SLIFF Exclusive
Black Mountain Side actor Michael Dickson with Filmizon’s Nikolai Adams
There has long been a history of films that deal with isolation and seclusion – some being big budget blockbusters while others are low-budget flicks. Movies such as The Shining, Cabin Fever and The Thing each created a sense of impending dread by using these two themes effectively. The low budget Canadian film Black Mountain Side continues the tradition.
Director Nick Szostakiwskyj places us in the most northern part of the Great White North in this slow burner of a thriller/horror picture. A group of archaeologists are working on unearthing a giant superstructure that lies beneath the frozen tundra. As it is nothing like they have ever seen before, they helicopter in an expert from the University of Toronto – Professor Piers Olsen (Michael Dickson), hoping that he can shed some light on this inexplicable discovery. As with most of the films found in this genre, this movie pairs the isolation of the men (it is not long before they do not receive a response by way of radio) with a supernatural presence. One of the intriguing things about this film is that you might be able to explain the haunting on several things – it could simply be insanity, perhaps it is a bacteria that has been released at the site, or there could actually be a Wendigo-like creature (a deer/man sort of hybrid).
As time passes, the men begin to turn on themselves and each other. That is all I am going to say about the plot so that you can truly enjoy watching the movie unfold.
This is an extremely low budget film so there are some issues – most stemming from the lack of money. Despite that, the story flows nicely, building a strong and spooky atmosphere along the way. This film takes the brave stance of allowing the sounds of nature and the people involved to replace the use of a traditional score – further adding to the sense of isolation and the frigid temperatures the men are experiencing. This is reminiscent of the risks that both Clouzot and Hitchcock took with their films Diabolique and The Birds respectively. And much like these two earlier examples, the strategy succeeds.
The acting is mostly fine. There are a few times when the longer dialogue gives some of the actors trouble, but for the most part it is easy to believe that the cast are a group working in the far north. Michael Dickson is especially convincing as the rather even-keeled professor. What really brings the movie to a higher level though, is the powerful climax that is shot at night both in and out of the log cabins. This is followed by a few gasp-inducing final shots that truly give it a top-notch ending.
In the end, Black Mountain Side succeeds at following in the wake of other iconic isolation pictures while never feeling like it is ripping off these other movies. It feels fresh and most importantly real, transporting us to a place that we would never want to be thrown into. Despite a few hitches and a bare budget, the movie is able to overcome these issues and trap us in the Great White North along with the unfortunate characters, the suffocating pine trees, the frigid temperatures and the endless amounts of snow.