Killer Mountain

A SyFy channel film with bad effects courtesy of a PlayStation 2 and a bonkers plot.

Killer Mountain starts with a flashback in the region of Bhutan in 1954 when some calamity fall on some climbers.

We then cut to the present day when a rich tycoon wants a retired climber to go on a rescue mission which was led by his ex-girlfriend in a forbidden mountain.

It turns out that the tycoon has an ulterior motive. He is dying and the mountain might be home to a legendary fountain of youth but its guarded by some monsters or alien parasites. Its not too clear.

What we do know is that the mountain climb is treacherous but then the monster is unleashed and then the local army decide they would kill to get some of this Shambala magic.

Its a mountain movie mixed with monsters and bad weather. Like other SyFy films its bad writing, bad directing, poor special effects and a C list cast.

In a flashback to 1954 Bhutan, a Himalayan mountain group suffers though terrifying tragedy. It looks like a man is sucked into a black hole, but this is incorrect; rewinding, this is actually our first look at one of the movie's monsters. Presently, another crew has followed this 1954 group up the mountain. They have been lost for four weeks. Colorado climbing school teacher Aaron Douglas (as Ward Donovan) is asked to lead a rescue expedition. The expert climber declines as he has retired and put on a little weight. However, wealthy financier Andrew Airlie (as Walter Burton) persuades Mr. Douglas to change his mind, after noting that Douglas's ex-girlfriend Emmanuelle Vaugier (as Kate Pratt) is among the missing...

Accompanying Douglas on his rescue crew are handsome young Torrance Coombs (as Chance) and sexy doctor Crystal Lowe (as Nina Preston). Mysteriously popping pills, Mr. Airlie manages to include his wise-guy son Paul Campbell (as Tyler). They have ulterior motives. A lot of "Killer Mountain" doesn't make a lot of sense, but it manages to surprise you, just a little. After a laborious amount of running time, there are some good low-budget action. Sheldon Wilson and Peter Sullivan also score with star Douglas – note how he taps his stomach when initially declining to go on the expedition – and a few of his sporting players. Especially noteworthy is the interplay between the co-stars.

***** Killer Mountain (8/27/11) Sheldon Wilson ~ Aaron Douglas, Torrance Coombs, Paul Campbell, Emmanuelle Vaugier

Yeah, that this is a bad movie will surprise nobody. But at least it's the first film I've seen which has been set in Bhutan, although given the nature of the production the place is interchangeable with any oppressive Asian country.

The story mixes mountaineering with monsters, to a somewhat muted effect. The problem with KILLER MOUNTAIN is that it has no sense of style, no real direction to give it spark or emphasis. It's supposed to be thrilling and scary, and yet it's neither; at no time do we feel for or empathise with the characters or care about their plight.

It's also a low budget B-movie saddled with some truly lame CGI effects, including the return of the dreaded CGI helicopter. The story sees a rescue party set out to aid some missing mountaineers, but before long there are some nasty CGI creatures thrown into the mix. They're mostly shown in near-complete darkness, because the effects really are that bad. The producers can't even add a Lance Henriksen or John Rhys-Davies into the mix, so there's nothing here for anyone.

After being asked to participate in a rescue mission after a disastrous mountain-climbing incident, a man and his team find the area protected by a group of vicious creatures guarding a secret within the mountain and try to get away before falling victim to the ravenous beings.

This one wasn't too bad and definitely has it's good parts. Among the better elements here is that the action scenes are really enjoyable with all the location scenes up high in the mountains, gives this one a rather sizable sense of action along the way. The opening attack of the camp is immensely fun with the attacks keeping the creatures hidden enough while rampaging through camp as well as they're ranks in a flurry of activity, a later scene of the disaster crash of the creatures taking out the helicopter crashing it against the side of the mountain in front of the attempted rescue-victims as well as the rather exciting descent down into the crevice all come off as really fun action scenes spread out across the mountain. Even more fun is the scenes inside the mountain with a great sequence during a driving snowstorm of the creatures attacking the camp and forcing the team underground where the stalking continues into a series of deep caves, plenty of big pits littered with rocky outcroppings and human skeletons which gives off quite a creepy tone here. Even better, the later scenes in the temple are quite fun as the hive featuring all the baby creature coming after the gang in some really creepy scenes giving this one some great action in the numerous escapes and chases throughout here. Likewise, there's some more to like here as the creatures here are pretty enjoyable creations in terms of looks with it's lizard-like body and alien head creating a distinctive look that are given enough storyline points to care about and are woven nicely into the story as there's some great attempts at explaining their connection to the mythology of the area. As well, the fact that there's a rather enjoyable pace keeps this one moving along rather well which is more than enough at keeping this one up over its few flaws. The flaws, though, all seem to come from the fact that this has too many subplots here, as there's the military intervention which is never given a purpose and put here almost as an afterthought that take kills away from the creature, the cancer scare and the trapped wife and eventual reconciliation that come off as complete clichés while the former is further guilty of also being a complete throwaway that all could've gone away and not messed the film up at all. This one also comes up short here in really selling the secret goal of the original mission since it's never really made clear why they needed to be as secretive as they are to get him on-board with their plans. Overall, though, it's pretty enjoyable.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Adult Language.

Something about some mountain climbers scaling a 25,000 foot peak; looking for the mythical Shambala, and getting their hands full with a mysterious thing that likes to wreck helicopters, base camps, and of course any people it can get its hands on. Also, some trigger-happy demented army Captain and his grunts show up out of nowhere to croak anybody the creature doesn't get first.

There's a few random scares here and there; and that's the magic word for this film: random. The plot is incoherent and meandering, and nothing ever makes sense. The cast do the best they can with the transparent characters and the absence of a story, but they get chopped up in the attempt, just like their characters do every time the monster or the homicidally obsessed army captain show up. I guess the film had to throw in the lunatic army guy to spice things up; even though mountain climbing is an adrenalin rush for its practitioners, its excitement level simply does not translate to screen very well.

It's not too clear what the creature is supposed to be, or why it's slamming everything and everybody on sight. Is it protecting Shambala from interlopers, or is it just hungry from the lack of eatable meat at 25,000 feet of elevation? Is it a resurrected dinosaur? A crash-landed alien? A deformed Yeti? A toothy dragon? A mutated freak from genetic experimentation? Don't ask me; all you ever see is a high body count. Think Michael Bay-type movie making, but with a smaller budget. If you go in looking for nothing but brainless action, then Killer Mountain is OK to kill a couple of hours.