Traque en haute montagne

Judging by the slew of bad reviews, the 2004 made-for-TV movie, "What Lies Above" (aka "Snowman's Pass") is a load of rubbish. I'm sure it was just that – on TV where tension was dissipated by incessant rounds of atmosphere-destroying commercials. On DVD, however, "Snowman's Pass" comes across despite all its faults (shaky acting, a holey plot, obvious penny-pinching), as fairly suspenseful entertainment. Indeed it actually delivers a few really exciting, edge-of-the-seat moments. Marc Singer's acting was certainly over-the-top, but nonetheless enjoyably grotesque. The other leads (particularly Nicole Eggert, George Stults) were okay. Admittedly the three minor players (the soon-to-be-departed boyfriend, the dull storekeeper, the inattentive weather station jerk) were less than impressive, but none of them were on-screen long enough to do too much damage.

Somehow, I really thought that I was going to enjoy this film because I love pictures with mountain climbing and a great mystery in the plot. I must say that the photography was fantastic and there was some scary scenes that captured my attention. I thought that Nicole Eggert,(Diana Pennington),"Thank You, Good Night",'01 played a very convincing role as a young girl who had a tragic loss in her life and meets up with some characters who want her to guide them up the mountain. Marc Singer, "Angel Blade",'02, played a very unconvincing weird guy and over acted in many scenes with a bad temper that looked comical. This film was a big disappointed and not worth watching, unless there is nothing on the TV to ENJOY!!

The limited scenery views were the only saving grace to an otherwise uneventful and boring movie. The acting was borderline absurd which I blame on the script and screenplay. Nicole Eggert didn't look the part, didn't act the part, and was totally unconvincing as a mountain guide. After watching this I was left with the feeling that some friends had some free time and decided to make a movie. It must have been produced on a budget of pocket change. The plot was thin at best and with the low caliber of acting at times it begged the question to be asked, "Why are we doing this?". I managed to sit through the entire movie but also asked myself, "Why?".

I caught this film -- under the title of "What Lies Above" -- on Lifetime movie network last night, and just had to comment on it. Designed as a resourceful-woman-in-peril, action adventure yarn, it is so unintentionally funny (thanks in large part to Marc Singer's scenery-chewing hammy performance)that I thought I was watching a cross between "Cliffhanger" and "Home Alone 5." Heroine Nicole Eggert makes her devious but dumb as dirt male pursuers look like the Three Stooges succumbing to her ridiculous makeshift booby traps (somehow she manages to devise a swinging battering ram with rope and a log in a matter of minutes, which temporarily takes out one of the knuckleheads who want to kill her). Worth watching for a hearty laugh.

I love suspense movies. I love Marc Singer. When he plays a villain, he is truly frightening....but the acting here was just so over the top, it makes one wonder, who was directing this movie and who did he know to get the job?. Now, if just one of the actors' performances was bad one could look to blame the actor....perhaps. However,in this case EVERYONES performances were so over the top that they were comical at best and an insult to the audience. It seemed as if not one of these actors had ever acted in front of a camera before. Yet, I have seen many of the actors from this production, in other movies and they were very good if not down right great. I can only put the blame for this "Made for TV movie" on inadequate directing and poor writing. We can not always blame the actors when the movie misses...and this movie misses by miles. I was incredibly disappointed.