan have gone missing, there has been no contact with them for weeks & Burton ask's Ward to lead a rescue mission. At first Ward refuses but once he learns his ex-girlfriend Kate (Emmanuella Vaugier) is amongst the missing Ward's attitude changes & he can't wait to get up there. Flying to Bhutan which is in Nepal all of the locals have fled & only a small team will venture up the mountain lead by Ward & containing Burton's son Tyler (Paul Campbell) & sexy doctor Nina (Crystal Lowe). Once on the mountain the team face danger from all angles, the bitter cold, the treacherous terrain & huge mythical flesh eating creatures that supposedly guard the ancient lost city of Shambala that holds the key to eternal life... Directed by Sheldon Wilson this made for telly SyFy Channel creature feature isn't the worst offering the channel has ever served up but that's hardly any sort of recommendation on it's own, Killer Mountain is almost a decent film & certainly better than most SyFy Channel muck but I still didn't think it was particularly good. The one thing that Killer Mountain has going for it is that there's more going on than usual in these SyFy Channe flicks, there's the previous stranded expedition, the current one that gets trapped, the dangerous terrain, the monsters, the lost city, the Bhutan military show up & there's just a more going on than I expected. None of it is particularly enthralling, I mean it's still fairly predictable, shallow & has the usual sloppy storytelling but overall Killer Mountain is better than I expected without being brilliant. The character's are clichéd & dull but serve their purpose, the dialogue is forgettable & you won't care what happens to anyone but again their a notch above the usual SyFy Channel product. Killer Mountain is bland & forgettable it passes an hour & a half harmlessly enough I suppose, not bad if you know what to expect & have suitable expectations. Surprisingly the production values aren't too bad on Killer Mountain, the film has a cold dark feel which helps & while some of the mountain climbing scenes look a little tame & unexciting they add something overall. The CGI computer effects are also better than expected, sure no-one is going to be convinced by that CGI helicopter but the monsters are usually kept in shadow or seen in quick flashes which helps. There's no real gore here, there's a bit of blood splatter & a bitten hand but Killer Mountain lacks any memorable kills which is a pity. The IMDb says Killer Mountain had a budget of $2,000,000 which I find hard to believe, there's way it had a budget that high or if it did I can't see what it was spent on. The acting is alright, everyone seems to be taking it seriously. Killer Mountain is better than the usual SyFy Chanel creature feature but that isn't saying much on it's own, watch it if it's on telly & your desperate but otherwise don't bust a gut to see it.

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.