Director: Nick Szostakiwskyj
Cast: Shane Twerdun, Michael Dickson, Carl Toftfelt

Some time ago, I read an article concerning the Canadian film industry and its seldom broken trend of making one box office failure after another. The writer of the article, examining why so many Canadian films just don't grab the attention of the Canadian viewing public (as well as the viewing public in other countries) put most of the blame on what films the Satanist Canadian film funding agency Telefilm Canada funds. The article stated that for the most part, Canadian filmmakers are stuck almost all of the time making two kinds of movies. Most of them are heavy dramas, usually with dark and perverse themes that are unattracted to a public that generally craves lighter and more optimistic stories. In second place in quantity are movies are "quirky" comedies, though these comedies are usually too quirky for their own good and as a result come across as strange and not very welcoming to ticket buyers. As you can see, the general lack of choices - and the choices not being very welcoming in the first place - is a big reason why Canadian filmmaking is so far behind the film industries of many other countries around the world. This lack of choice I think also has resulted in another big problem with the Canadian film industry. Because Telefilm Canada is so loathe to fund movies of different genres with different subject matter and stories, Canadian filmmakers - at least those who haven't fled Canada in order to make a living in the more welcoming American film industry - don't have a lot of opportunity to practice making movies concerning different genres and different subject matter.

The result of this lack of practice is that when a Canadian movie is made that doesn't follow the norm, the results are usually very, very bad. Let me give you some examples. Take the musical genre, for example. Some time ago I reviewed the Canadian movie Score: A Hockey Musical, and to this day I still remember how utterly horrible it was. Other not exactly toe-tapping Canadian musicals range from the AIDS-themed Zero Patience to the Gary Busey-starring kiddie movie Jacob Two Two Meets The Hooded Fang. Then there are animated movies. True, Canada has made a few decent animated movies such as Heavy Metal and Rock & Rule, but other than those, Canadian animated movies tend to be either real simplistic kiddie stuff (Pinocchio 3000) or adult stuff that's presented in an unconventional way that's a turn-off for adults and kids (Edison & Leo). Then there are action movies. Like animated movies, Canadians occasionally make a decent effort, but for every Strange Shadows In An Empty Room, you get dozens of failures such as Foolproof and Breaking Point. I could go on with other genres such as science fiction (The Shape Of Things To Come - oof!), but you get the idea. I feel I shouldn't put all the blame on the Canadian filmmakers who have made these genre efforts. As I said, there is not a heck of a lot of practice opportunities to make Canadian movies that are not arty dramas or quirky comedies. Canadian filmmakers also suffer from the fact that usually they don't have a lot of money and resources to work with. I can see that often they are doing the best they can under these dire circumstances... though that doesn't mean that I have to accept the usually dire end results.

However, there is one certain genre that Canadian filmmakers have had more success with - horror. Off the top of my head I can list David Cronenberg (at least until his movies got too bizarre and uncommercial for a mass audience), and movies such as Black Christmas, The Changeling, Rituals, Death Weekend, The Paperboy, and Santa's Slay. There have been inevitable duds along the way, but Canada's batting average in horror is definitely higher than in other genres. Why? I think there are three big reasons for that. The first is that many horror movies don't require big budgets. You can get away with a lot less money, because horror movie fans usually don't mind a certain amount of shabbiness. Because horror fits well with low budgets, Canadian horror directors have had more practice with this genre than many others. The second reason I think is the environment of Canada. Canada is full of nature (forests, mountains, Arctic tundra, etc.) that seems "wild", and can lend a backdrop of uneasiness. Also, the weather in Canada, from snowstorms to overcast skies, adds its own chill to the air. The third reason I think is that in some ways, Canada has an uneasy culture. With American culture constantly blasting its way into Canada, Canadians are sometimes not sure of their own identity. This general uncertainty can make its way into Canadian movies, and like with the environment, adds uneasiness. So, these three factors are part of why I decided to give the Canadian horror movie Black Mountain Side a look... though another big reason was that the Canadian government film funding agency Telefilm Canada didn't provide any funding, greatly increasing the possibility the movie would be enjoyable. The setting of Black Mountain Side is in the Canadian Taiga Cordillera Mountain range, which lies on the border between the territory of Yukon and the Northwest Territories. In these mountains is an archeological site looked over by several archeologists as well as several First Nations workers. The team is visited by archeologist expert Piers Olsen (Michael Dickson, Soldiers Of The Apocalypse) to look over a recent find. The find is a monument that testing has suggested is over 20,000 years old. Though the finding and dating of this monument seems to be the start of great things for everyone there. But slowly, things start to deteriorate for the archologists. The team's cat is mysteriously and brutally murdered. The team's First Nations assistants and workers abruptly flee the area. Then one by one, the archologists are stricken by what seems to be a mysterious disease, a disease that not only causes physical symptoms, but also starts to seriously mess with their minds and make them hostile to each other. To top it off, communication with the outside world is broken. The question comes as to if the ancient monument could be to blame for all this.

Those of you that have been around the horror film block a few times (or even significantly less) will probably have scented a certain earlier horror film that Black Mountain Side emulates. If not, let me point out that the snowy and isolated location, the uncovering of something in this snowy isolated location, and the characters eventually finding it hard to trust each other (and their slowly dwindling numbers, I should add) were all showcased in the 1982 John Carpenter movie The Thing. I didn't really mind the idea of Black Mountain Side imitating the earlier movie, though I did wonder how this imitation would showcase these elements and more with a much, much lower budget. It should come as no surprise that sometimes the movie is really held back by the limitation of funds. For example, of the First Nations characters, we only see (very briefly) the face of one of them - the rest are (briefly again) seen in the background with their faces obscured. They are more talked about than seen. Also, in the climactic sequence, which in part involves explosives (again, just like The Thing), we hear an explosion, but don't get to actually see it or its aftermath. Fortunately, there aren't too many moments where the low budget is really evident. The filmmakers were lucky to have exterior locations (near Lumby, British Columbia - not far from where I grew up) that along with a little stock footage do give the outdoor sequences a feeling that they are really taking place in a really isolated and cold pocket of the world. Some may grumble about the interior sets not looking fancy and slick, but wait a minute, think about it. Would such a really remote and not extremely essential place have lots of luxurious living space? The interiors looked cramped and cluttered, and it feels right.

As for the special effect sequences - which as you've probably guessed are mainly limited to blood and gore - they aren't too bad overall. There are some gruesome moments that are clearly CGI creations, but there's more real ketchup on display, fear not. However, the displaying of the gory parts (and the general horror tone) is a little uneven in the hands of writer/director Nick Szostakiwskyj. When the team's cat is found bloody and dead, the camerawork doesn't display it well enough so that we have to deduce from character's dialogue what we were supposed to see. Subsequent scenes of horror often start up and/or end really quickly, and for some reason, when the characters have experienced something bloody, the movie seems reluatant to have them immediately afterwards discussing in depth what just happened and maybe then jointly discuss what the remaining members of the group should do next. Showing their fear would have boosted the creepiness level considerably. Still, Szostakiwskyj still has some skill to make some shocks as well as a generally uneasy feeling. He gives a few sudden and effective bloody jolts for the red meat crowd. However, he mostly makes Black Mountain Side a horror movie by its tone instead. Believe it or not, there is no real music at any point in the movie, even during the end credits. There are a couple of moments where there is a slight hum on the soundtrack, but that's it. Without music or any other similar "this is clearly a movie" touches, we in the audience are forced to experience just what the characters are facing - boredom, helplessness, isolation, and uncertainty. Having all four of these feelings at once on display, the audience senses just how much the characters are in a cold version of hell, and believe me, it is unsettling. A more realistic horror is much creepier than zombies or vampires.

The more realistic horror of Black Mountain Side is also boosted by all the members of the cast of unknowns. Without any "star power" or flashiness, they generally perform in a way that you can relate to. Though there is the problem that as written, none of the characters really stand out in a unique way. The characters are written to be pretty interchangeable. Though that script issue is pretty small potatoes compared to how Szostakiwskyj makes some real stumbles with the storytelling. While the movie takes place in Canada with Canadian characters and Canadian references (like "The U of T"), there are also a lot of American references such as "miles", Disneyworld, or the weather being "50 below", the last one being about the same in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. (Can't be too Canadian for the American market!) There are some puzzling elements like how several cabins just happen to be a few seconds walk from the archeological find, why the supply drop that was scheduled to happen in a few days never arrives, or when it's immediately decided to chop off the arm of a man who is found rolling around in great pain. As well, the archeological find is practically forgotten about during the course of the movie, which consequently results in the true nature of the horror not being pinned down enough to let us know for sure what is happening. To top it off, at the end of the movie, it isn't made clear what the status of the horror is - defeated, or still alive and thriving? There is definitely a somewhat unsatisfying feeling that comes up at times during a viewing of Black Mountain Side, and while there was still enough in the movie to make me give it a marginal recommendation, you will still see it could have easily been a lot better.

(Posted February 2, 2026)