Hidden Peaks

Right, well I didn't exactly know what I was getting myself into here when I sat down to watch "Hidden Peaks". Well, I use the term 'sat down' loosely here, because I got back up after 29 minutes.

Yup, 29 minutes of nothing interesting happening on the screen. Then I simply just had enough. The world was ending in the movie, yet I didn't care. There were some fairly interesting enough creatures known as 'Reapers' chasing after the surviving humans, yet I didn't care. There was a girl with way too much make-up and green teeth in a sewer pipe, yet I didn't care.

This movie felt very amateurish, like something in the likes of a film school project. Which was also one of the primary reasons why it never really appealed to me in any way. Plus the acting in the movie was shoddy, so that stole away a heap of enjoyment from the movie, essentially making it unbearable to witness.

The creature design in the movie was actually adequate, but it was hardly nowhere near enough to make it durable to sit through an hour and a half of this. I was ready to claw my eyes out after 29 minutes, so I just simply gave up. And I have zero interest in returning to watch the rest of "Hidden Peaks" at any time in the future.

This movie was a boring disappointment, and I can't recommend that you spend time, money or effort on watching it, unless you were in the movie or know someone in the production of the movie. Just stay well clear of this one, as some peaks were meant to remain hidden and never to be seen again.

This is the worst movie I have ever watched in all my 36 years on earth. It's unbelievable! I wish I could give it a zero rating.

2018 is shaping up to be one of the worst years in cinematic history, my analytics have it bouncing between the bottom three spots and movies like this certainly don't help matters.

This Australian horror showed potential, in fact the first 15 minutes fascinated me and I expected big things. I expected Wyrmwood (2014) but with demons, alas it wasn't meant to be.

It tells the story of a world where portals have mysteriously opened and demons have flooded through. The survivors do everything they can to survive against the onslaught of this evil.

It starts and ends strong but the middle, the entire bulk of the movie is really quite disappointing.

The characters are instantly forgettable, the sfx are a combination of great and terrible and the writing is thoroughly hit and miss as well.

If the film had been more consistent I'd likely be here singing it's praises and recommending everyone give it a go. In it's final form though sadly it's very underwhelming and not what it could and by all rights should have been.

The movie ended with a "To be continued" and despite my criticisms I'd very much like to see the story continue. Maybe the next part with better writers and a larger budget though.

The Good:

Some great visuals

A few decent ideas

Solid enough lead

The Bad:

When they can't even get the grammar correct on the movies tagline what chance does the actual film have?

Lack of budget really shows in places

First person scenes are senseless

Some highly dodgy writing in spots

Hidden Peaks is one of those rare films that somehow manages to be both chaotic and painfully dull. It's a mess of incoherent storytelling, flat performances, and jumbled editing that feels like it was thrown together with no real plan. From the opening scene, you're left scrambling to figure out what's going on-only to realize by the end that even the filmmakers didn't seem to know.

The plot tries to mix post-apocalyptic fantasy with martial arts and drama but ends up delivering none of it convincingly. Characters pop in and out with zero development, the fight choreography is sluggish at best, and the dialogue is cringe-worthy.

Honestly, the director might want to consider taking Filmmaking 101. There's ambition here, sure-but absolutely no grasp of basic narrative structure, pacing, or tone. It feels like a first draft that somehow skipped the rewrite stage and went straight into production.

The only thing Hidden Peaks manages to accomplish is making you appreciate how hard good filmmaking really is. Avoid unless you're studying what not to do.

I know we all gotta start some where, and I'd guess this is the debut for a lot of folks involved with this film. We've heard of 'B' movies, this is a 'D' movie. When editing the film, I am surprised that they didn't just write it off. I made it half way through before I gave up and stopped. This movie does not turn it around at some point and offer anything. Just bad acting and weak story and effects. You have been warned.