Black Mountain Side (2016)

Overrated and overhyped

From my favorite movies..

As Good As It Gets

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

I found it interesting and was excited for some kind of explenation for everything that was going on, but the ending fell short...

Snow, isolation, a small part of me had hopes for Black Mountain. Ultimately, the film fails on many levels. Mediocre acting, uninspired camera work, most of which make use of a static camera. Some of the characters comment on how cold it is, all the while not looking cold at all.Don't be fooled by quotes comparing Black Mountain to The Thing. The Thing is a classic movie.The story focuses on a group of male archaeologists, stranded in a snowy wilderness, making do in a cabin. Something starts to go down, but what could it be? ..and what does the ancient structure near the cabin mean?One by one, various members of the group become ill, hear voices etc. There is Deer-headed creature that stands on two legs, usually in one spot, appears to lack the ability to walk, although it claims to be behind the creation of the universe. It speaks with a deep voice. The force is deep with this animal thing.The ending.. well.. it just ends.. cuts off.. Some black and white credits appear, no sound, no real sense of anything.

I will keep this short.I'm a big fan of the original "The Thing". This film seems to borrow so many scenes and ideas from that film that its pretty shameless. The early scene of the main character on the radio, whilst playing games and drinking whiskey is truly awful, and far too close to Kurt Russell's classic opening scene in "The Thing". Furthermore the acting is so atrocious its beyond words. Everybody looks nervous to be on screen, one actor looks as if he cant bring himself to make eye contact with the other actors whilst relaying his lines. Ultimately nothing happens for the majority of the film, its so slow I nearly slipped into a coma. OK, its obviously on a very low budget, but Its so bad that its inexcusable. I was astounded when I saw this film for £12.99 at my local store, what a joke. The world doesn't need anymore films this bad...whoever is responsible please stop producing them.

This movie had so much going for it but left with an unsatisfying ending.First, I gotta give props to a horror movie that doesn't rely on jump scares. There's maybe 1 jump scare, if it can even be considered that but the rest is all tension and general creepiness. (Now that I can really respect in an age where people think jump scares are the only form of horror.) Yes, I even thought the deer was creepy, although there could have been more creative thought put into it to make it creepier but the voice for it makes up for that. And I like the lack of music in the movie as well. The stale silence increases the creepiness factor and fits well for an isolated environment like that.It was an interesting premise, but I had seen something very similar in The Last Winter (2006). But the archaeological site made it stand out from that movie. I wish we got to see more of it and delve deep into the mythology and culture of that area. The beginning was a little slow but the archaeological stuff kept my attention long enough to get into the good stuff.Finally, the major problem was the ending. The "Deer God's" intentions and motives were very vague but maybe it was just meant to be up for interpretation? But there is no overall feeling of the movie "ending", let alone being wrapped up. We don't get to see if the guy survives or not and that too may be up for interpretation but it just leaves the movie hanging.Overall: it has all the creepiness and tension I look for in horror movies so it's so unfortunate that the ending is unsatisfying and there's too many things left unanswered. I hate when director's do that; as if leaving things vague and unclear makes your movie "deep" and "thoughtful" but it doesn't. If you're looking for a good horror movie that doesn't rely on jump-scares you'll really enjoy it but the ending may leave you very frustrated.