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Cast: Jessica Lowndes, Julianna Guill, Ryan Donowho, Jake Weary, Landon Liboiron, Mike Dopud, Chelah Horsdal, Ian Robison, Michelle Harrison, Ryan Grantham
Kaare Andrews makes his feature-film debut with this supernatural tale about a brash, young pilot (Jessica Lowndes) who takes her friends (Julianna Guill, Ryan Donowho, Landon Liboiron and Jake Weary) for a small-plane joyride, only to get lost in a deadly storm. But things get worse when they hit some unexpected turbulence. Turns out some people's fears when it comes to flying aren't entirely unfounded.
I have to admit I wasn't holding out much hope for this after watching the trailer which seemed a bit ridiculous, I like cheese as much as the next guy but the trailer reminded me of the kind of movie the Syfy channel might air. Jessica decides to take her friends on a little plane ride but things get a little bizarre as the trip progresses. A bolt from inside the plane becomes loose and it rolls inside the compartment that houses the mechanisms for the plane's elevator which suddenly causes the plane to gain more and more altitude. The film takes the monster theme and adds some psychological, supernatural horror, that combined with the film taking place in the small plane the entire time makes for some great excitement and suspense. When you add the drama of these five characters in a small, contained space with things are not going well with the aircraft you get a lot of drama and it too helps build tension. It isn't easy to make a horror film that has any kind of originality to it anymore so I give credit to both Writer, Paul A. Birkett and Director, Kaare Andrews who did a terrific job in his feature debut in creating something different and keeping the audience on the edge the entire time. It doesn't take long after the film opens to get to the meaty stuff and it keeps you clued to the screen the entire time see waiting to see what is going to happen next. "Altitude" is a cross between a "Twilight Zone" episode and Stephen King's "The Langoliers". After watching the entire film I can tell you the trailer doesn't do it a whole lot of justice so if you're a fan of either of those two I just mentioned I think you are going to be as pleasantly surprised as I was. I am not saying this is a classic or that it isn't without it's problems but the over-all production, writing and direction is much better than I expected. The young cast did a good job playing their roles, sure you get an annoying character or two in a film like this but for the most part the characters were believable. I purposely avoided giving too much away on what transpires in the film simply because the less you know here the better. It wasn't long after the opening credits that I was hooked and the ending fit the story perfectly. If you like the horror genre and are looking for something different to watch then I recommend picking this one up today, "Altitude" is a clever film that rises above it's straight to video label and becomes a roller coaster ride that is suspenseful, scary and thrilling.
The DVD and Blu-ray both come with Special Features that include:
Behind-The-Scenes Featurette
Photo Gallery
Director's Commentary
You can order the DVD HERE and the Blu-ray HERE.
Released by Anchor Bay Entertainment
**** Out Of *****