Heading out to the mountains, a group of friends in a biking club hope to use a special cabin owned by a family member to host their activities, but the longer they stay believe the stories about something wrong with the area are true and are forced to extreme measures to get off the mountain alive.
For the most part, there's a lot to like with this one. Among the strongest aspects here is the straightforward story that brings everyone together into a fairly enjoyable setup. The early stages of following his escapades around the city, leading to dragging the rest of the group out into the wilderness, the journey there allows for a chance to get to know who they all are, and why they came along on the trip. While none of this is groundbreaking material, that it sets up the group as a generally likable bunch who are interested in the experience of traveling to a picturesque location to engage in their favorite hobby while being mindful of the legends surrounding it makes for a solid time. The longer they stay on the mountain and the more it starts to turn into something not being quite right, the generally fun setup that allows for the audience to get to know everyone beforehand makes the plight to get away alive have some more stakes to it while also providing a fast, breezy storyline to develop that never stutters or loses it's way in unnecessary tangents hogging up the running time. The other fun factor featured here is the solid supernatural antics present within. The initial idea of something strange being out there on the mountain is breached early on with stories of disappearances and animal sightings that provide a basis for the strange occurrences that happen once they arrive at the campsite. The strange noises heard at night or the food mysteriously disappearing work quite well at furthering the idea that something is out there, so that the first big encounter is when the one girl believes her dead father is standing in the woods before her. This builds up nicely with other fun aspects, including a mysterious rash one of the group develops or sightings in the woods that no one else believes, which help heighten the tension and escalating paranoia affecting the group. The wild finale, featuring plenty of decent chases, some grisly encounters, and unexpected revelations about the cause of everything going on at the location, not just presently but over the years, makes for a fun time and generally gives off plenty to like about it. While there's a lot to like here, the film does have some issues. The main drawback present is a far more complicated reveal than what's warranted in the story, making for a complex final half that veers slightly off the rails from the tense atmosphere built up beforehand. Introducing sci-fi elements, including years of secret government research, a clandestine research center located via a secret passageway, and holding discussions on various alien races visiting the area over the years, which helps to fuel the action present but is all clumsily inserted into the story as a whole. Very little of it explains what's been going on to the group throughout the film, and it comes across as oddly intercut with the rest of the film as a result. The other factor with this one is the constant bad decision-making going on that keeps everyone in danger, staying at the cabin and ignoring obvious signs of distress to leave in favor of having fun. None of these incidents strikes as being worthy of being overlooked and swept aside, so the group is somewhat less likable as time goes on, all of which brings it down in the end.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.
