October 15th, 2010 - Altitude

Altitude is one of the better Twilight Zone episodes never made. It's also a great example of imaginative filmmaking on a budget. It's funny, I was expecting this to be the low point of my weekend rentals, but it may just have raised the bar for everything else. Sorry Mirrors 2.

The movie starts off with a a family on a small airplane being flown through some choppy weather while we see everything through the pilot's eyes. The boy in the back seat freaks out about something he sees, and suddenly there's a nice first person mid-air collision. We then meet the pilot's daughter, Sara, who against her fathers wishes has gotten her pilot's license. She's flying her friends, and her boyfriend to a concert on the downlow. Naturally bad things happen. Mechanical problems abound, and there's something in the air with them.

Right away I noticed some surprising production value. They took full advantage of the plane at their disposal. Sweeping, epic, long shots are the order of the day right from the get-go, which only makes the confines of the plane that much more cramped. There's is certainly a fair share of dodgy CG and greenscreen work, but it was all thoughtfully done. Some of the stylistic choices seems odd though. There are a few odd shots that stand out like a sore thumb, and just point out how much better the rest of the movie looks overall.

The acting is also pretty decent. One of the friends, Sal, is played as too much of a jerk though. I didn't believe for a second that the rest of these seemingly smart, nice people would spend more than 10 minutes with him. Sara's boyfriend, Bruce, starts off as a bit of a pushover and pretty emo, but there's a decent payoff to that, so I can overlook it. The rest of the characters are likable and you generally want to see them escape. Though, I do wish to call an end to film majors in films carrying around shitty DV cameras and being obsessed with filming everything. No one acts like that in real life. It's irritating and at this point, we all know where it's going to go.

The entire plot develops a great Twilight Zone feel. I don't want to spoil it too much, but it goes in some weird places I was not expecting. It pays to be patient with this film. More than a few times, I was getting annoyed by some of the indulgences of the plot and dialogue, but it all worked out. That's not really an excuse though for some of the monologuing and contrivances that occur. The ends justify the means, but the means could have been better executed.

I strongly reccomend that any horror fan, especially ones who like Twilight Zone and Tales from the Crypt, check this out. It's a hell of a lot better than most of the pre-Halloween dreck. It's weird, and sometimes require a bit of patience, but well worth it. And the monster is straight out of Lovecraft. Win.