Movies
Under The Mountain (V)
“There is not a single redeemable thing about Under the Mountain as it’s neither charming nor cute, and is painstaking to watch. Go watch Black Sheep again and remember the Jonathan King who entertained us.”
Black Sheep director Jonathan King returns behind the camera in this adult horror fantasy Under the Mountain, which suffers from an underdeveloped screenplay (adapted by Matthew Grainger from a novel by Maurice Gee) and loss of focus.
In the adaptation teenage twins Rachel (Sophie McBride) and Theo (Tom Cameron) investigate the creepy old house next door where they discover the Wilberforces – shape-shifting creatures that lurk beneath Auckland’s ring of extinct volcanoes. Guided by the mysterious Mr Jones (Sam Neill) and with the help of their older cousin Ricky (Leon Wadham), the twins must rekindle the unique powers they once shared if they are to destroy this ancient evil – before it destroys them.
Under the Mountain is doomed from the beginning as the crux of the problems revolve around the underdeveloped screenplay, poor dialogue and heavy exposition. While the film is a fantasy, it appears to try and take place in the real world, a flaw that immediately removes the viewer from the experience. The rules are ridiculous and there’s no explanation on where their origins are. For example, Sam Neill plays Mr. Jones, the “fire bringer”, who apparently can throw fire. For some reason he’s weak and losing his power, so he can’t protect the twins from the Wilberforces. No explanation is given to his weakness. In addition, he gives the twins these stones that are supposed to help them in their battle. While they need to use their “twinnes” to release the power, Theo still can launch fire at the Winderforces, how that makes sense is beyond me. In addition, the Wildberforces want to “make them dead” (yeah, hilarious choice of words) and destroy the world. Apparently, killing the twins will cause this even though it’s revealed that a group of twins were killed years before attempting to stop them. Go figure.
Furthermore, the character development is ridiculous as for some odd reason Theo doesn’t believe in his “twinness” with Rachel. So, what, they’re not twins? What’s there to believe? Why does believing in it stop the Wilberforces? The movie is loaded with unanswered questions and a ridiculous premise that introduces new rules just for the sake of progressing the story.
While some of the creatures looked cool and were reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft’s work, basically nothing happens for the entire first hour (they don’t even go under the mountain until 60 minutes in), the acting is horrendous, the FX work is shoddy and the dialogue is beyond cheesy (what’s a word for that?) They were so lazy they even had the same transitional aerial shots through the entire film! There is not a single redeemable thing about Under the Mountain as it’s neither charming nor cute, and is painstaking to watch. Go watch Black Sheep again and remember the Jonathan King who entertained us.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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