User reviews

I read the other reviews before I decided to download it from iTunes and watch.

Some reviewers referenced Carpenter's 'Thing' and others referenced Lovecraft. I would step back from either. It takes place in an arctic setting, but that alone does not make it a Carpenter clone or even a bad one.

A bunch of guys at an isolated northern archaeologic site dig-up/uncover something older than known recorded history...then strange behaviors and strange things start plaguing them.

That's the beginning nut...and anyone who's an aficionado of Horror can guess the likely paths the story plot will take...The question becomes: What do you expect of the movie?

I like this effort because it was about Dread and Uncertainty, Fear and Insanity. It's not a splatter or scream fest. Nor is it an out-and-out Monster flick, but there's 'SOMETHING' there. Something creepy that's given a nice, though albeit, slow, buildup.

Some reviewers called the acting 'wooden' and worse...but the same could have been said about the character set in the 'Thing'. These are a Bunch of Guys, voluntarily stuck up in the middle of No-Where in the Canadian Winter. Only Certain kinds of people volunteer for for these kinds of stints. They tend NOT to be emotional Divas or unstable psychopaths as Hollywood scripts like to set them out.

What this story is about is what happens when a group of very stolid, work-focused guys are faced with something inexplicable and there's no outside help. And then things and psyches begin to unravel.

What also made this story work from the Lovecraftian angle were the hints, facts and thoughts that were explicated in the dialogue...if you're willing to pay attention. But that said, do NOT expect a cinematic Lovecraftian Horror experience.

And yes...to a degree, this was a Horror movie with a slight Lovecraftian tinge. And thus, the ending DID actually Fit. Because in Lovecraft's Universe...there are NO Good Endings. Man does NOT escape.

I would not make this Movie a Saturday Night MAIN Event. But it's a good fit for a late, late Friday Night chiller before you go to bed.

This independent, low budget Canadian horror film is the sort of movie that critics will appreciate, but general audiences will likely find it strange and slow. The storytelling isn't very good. It reminded me of a person telling someone about their weird dream. It jumps around sporadically, it leaves out details, it raises questions without answering them, and while it has moments that are interesting, it ends abruptly before completely telling the whole story. It's definitely a slow burner. It's a creepy movie, but it's hard to call it scary. The archeological element is interesting but not explored satisfactorily. While many critics will admire this movie as a piece of art, it's a bit of a mess in terms of storytelling. If watching some guys smoking a lot of cigarettes while mentally breaking down sounds interesting to you, give this movie a shot. Otherwise, the creepiness of what's uncovered in the ice isn't interesting or frightening enough to thrill most viewers.

I am a ten plus year super fan of John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). As such, this review and my opinion of the movie each reflect that fact. As fellow fans of The Thing know, any time you see the words isolated, paranoia, snow and horror, you get a little bit excited by the potential. This movie is one of the few that lived up to the potential of its all-time great setting. Other movies, like Thaw, Blood Glacier, The Last Winter and more fall short either from atrocious acting, poor conception, poor realization of a good pitch, poor effects or poor plotting. Sometimes they fail at every such level. Black Mountain Side did not fail. The acting is uneven, even poor at times. The dialogue feels forced and subpar at times, especially in the first thirty minutes. Certainly, however, it's not bad enough to completely destroy the movie. It gets a pass there. A narrow pass, but a pass. The real treasure of the movie is in its buildup. It doesn't resort to cheap tricks and jump scares to hold your attention early on. It takes its good time presenting the story and building the tension and suspense, and it keeps patient viewers wondering, but with enough subtle hints so as not to be a snooze fest. The premise is solid, the location is solid, the pacing is solid and the allusions to Lovecraft are solid. It hits all the marks and tropes of Lovecraftian horror marred only by subpar acting and dialogue. There are no stupid character decisions, no forced plot points and no movie-ruining political statements. It's just horror. Good, cosmic, Lovecraftian horror. So put on your acting blinders (they don't even have to be too big) and enjoy this slow-burning love letter to Lovecraft and The Thing. Unfortunately, as far as the rating goes, I can't give it a 7/10 as a whole. With stronger acting and a stronger script, it would have been a 7/10, but the acting and script weren't quite up to par as the concept and story. Still, this movie is going to get neglected because of those things when it really shouldn't be. If you're in the mood for wintery cabin/isolation horror, give this one a shot.

Having lived in the north and through -50 nights, I am trying very hard to ignore the fact that none of these actors would have made it through day 1 if it was really cold out. No gloves, doors hanging open while they chat, running about with their jackets unzipped, no hats. Somehow the reality that they are all running about in about -5c early spring with water dripping from the eves just spoils the effect for me. Ironically it didn't need to be the dead of winter to be good ... so why????

Movie starts out with beautiful cinematography, believable dialogue, believable characters, and the kind of pacing I prefer in a 'psychological horror' film. I watch enough movies to recognize a smaller budget film, so I usually prepare for the worst when I see the markers for an indie flick, but early on, the unfamiliar actors and lack of orchestral soundtrack did not bother me. In fact, I liked the absence of music. Helped set a cold, uninviting mood.

Then about halfway through, when the big events start unfolding, the acting doesn't keep pace with the drama and frankly, distracts from a few of the scenes. Also, I'll be careful not to spoil anything, but on the big reveal, I really hoped for something different. Thought the choice they made there really hurt the mood they'd built so effectively. Went from 8 stars to 7 stars because I just couldn't take that part seriously.

To summarize, I liked the premise, (though this isn't the first time I've seen it...it's one of my favorite premises for a horror film), and I liked the general dialogue, the action, and resolution. I have a feeling they didn't have a huge budget, but they made a very solid, often bizarre, and at times creepy, horror film. Would really like to see what the writer/director/cinematographer could do with a bigger budget and more experienced cast.

Also, bravo to the filmmakers for not writing a bunch of fake reviews here. Seems a common trick lately, so thank you for letting the film stand on its own!

Anyone else bothered by the fact they never shut the flippin' doors behind them?

Its an awful film that fails to connect you with its characters.

It starts of slowly to set the isolation mood but after 10 minutes I was a bit over it. Then the story starts to develop and at this point its ok. We have met all the characters and they are largely an unappealing bunch.

Then the strange things start to happen, well not that strange as soon as you become aware that it is an awful ripoff/remake of The Thing,

And there you have it. Its The Thing minus everything that makes The Thing a classic. Charmless characters, lack of real tension and just a final act that is insipid.

Did I mention a Deer?

Just awful.

I found it interesting and was excited for some kind of explenation for everything that was going on, but the ending fell short...

I had to register an account just to review Black Mountain Side and was appalled by the low rating as this is a very underappreciated movie.

I'm a big fan of The Thing - it's one of my all time favorite movies. I did not have high hopes for Black Mountain Side, but approx. 20 minutes into it, I could feel it oozing vibes from The Thing. It is clear that it is this movies main source of inspiration. The cold and remote location, a team of scientists, the mysterious illnesses, an unknown enemy and the strong lack of faith in who you can trust - it all comes together to create a very atmospheric horror thriller that I will watch many times over.

Pleasantly surprised by this movie. Came into it with hoping of a decent movie set in a paranoid lonely environment, perhaps not completely different the 80s movie "Thing" with Curt Russel.

Quite soon i discovered that there are some small similarities between the movies but it was not a ripoff but had its own thing going which i find worked well. Actors does a decent job, Not top notch quality but overall i cant complain. I did found the group a bit too big though and sometimes i mistook the characters for one another which was annoying but you came back on rail realizing who and what was going on fast after confusion hit you. Its not a perfect movie but i found the mood and vibe of the whole thing very unsettling which of course is a great quality in a horror movie. Being a HP Lovecraft fan it satisfied me taking a bit of that mythology into it all but with that being said, you do not need any Lovecraft interest or knowledge to understand the movie. Its just extra candy for those that are.

Not going to spoil anything but i wish the movie would have expanded and gotten more info on the artifact, When the movie ends there is still some questions you want to have answered but in some ways it also probably makes the movie good in a way. Instead of having answers served it tickles the imagination a bit.

The movie had its chilling moments and as i said a very pleasant surprise among all crap you find in the genre and i very much recommend a viewing, Might not connect well with all horror fans in a great way but if you got a thing for the Cthulhu mythos and Lovecraftian literature this is a must see.

I will re watch this movie in a few months to see how a second look makes me feel but yes...recommended. I suspect budget was not huge in this movie but they have solved it well with the limitations they might have had. I give it a 7 in score and if you're on the hunt for a nice horroflick but cant decide...put this one on!

On the positive side, I thought that director Nick Szostakiwskyj made very good use of the Canadian northern wilderness as a setting. It was bleak and snowbound and foreboding. It leant the proper atmosphere to the movie - there was a tension to this almost from the very beginning. The story revolves around a team of archaeologists who discover an unusual structure of some sort buried underground and under the snow. It's mysterious. It's very old and there are items discovered that don't belong anywhere near this area. And after the discovery, strange things begin to happen, starting with the pet cat of one of the team being discovered killed. Then the rest of the movie shows a slow descent into what appears to be madness and violence among the team.

The atmosphere was effective; the story - to me - less so. The basic question once the madness began was whether this was a form of cabin fever - madness caused by the isolation the team was facing - or whether there was a supernatural element involved in all of this; something to do with this strange structure that the team uncovered. I'd lean toward the latter, but it wasn't entirely clear and the possibility of mass hysteria was certainly present.

The story is set over a period of about six weeks. i will confess that at times the story seemed to bog down and drag a little bit, so that the six weeks started to feel a bit literal at some points. But overall the movie was mildly interesting and the performances from the cast were decent enough, although I'm not sure I'd give this many marks for originality. It was - at best - OK. Nothing special, but not bad. (5/10)

An indie must be low budget which necessarily means small cast, small sets, and few special effects, but it doesn't have to mean a meandering script and a weak ending. The cheapest part of any movie is the script so there is never an excuse for a bad one.

Cinematography and acting are good but there is no satisfying resolution. It feels like half a story, a few creepy random events cobbled together on the run with no convincing conclusion in mind. How could the crew spend months making this and not notice that?

It is a washed down version of the thing, which later had an identity crisis and wanted to become c grade massacre movie. Acting is bad and so is the direction.

Black Mountain Side (2015) Black Mountain Side is a slow burning, atmospheric film that mixes lovecraftian themes with paleolithic civilization. Upon reading that this was about a group of scientists in freezing cold nowhere, Canada that dig up a strange object that has sinister effects, my mind immediately went to Carpenter's The Thing as well as Mountains of Madness by Lovecraft. This particular group was researching very ancient civilizations which immediately gave me a thrill because in my opinion nothing goes together better than the ancient past and horror. And it's so rare to find a horror film that adequately delves into the subject. This film is an extremely slow burn that effectively builds tons of tension through both atmosphere and the oppressive surroundings but it can get extremely irritating when they don't go enough into subjects that would make the film either more interesting, more terrifying, or more symbolic- which I think should be important considering other themes. The slow pace also does nothing for character exposition and by the end it feels like Friday the 13th in the way that just so much dialogue has contributed nothing to the personalities of the characters as well as how the film begins to devolve into slasher territory. On the upside, the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous and the more intellectual subjects of the script as well as the languid pace actually help in preventing this film from completely descending into anything cheesy or bad. This is a good film but it's also very frustrating because there are one or two changes they could have made to make it great and they just didn't. 7/10

This movie sounded right up my alley when I read the synopsis. An ancient structure is uncovered in the Canadian wilderness which has no right to be there. It's hard to describe the way the storyline spirals out of control with out giving away any spoilers, but the ancient structure, which is the focus of the film previews, seems to be all but forgotten by the end of the movie. I wish I could go into more detail, but I really don't want to give away any spoilers. And the ending isn't even an ending, albeit a very predictable scene due to some very clumsily inserted plot dialogue early on. The sort of statement that immediately makes you think, "I wonder when that's going to happen then." But nothing is really explained, there are several plot points left unresolved, hell, the entire story remained unresolved, with plot dead ends, and a very unfulfilling ending, which just seems lazy. To be fair the acting is pretty good throughout and the Canadian scenery is awesome, without that it would have got a 2.

Really disappointed here, the trailer is hook and bait. The film greatly suffers from poor direction. This is sad because the overall concept would have worked if it wasn't so poorly executed. For example, theirs no mood setting music throughout the whole film, especially in very pivotal moments when it's direly needed. The cinematography in this film has its shining moments, but sadly a great deal of it is lost when accompanied by images that are extremely to bright for the dark tone and subject of the film. Also, the films very light weight on B- roll, which in some cases are great for some films, but not for this one. The acting was very sub par, only 2 - 3 actors were good and only at certain moments. I so wanted to love this movie and was stoked when I stumbled across the trailer that I immediately hunted it down for preview. Only to be heart broken and writing this review about a film that could have been. This film is a 1 out of 10 in my book.

Acting is awful (for the most part). Writing was terrible, and is what truly killed it, just dead end after dead end, there was a moment where it was almost profound, but by that point nothing was going to save this film. The characters were as hollow as the were shallow, ruining any sense of tension or dread. This is a bunch of different concepts mashed together, and no one idea is developed enough to be satisfying in any way, which was very disappointing because if they had just picked one direction here it could have been a decent waste of time.