ZombieDog’s rating: C’thulu on an airplane — what more needs to be said?

ZombieDog’s review: Not all movies are going to be good, I think this is just a fact of life. I have been and will continue to be a champion of the creative process, because I think it is truly wonderful and rare. There are bad movies, but those movies usually fall under incomplete or poorly funded or are productions of the Asylum Studios. The thing about B-movies and cult movies is that they were never mainstream, they always flew under the radar. That’s what made them good. Well, that and being paired with a date and a drive-in and you’ve got a memory. In the modern era, you actually have to have a bit of luck to find a nice piece of cult goodness.

Altitude is a 2010 movie that keeps you guessing from the beginning to the end. It’s a low-budget production ($3.5M), but they really make use of the money. Combine that with an original story, a competent director, and an eager cast, and you get a beautiful little film.

This is about a group of friends taking a small plane to see a concert. Everything is normal… until a mechanical failure forces them to keep climbing in altitude. The situation goes from bad to worse when they are pulled into a serious thunderstorm. One of the passengers has a secret which would explain everything, yet it would also send the entire group into a panic. No matter, it’s coming for them no matter what.

Altitude is a single-location film, filmed entirely within the chassis of a salvaged Piper Chieftain twin-engine aircraft. This is pretty clearly where some of the money went because they do a really good job of making you feel like you’re in the plane and experiencing the twists and turns. Yet it’s not just the aircraft that shines; the cast really takes advantage of the shooting location by climbing over seats, bending over backwards while moving luggage around, and truly convincing us that they’re in this space.

The driving force behind this movie is a C’thulhu-esque creature in the sky. I am a huge fan of the C’thulhu mythos. It’s a rich idea, and unpacking it would surely yield multiple storylines to explore. Unfortunately, unpack it you must because it comes with some baggage. H.P. Lovecraft, the author of the C’thulhu mythos, used the language of the time to describe other races. Let’s just say it was less than flattering. I’m not going to say that I have a solution to these problems, because I don’t. Mark Twain, arguably one of the best American writers, also faced similar criticism for his language use of the time. The way I see it you have two choices. First, simply edit the work and take out the offending language. Two, you leave the wording in and make an argument for maintaining the cultural integrity of the work even if it offends. Neither really offer a true solution.

See here’s the thing though, art is meant to offend. Art is also meant to question the status quo, push the boundaries of our thought, search for truth, and so much more that makes its existence justified even if grotesque. Likewise, the function of protesting is to call out what you would see as wrong or distorted. The act of criticizing can bring entirely new truths to the surface. This is also a function of art. Am I really arguing for this level of enlightened discussion on this low-level B-movie? You’re absolutely right I am! I can’t even think of a better place. The argument is where it is.

My bottom line is that I think any passionate/competent work is worthy of praise and discussion. Is Altitude Oscar quality? Not by a long shot. That doesn’t mean it isn’t good. B-movies are the soul of cinema and are without a doubt the best place to show us giant spiders, transvestites from Transylvania, and mysterious alien plans. Altitude is one of the more competent films simply because everybody cared, and it shows. To be fair I am really nitpicking the source material, although I do have some legitimate beefs with the C’thulhu idea itself.

I can’t say enough good things about the actors. This movie was made 10 years ago, and when I look them up now, they almost all had 50 credits to their names, and some had even more. If you ever want to know what a working actor looks like folks, watch this movie.

This is a decent little film. Single location films always feel small, and this one does very well to hide that. They’re stuck in a plane for the whole movie that’s where the story takes place. The filmmakers manages to make it work, pulling together a coherent Twilight Zone/Tales from the Crypt thriller.