The Dead Mountaineer's Hotel

It feels so soviet and cold, they created a great atmosphere, given the low budget and shitty acting. It tries to be stylistic but it doesn’t work, ending up pretty underwhelming and just… That’s your twist? Really?

Sci-fi/noir somewhere between a whodunit and Der Zauberberg, in a way anticipating THE SHINING. The combination of oddball characters, eerie hypnotic music and mountain photography also gives a bit of a Herzogian flavour, but it seems as if something must have gone awry in the production, and the whole thing comes across as a rough blueprint for an uncanny and surreal SF mystery that might have been but wasn't. A long way from STALKER and HARD TO BE A GOD but still kind of fascinating.

An Agatha Christiesque murder mystery with a surrealistic style and vibes that turn out to be even more surreal. Not really a good film per se, but has interesting photography, effects and mood at times. Acting ranges from alright to hammy and the plot is mildly engaging at first but loses the viewer before the final, ridiculous reveal. Nevertheless the film provides a rare and exotic view to the movie making of Soviet Estonia.

There is a hypnotic quality to the film that I really enjoyed, but the plot twists are unconvincing. The very last scene is a big plus, as is the soundtrack.