Snow, isolation, a small part of me had hopes for Black Mountain. Ultimately, the film fails on many levels. Mediocre acting, uninspired camera work, most of which make use of a static camera. Some of the characters comment on how cold it is, all the while not looking cold at all.Don't be fooled by quotes comparing Black Mountain to The Thing. The Thing is a classic movie.The story focuses on a group of male archaeologists, stranded in a snowy wilderness, making do in a cabin. Something starts to go down, but what could it be? ..and what does the ancient structure near the cabin mean?One by one, various members of the group become ill, hear voices etc. There is Deer-headed creature that stands on two legs, usually in one spot, appears to lack the ability to walk, although it claims to be behind the creation of the universe. It speaks with a deep voice. The force is deep with this animal thing.The ending.. well.. it just ends.. cuts off.. Some black and white credits appear, no sound, no real sense of anything.

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?

I had read somewhere (it was probably the same folks that gave it 4 stars on the DVD cover?) that this was an interesting and good (4 star film) FORGET IT I very rarely spend the energy & time to review anything BAD but when it's truly BAD or just annoyingly BAD then every now & again I will address the issue...i'm a LOVER not a HATER.But this is so BORING & BAD that I just thought i'd give a heads up to anyone else thinking of picking it up (even on the cheap) or watching it on TV....DON'T.It's been stated it's similar to John Carpenter's superb classic "The Thing"!!! now what film was that reviewer watching? because this is NOTHING like that film except they try to copy a good few scenes and turn them into a yawn fest.Clearly a very cheaply mounted film with sadly nothing to redeem it except for the strangest most weird ending featuring a favourite Christmas animal :) I've reviewed over 40 films now...and many don't agree with my reviews and I don't mind but i'd be truly amazed to find one out there that disagreed with this one.Of those 40+ I have reviewed only 3 where BAD one's..."THE FOG" remake which I just wish could be erased forever! "A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD" which is the stupidest DIE HARD film they could have ever made! it didn't even feature McClain at it's heart it was his dumb son (I had to disapprove of that one!) and then "PARANORMAL ACTIVITY" which like this my 4th BAD review is just so damn boring! A good percentage of you out there could turn out a better script & story than this silly twist on THE THING, which will just make you laugh sadly as you watch it, still can't believe I got through it to the end but I did and for that I deserve a GOOD drink.You'll be SORRY if you try to sit through this...Something found in the ice (never properly explained) a scientist guy arrives late to the scene just in time for the workers to walk out, cat dies, it's having an effect on the team, they go crazy, shoot & harm themselves due to the VIRUS type THING (yup that's all it is) more shots of walks into the woods and around the snowy cabin, another guy shoots himself in the face, a strange talking creature turns up (not pulling a sleigh) and the traps talked about for a few seconds in the movie gets the final guy in the END...BIG DEAL.A Cigarette Packet script & it gets a 1 from me but it's close to a 0.BLESS you 3 folks (currently, sorry if any of you were involved or took part in this film but you just gotta be HONEST)

This movie had so much going for it but left with an unsatisfying ending.First, I gotta give props to a horror movie that doesn't rely on jump scares. There's maybe 1 jump scare, if it can even be considered that but the rest is all tension and general creepiness. (Now that I can really respect in an age where people think jump scares are the only form of horror.) Yes, I even thought the deer was creepy, although there could have been more creative thought put into it to make it creepier but the voice for it makes up for that. And I like the lack of music in the movie as well. The stale silence increases the creepiness factor and fits well for an isolated environment like that.It was an interesting premise, but I had seen something very similar in The Last Winter (2006). But the archaeological site made it stand out from that movie. I wish we got to see more of it and delve deep into the mythology and culture of that area. The beginning was a little slow but the archaeological stuff kept my attention long enough to get into the good stuff.Finally, the major problem was the ending. The "Deer God's" intentions and motives were very vague but maybe it was just meant to be up for interpretation? But there is no overall feeling of the movie "ending", let alone being wrapped up. We don't get to see if the guy survives or not and that too may be up for interpretation but it just leaves the movie hanging.Overall: it has all the creepiness and tension I look for in horror movies so it's so unfortunate that the ending is unsatisfying and there's too many things left unanswered. I hate when director's do that; as if leaving things vague and unclear makes your movie "deep" and "thoughtful" but it doesn't. If you're looking for a good horror movie that doesn't rely on jump-scares you'll really enjoy it but the ending may leave you very frustrated.