The Curse Of Wolf Mountain, written by Keli Price and directed by David Lipper, is a slasher film, and while it is entertaining, it is not the most riveting and edge-of-seat thriller that might be expected. Since the title includes the word “curse,” I anticipated a hex, spell, or jinx, but it is not. The story involves a belief by some people about an old urban legend of a killer on Wolf Mountain. The film begins with one man, AJ (Keli Price), who has childhood memories and nightmares of his parents’ death on Wolf Mountain. His decision to go camping on Wolf Mountain to “confront his past” at the advice of his therapist, Dr. Avery (Tobin Bell), will become life–altering for his family.
AJ wants to move on from the assorted nightmares continuing from his youth. His supportive wife, Samantha (Karissa Lee Staples), wants him to live a more peaceful and productive life, more so as they are expecting the arrival of their first child in a few months. Their weekend away together gets complex when others want to go camping too, including AJ’s brother Max (David Lipper), his significant other Lexi (Fernanda Romero), Lexi’s sister Emma (Malu Trevejo), and her “not so bright” boyfriend James (Matt Rife). It is irritating to see a woman scantily dressed in one scene as if ready to perform at a strip club, then another in attire more appropriate for the lake or beach instead of camping in the mountains. The purpose of the last two characters in this script and on this trip must be clarified.
The park rangers (one professional, the other two with ridiculous dialogue) helped register and direct the campers to their site. The rangers are unaware of two “unregistered guests” hiding out on the mountain with their agenda. Eddie and Joe (played by Danny Trejo and Kenny Yates) don’t want to be seen or heard from, as they are protective of what they carry. It is excellent to include Trejo, but unfortunately, his talent is wasted on a subplot that adds nothing to the script other than being other campers unaware of the urban legend. Avoid expecting Trejo’s character to last long in the story.
AJ and Samantha don’t have a peaceful first night at the camp, and it isn’t long before they discover the four campers who went with them are missing in the morning. AJ and Sam are not safe, but they are determined to find the brother and fellow campers. One by one, they appear to have been targeted by a killer using silent weapons (bow and arrows, knives, etc.) and strangulation.
Some action scenes are bland, and others are clunky – too amateur and almost humorous – but they get their point across. Some fans of campsite horror/slasher-type films may forgive it for what it is. This movie isn’t billed as an action film, so there is enough in the script to keep the audience engaged in finding out who is the masked killer. I honestly did not expect to see who it turns out to be and why he is doing this. The last 30 minutes or less bring AJ some unexpected answers.
The cast’s performances are good, though – as they all deliver on the characters they portray. Lipper succeeds as Max, depicting both sides of the character very well. Eddie McClintock (Reboot Camp) performs well as Ric, and I look forward to seeing more of his work.
Runtime: 1h 34m and available for Streaming now from Distributor: Uncork’d Entertainment ###