Sher Mountain Killings Mystery (1990)

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

THE SHER MOUNTAIN KILLINGS MYSTERY is a very odd little Australian thriller with an outdoorsy feel. The story is about a magical gem (yeah, right) and the efforts of a bunch of criminals to get their hands on it. It has an episodic, journey-style narrative, all building to a head-scratching climax in which the characters come upon a mystical mountain man with a connection to said gemstone. The sad truth is that this film is far too unfocused to work; there are a few spooky moments and a lot of weird ones, as well as atmosphere, but generally it feels as if its dragging its feet rather than getting on with the storytelling. A pity, as the filming and acting are both okay, and with tighter focus in the writing this could have been interesting.

I've been watching a lot of Australian movies of late and I really enjoyed this film. The setting, a cursed mountain ( great images) in the highlands of Australia could well be Canada or Europe. In fact the movie had a real European feel to it. It's not one of those wham bam action movies, its one of those films where you get clues bit by bit. I liked this film a lot and the big plus...its a lot different to anything else I've seen lately.

Mild SpoilersThis is probably the worst Australian film I've ever seen, yep, even beating the woeful THE PIRATE MOVIE. Everything about it sucks: acting, camerawork, story, fx, etc. The story is confusing and I can't really make a clear summary of it but here goes: the whole beginning of the film has to do with criminals wanting to get a hold of a precious gem. It takes place in a city. For a moment there, I thought I was watching a different movie because the package of the video shows that it's some sort of FRIDAY THE 13TH kind of film, where people are tracked and killed in the wilderness (it's NOT a horror film). But then, after what seemed an eternity, the criminals and their hostages finally all end up at a camp ground where the beefy ranger (who's wearing a yellow construction hat!) is some sort of defender of the gem and his eyes glow and he doesn't appear in photos when photographed. There are some beams of light (with terrible sound effects) that appear from clouds and the ranger becomes a mythical being, with bow and arrow (he looks like a beefy Cupid) and starts attacking the bad guys. Well, attacking is too strong a word. The film is not really violent. The angel/ranger makes friends with a mentally handicapped man who has the gem (I think). Anyway, the whole thing is incomprehensible. When the gang ends up in the forest, almost nothing makes sense. The scene where the bad guy burns up is hilarious. And this was supposed to be the climax?It's amazing that this film is only 84 minutes long because it felt like 3 long hours. The nonsensical action and acting is near amateurish. The direction is truly pathetic. For long periods of time, we see (terrible) time lapse shots of clouds moving fast, with no thought or pattern vis a vis the story-line. The film begins and ends with shots of an old man sleeping, which I never understood who he was or what purposed he had with the rest of the film. At the very end, the beefy defender (I think) merges with the sleeping old man, and the house where the old man lives glows from the inside. Huh?!?!Ed Wood would have loved this movie. It's one of the worst films I've ever seen and should only to be viewed by veteran lovers of really bad cinema, like me.