By Dan Skip Allen 

“Fall” was a surprise hit a few years ago for Lionsgate. When I first saw it, my anxiety and vertigo regarding heights kicked. I’m not a fan of high places at all, including planes, or radio towers, for that matter. The first film focused on Shiloh Hunter (Virginia Gardner), an adventurous woman. She and her friend Becky Connor (Grace Carpline) climbed a very tall radio tower for the thrill of it. “Fall 2: Deadpoint” focuses on two new characters. One is the sister of the Gardner character. The first movie was filled with gut-wrenching moments and heart-pounding excitement. This movie has a lot of the same kind of thrills. It, like its predecessor, isn’t for the weak hearted. I found myself short of breath and anxiety ridden like the first movie. It captured a lot of the same emotions I felt in the first film. 

A woman named Luce, (Arsema Thomas) who says she’s a friend of Shiloh Hunter, comes to visit her sister Jax (Harriet Slater) intending to buy her sister’s beat up Ford Bronco, which the authorities recently returned to her with all her stuff in it. Including her book of photos and things from her adventures. Luce sees how downtrodden Jax is and decides to convince her to climb a dangerous mountain in Thailand called Mount Kwan. Home of the “Death Dragon” which eats its visitors’ fears. After a quick back and forth, she eventually agrees to do it in honor of her sister. They end up going to Thailand, where they find a guide named John (Tom Brittany, in a local watering hole who charges them $5000 dollars for this very treacherous and illegal climb, but he has ulterior motives for helping the two eager women. He’s not the only one with secrets, though. 

The cinematography of this film is breathtaking. Whether on a set with a greenscreen backdrop similar in tone to the volume or high up in the air of Bangkok, Thailand, the views are stunning. That’s one thing about a film set in a high location. They have beautiful vistas to look at throughout the film. There are gorgeous sunsets and rainy lightning storms that give the film a distinct look. Plenty of shots of clouds help show the passing of time. If this was indeed Thailand, it’s a very beautiful country from above looking below. Even scenes of the mountain look amazing up close and far away. This film relies heavily on the cinematography by Andrew Strahorn. 

Another technical aspect of this movie is its score by Tim Despic. He creates a somber sounding score to start with, but as the film gets more exciting, the music ramps up its volume and intensity. As I was squirming around in my seat, the score got very intense and loud. I could hear drums and other instruments getting lower and lower throughout the movie. A good composer knows how to use what the film gives him or her. I was completely on board with the music in this movie. It complimented what was going on on screen perfectly. I love a great film score. 

Despite the things I liked about this picture, there were a couple of things I didn’t like. Similar to the first movie, there were a couple of plot contrivances to make the story more exciting, but I felt they didn’t add anything new or original to the film. As in the first movie, there were things to move the plot forward. Climbing a cliff and almost dying is one thing, but the script has to have twists and turns in it to make the movie interesting. I didn’t care about the two twists in the film. They weren’t surprising to me because I expected them. It would have been a pretty boring movie otherwise. These types of things are inevitable, unfortunately. 

Like the first film, this one had my anxiety and vertigo working overtime. There were many shocking moments and near death experiences from the main protagonists. What would you expect from a sequel to “Fall”? The climb itself was very high, and there was a rustle ladder and weather worn wooden planks and a rickety old bridge to cross. They even had bad weather and avalanches, combined with earthquakes to deal with. I knew what I was getting into going into this movie. I prepared myself for all of the crazy things that were going to happen on screen. The Spierig Brothers, Michael and Peter, kept me in a constant state of anguish as I watched these women try to survive on the side of a 3000-foot tall mountain. This is why I put myself in this situation. That’s what movies are for. That’s why people who saw “Jaws” won’t swing in the ocean anymore. They are scared a shark is going to eat them. That’s a similar situation here with heights. 

There was one plot device that I think worked in context to the overall story. That is a flashback sequence that kept coming back in the form of dreams or memories. This worked because it showed the motivation of the Slater character. The viewers can relate to her story because they feel what she’s going through to some extent. We all have suffered losses in our lives in one form or another to our family members. We also have fears whether or not we choose to admit them is one thing. These flashbacks were perfectly implemented into the plot to give one of the main characters some depth. This is the reason why the audience cares about her so much. They are invested in this character after seeing these scenes.

“Fall 2: Deadpoint” was everything I hoped it would be except for the contrivance in the plot, which I expected. The two leads did a good job of making me believe who they were in context to this story. The cinematography and score made me believe in this film from a technical aspect. The reason filmgoers are going to see this movie this weekend, though, is the anxiety inducing feeling they get while these two women are trying to climb this very treacherous mountain and possibly could die in the process. The directors got every emotion possible out of me, and I knew what was in store for me going into it. That’s when they get you hook, line, and sinker. I think this is a better overall film than the first one. It had more going for it.

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 stars