Chronically ill Kara sends her friends off to investigate a house featured in urban legends. Not quite supernatural horror, not quite psychological, not really a slasher, not particularly found footage-- but elements of all of that. Low budget, on the amateur side of things.
And tough to review. Because while there are a lot of things that Hell Mountain does pretty poorly, there's one thing that it does right: Pomeroy knows how to tell a story. And of course, that's the most important thing. Despite all of its issues, Hell Mountain can be pretty engaging.
But only most of the time. Not always. There are some parts where the story-telling falls flat (that childhood-history info-dump was as awkward a technique as I've recently seen.) The pacing is sometimes off, the film a little padded. And the ending isn't nearly as good as the trip to it.
More, in almost every other aspect of its film-making, Hell Mountain isn't good. The camera work and editing is shoddy, with lighting issues and cuts that were obviously filmed at separate times. Every role is a little over-acted, as if the actors were used to theater-- reminds me a little bit of old Hal Hartley stuff, which isn't a good thing. Soundtrack is often distractingly out of place. (At least the sound itself is handled decently throughout.)
HM would be a high quality film compared to amateur efforts, but when compared to professional efforts, the problems are too large to overlook. There is something worth watching here, and I'm interested in further work. But there's also a lot of better stuff you could be watching instead.
And tough to review. Because while there are a lot of things that Hell Mountain does pretty poorly, there's one thing that it does right: Pomeroy knows how to tell a story. And of course, that's the most important thing. Despite all of its issues, Hell Mountain can be pretty engaging.
But only most of the time. Not always. There are some parts where the story-telling falls flat (that childhood-history info-dump was as awkward a technique as I've recently seen.) The pacing is sometimes off, the film a little padded. And the ending isn't nearly as good as the trip to it.
More, in almost every other aspect of its film-making, Hell Mountain isn't good. The camera work and editing is shoddy, with lighting issues and cuts that were obviously filmed at separate times. Every role is a little over-acted, as if the actors were used to theater-- reminds me a little bit of old Hal Hartley stuff, which isn't a good thing. Soundtrack is often distractingly out of place. (At least the sound itself is handled decently throughout.)
HM would be a high quality film compared to amateur efforts, but when compared to professional efforts, the problems are too large to overlook. There is something worth watching here, and I'm interested in further work. But there's also a lot of better stuff you could be watching instead.
