Wolf Mountain

I hadn't heard about this 2022 horror movie titled "Wolf Mountain" prior to sitting down here in 2023 to watch it. But since it was a horror movie that I hadn't seen, and it had the likes of Danny Trejo and Tobin Bell on the cast list, I figured I would give the movie a chance.

I made it just more than half way through this ordeal of a movie, and then I just simply had to give up out of sheer and utter boredom. There literally was nothing entertaining me to be found in the movie, and it was quite a struggle to suffer through the pointless narrative that made the script for the movie. Amazing that writer Keli Price could manage to put together something so fully and wholly uninteresting.

The character gallery in the movie was a farce. I didn't care about any of the characters on the screen, so their fates hardly mattered. So when people were killed on the screen, it was merely a shrug and then moving on.

As for the acting performances in "Wolf Mountain", well I am sure that the actors and actresses put on good performances, but they virtually had nothing to work with in terms of script, characters and dialogue. And while both Danny Trejo and Tobin Bell are on the movie's cover, they are there just to lure in the audience, because they were hardly in the movie at all.

For a horror movie then director David Lipper dropped the ball with "Wolf Mountain", and I wonder how the movie managed to land a 8.7 rating here on IMDb, as it had gotten whilst I am writing this review. And that rating of the movie definitely made me believe that I would be in for a treat as I sat down to watch the movie.

I am not going to bother returning to watch the rest of "Wolf Mountain", I just simply didn't care about the storyline, the characters or anything that transpired on the screen.

My rating of "Wolf Mountain" lands on a two out of ten stars.

I like a funny B-movie as much as the next guy, and some are so bad that they're actually entertaining to watch.

This one wasn't.

The script is a hot mess, the excessive libido early on doesn't improve the whole thing, neither do the exaggerated stereotypes with which the black Forest Ranger or the Hispanic women were portrayed.

The plot is a hot mess, the acting mediocre, the writing ... was there any?

Basically it's mostly aimlessly wandering/fumbling/staggering about in a dimly lit park, props on the cheap (did anyone have a look at that gin trap?).

I suffered through it because I wanted to have a resolution, and then wished I had finished watching once things were clear. It was dragging on pointlessly for another 20 minutes. I can't believe that Trejo was down for this, he must have been desperate for money.

Trying to unlock some repressed memories, a man agrees to join his girlfriend and some friends on a trip to the woods where his parents died to help it through, but when a group of thieves arrives and a strange series of deaths strikes them causes him to believe a local legend is responsible.

This was a pretty abysmal effort without much to really like about it. Most of the film's positives are based on the final half here where the film manages to introduce some liveliness and energy into what's going on. With the build-up before this featuring a series of strange disappearances and incidents surrounding both groups being taken out one by one, the full reveal of who's in the woods responsible for everything brings about some admittedly enjoyable chases and encounters in the woods that produce a couple of brutal and graphic kills that come about. With the overall approach taken here from this managing to offer up the kind of cheesy twist that this type of style is always used to do but still being quite fun for it overall, this one does have a few bright spots for it. There are some pretty big issues to be had with the film. The main drawback of the film is a wholly bland and unnecessarily dull pace that just drags the film out far longer than it really should. Despite introducing a great concept involving the repressed memories and the strange monster in his visions, very little of the film tends to evolve exploring that as the main section of the trip entails the sexual exploits of their friends or teasing each other about the situation which isn't helped by then introducing the group of thieves into the scenario for what should be merely for extra figures in the body count. Instead, none of this really devotes the kind of time it should to indulging the creature action it set itself up to be. That also manages to bring up the fact that the creature here is such a mystery that it's hard to feel truly invested or scared in what's going on. Since the conflicting storylines are given centerstage here and very little of the creature is given beyond a minor bit of lip-service about a creature in the area, there's not much of a chance here to get to know much about the creature's origins or purpose which simply makes a reveal that happens at the end seemingly contradict what's been known at the very beginning as that information doesn't really make the repressed memory angle feel like a complete cheat. On top of that, there are also plenty of issues here in its presentation that just highlight the criminally low budget this is working with. As nearly all of the night-time scenes are plainly shot day-for-night with a lame blue filter over it, not only are these scenes outright embarrassing but it also makes it way too hard to tell what's going on which makes it rather difficult to understand why they would be set at night to begin with. As well, with a lot of foreshadowing about the twist at the end based on the creatures' killing methods and tactics long before it comes to light and some direly unfunny intended comedy shoehorned into the film, there's quite a lot to dislike here that brings it down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Violence, and clothed sex scenes.

Two brothers, their wives, and another couple go to Wolf Mountain in the desert hills north of Los Angeles to resolve a mystery from 20 years prior. Havoc ensues as corpses start mounting up. Tobin Bell and Danny Trejo are featured in small parts.

"Curse of Wolf Mountain," aka "Wolf Mountain" (2022), is basically a cabin-in-the-woods flick, except that the protagonists are camping out. The nature of the antagonist is kept ambiguous until the last act. Is it a wild man, a werewolf, or something else? The flick is essentially a modern take on 80's movies like "Don't Go in the Woods" and "Memorial Valley Massacre." It's better than the former and about on par with the latter.

Raven-haired Malu Trevejo as Emma is one of the highlights; she's just stunning, reminiscent of, say, Salma Hayek in her youth. Regrettably, she's removed from the proceedings too early. The fools.

The male protagonist is played by Keli Price, who could play Peter Parker. He also wrote the script.

The flick runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot at SilverStrand Ranch in Castaic, which is a 55-minute drive northwest of Los Angeles in the arid high country.

GRADE: B-/C+

Really entertaining! I found myself covering my eyes but also laughing out loud! Good cast!!! Loved the scary background sound effects as well as the scenery. I won't give anything away but I was shocked at one of the parts and found my jaw dropped. I watched it alone and was very scared at times. I love the fact that there was humor worked into the suspenseful plot I recommend this movie to all ages. I found it was the perfect length of time. Not too long and not too short. Most of all, I love when the story all comes together at the end and sums up all the unknowns and loose ends. I found the plot clever and well written. Good job!!!