Altitude (film)
Encyclopedia
Altitude is a Canadian horror
, television and "direct-to-video" film directed by Canadian comic book
writer
and artist Kaare Andrews
. Anchor Bay Entertainment
is set to distribute the film in North America, U.K., Australia, and New Zealand
The trailer for Altitude premiered at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con.
Years later, Sara (Jessica Lowndes
), who has recently received her pilot's license, is planning to fly to a concert with her friends, Sal (Jake Weary
) and his girlfriend, also Sara's best friend Mel (Julianna Guill
), her cousin Cory (Ryan Donowho
) and her boyfriend Bruce Parker (Landon Liboiron
). Meeting at the airport, Cory reveals his feelings for Mel and in the air, Bruce's nerves draw ridicule from the other passengers, and Sara invites him to take the controls. Sal, wanting to borrow a comic from Bruce, upsets the aircraft and when they hit some turbulence, Bruce loses control, taking them into a steep climb.
Sara tries to regain control, but a bolt has fallen loose and jammed the elevator. Still climbing, they fly into a storm and lose all radio contact. Sara says with the elevator jammed, they will keep climbing until they either run out of fuel or reach the aircraft's ceiling. She tells them they have less than an hour's worth of fuel left; Bruce suffers a panic attack is put to sleep with a choke hold by Sal, a wrestler. In an effort to save fuel, they jettison belongings overboard. Sara says the only way to unjam the tail is to climb outside and manually remove the obstacle. Cory, who has experience as a climber, volunteers. He has brought climbing gear with him, and has a rope for an anchor. Sal wraps the rope around himself and after some difficulty, Cory makes it to the tail and removes the errant bolt. Sal catches sight of a horrifying shape, and losing control of the rope, Cory slips and Sal is pulled out of the aircraft. Panicked, Sal cuts the rope, and Cory falls.
When Bruce awakes, he has been tied up, and learns Cory is dead and there is a monster outside. Bruce reveals to Sara that he was in the aircraft crash that killed her mother and his parents. Sara leaves him in the back, to try and find help on the radio, and hears a strange noise. Sal recognizes it as the monster that took Cory. After some confusion and argument, the aircraft crashes into the monster's open mouth. Bruce looks at a page of his comic which shows a blond woman being grabbed by tentacles. Immediately following, a large tentacle grabs Mel. Bruce starts flicking through the comic book, as if he has discovered something. Sal threatens to kill Bruce for causing Mel's death and tries to throw him out, but Sara intervenes and in the ensuing confusion, Sal falls out the door.
Bruce tells Sara he is causing all this; that his mind is recreating the comic book, something that happens when he gets very scared. The creature starts attacking the aircraft, and Sara demands that Bruce prove he is doing it by ending it all. His attempts just make things worse, until Sara kisses him, but is grabbed by the monster. She tells him that if he can do all this, then he can bring his parents back. After a struggle, the monster suddenly disappears and she falls back into the aircraft. As they fly out of the storm, they see another aircraft heading straight for them, carrying Bruce,his parents and Sara's mother. They manage to take control of their aircaft, and so don't crash into the other.
In the altered past Sara's mother and Bruce's family have arrived at their destination intact. Sara's mother says "everybody gets one near miss, right?", and Bruce's mom asks, "do you think they made it?" to which Sara's mother replies "I hope so." The young Sara and Bruce are introduced to one another, holding hands and looking out into the sky.
.
Altitude was filmed in part at the Langley, British Columbia
airport. The small light twin Piper Chieftain
(C-MYZX) aircraft that was the main setting of the film was originally a salvaged airframe, but it served the purpose well as a movie set, with panels and sections that could be easily removed for shooting into the cabin. The majority of the aerial sequences involved CGI
work.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, television and "direct-to-video" film directed by Canadian comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and artist Kaare Andrews
Kaare Andrews
Kaare Andrews is a comic book writer and artist and filmmaker known for his cover work on Incredible Hulk and Canada's first national recognized award, "The Shuster", for his work on Spider-Man: Doctor Octopus.-Career:...
. Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a U.S. based home entertainment and production company and is a division of Starz Media, which is a unit of Starz, LLC. It was previously owned by IDT Entertainment until 2006 when IDT was purchased by Starz Media. Anchor Bay markets and sells feature films, series,...
is set to distribute the film in North America, U.K., Australia, and New Zealand
The trailer for Altitude premiered at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con.
Plot
A small light aircraft has a family of three (two parents and a child, later revealed as Bruce) and a pilot (Sara's mother) on board. The child is extremely nervous and starts hyperventilating. Looking for the source of his discomfort, the passengers and pilot see an out-of-control aircraft that crashes into them.Years later, Sara (Jessica Lowndes
Jessica Lowndes
Jessica Lowndes is a Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Adrianna Tate-Duncan on TV series 90210.-Personal life:Jessica Suzanne Lowndes was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
), who has recently received her pilot's license, is planning to fly to a concert with her friends, Sal (Jake Weary
Jake Weary
Jake Weary is an American actor, singer and musician.-Movie career:After an initial guest role on his mother's show, Guiding Light in 2002, he was cast as Luke Snyder on the television soap opera As the World Turns....
) and his girlfriend, also Sara's best friend Mel (Julianna Guill
Julianna Guill
Julianna Guill is an American actress. She best known for role as Bree in Friday the 13th and Scarlet Haukkson in the webisode series My Alibi. She also co-starred in the TBS series Glory Daze as Christie.-Early life:...
), her cousin Cory (Ryan Donowho
Ryan Donowho
Ryan Wayne Donowho is an American actor and musician.-Early life:Born in Houston, Texas, Donowho moved to Brooklyn, New York and then to Los Angeles. He was a street musician in New York City as "bucket" drummer...
) and her boyfriend Bruce Parker (Landon Liboiron
Landon Liboiron
Landon Liboiron is a Gemini Award nominated Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Declan in Degrassi: The Next Generation, later named Degrassi. He currently stars in the Fox television series Terra Nova, as 17-year-old Josh Shannon....
). Meeting at the airport, Cory reveals his feelings for Mel and in the air, Bruce's nerves draw ridicule from the other passengers, and Sara invites him to take the controls. Sal, wanting to borrow a comic from Bruce, upsets the aircraft and when they hit some turbulence, Bruce loses control, taking them into a steep climb.
Sara tries to regain control, but a bolt has fallen loose and jammed the elevator. Still climbing, they fly into a storm and lose all radio contact. Sara says with the elevator jammed, they will keep climbing until they either run out of fuel or reach the aircraft's ceiling. She tells them they have less than an hour's worth of fuel left; Bruce suffers a panic attack is put to sleep with a choke hold by Sal, a wrestler. In an effort to save fuel, they jettison belongings overboard. Sara says the only way to unjam the tail is to climb outside and manually remove the obstacle. Cory, who has experience as a climber, volunteers. He has brought climbing gear with him, and has a rope for an anchor. Sal wraps the rope around himself and after some difficulty, Cory makes it to the tail and removes the errant bolt. Sal catches sight of a horrifying shape, and losing control of the rope, Cory slips and Sal is pulled out of the aircraft. Panicked, Sal cuts the rope, and Cory falls.
When Bruce awakes, he has been tied up, and learns Cory is dead and there is a monster outside. Bruce reveals to Sara that he was in the aircraft crash that killed her mother and his parents. Sara leaves him in the back, to try and find help on the radio, and hears a strange noise. Sal recognizes it as the monster that took Cory. After some confusion and argument, the aircraft crashes into the monster's open mouth. Bruce looks at a page of his comic which shows a blond woman being grabbed by tentacles. Immediately following, a large tentacle grabs Mel. Bruce starts flicking through the comic book, as if he has discovered something. Sal threatens to kill Bruce for causing Mel's death and tries to throw him out, but Sara intervenes and in the ensuing confusion, Sal falls out the door.
Bruce tells Sara he is causing all this; that his mind is recreating the comic book, something that happens when he gets very scared. The creature starts attacking the aircraft, and Sara demands that Bruce prove he is doing it by ending it all. His attempts just make things worse, until Sara kisses him, but is grabbed by the monster. She tells him that if he can do all this, then he can bring his parents back. After a struggle, the monster suddenly disappears and she falls back into the aircraft. As they fly out of the storm, they see another aircraft heading straight for them, carrying Bruce,his parents and Sara's mother. They manage to take control of their aircaft, and so don't crash into the other.
In the altered past Sara's mother and Bruce's family have arrived at their destination intact. Sara's mother says "everybody gets one near miss, right?", and Bruce's mom asks, "do you think they made it?" to which Sara's mother replies "I hope so." The young Sara and Bruce are introduced to one another, holding hands and looking out into the sky.
Cast
- Jessica LowndesJessica LowndesJessica Lowndes is a Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Adrianna Tate-Duncan on TV series 90210.-Personal life:Jessica Suzanne Lowndes was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
as Sara - Julianna GuillJulianna GuillJulianna Guill is an American actress. She best known for role as Bree in Friday the 13th and Scarlet Haukkson in the webisode series My Alibi. She also co-starred in the TBS series Glory Daze as Christie.-Early life:...
as Mel - Ryan DonowhoRyan DonowhoRyan Wayne Donowho is an American actor and musician.-Early life:Born in Houston, Texas, Donowho moved to Brooklyn, New York and then to Los Angeles. He was a street musician in New York City as "bucket" drummer...
as Cory - Landon LiboironLandon LiboironLandon Liboiron is a Gemini Award nominated Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Declan in Degrassi: The Next Generation, later named Degrassi. He currently stars in the Fox television series Terra Nova, as 17-year-old Josh Shannon....
as Bruce Parker - Jake WearyJake WearyJake Weary is an American actor, singer and musician.-Movie career:After an initial guest role on his mother's show, Guiding Light in 2002, he was cast as Luke Snyder on the television soap opera As the World Turns....
as Sal - Mike DopudMike DopudMike Dopud is a Canadian-born film actor, television actor, voice actor, stuntman, stage actor and athlete. He is best known for playing Detective Smits in White Noise the 2005 action-horror film, Agent Turner in Alone In The Dark a 2005 action-horror film, playing Vic Hadfield in the Canadian...
as The Colonel - Ryan Grantham as Young Boy
- Chelah HorsdalChelah HorsdalChelah Horsdal is a Canadian actress and model.-Life and career:She grew up in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver with her mother, Lindsay. Her father is the folk singer Valdy...
as Mrs. Taylor
Production
Originally Kaare Andrews teamed up with producer Ian Birkett, and his brother, writer Paul A. Birkett, who had a preliminary script. After spending a day at a small airfield outside of Vancouver, the trio shot "... a fake trailer for no money, you know, like 'Machete', to raise some money and it immediately got interest." With a "micro-budget" secured, further financing came from Darclight and Telefilm to raise an operating budget to over $3.5 million, enough to make a credible product. The concept of a sky-creature was part of an homage to the imagery evoked by H. P. LovecraftH. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
.
Altitude was filmed in part at the Langley, British Columbia
Langley, British Columbia (city)
The City of Langley is a municipality in Metro Vancouver. It lies directly east of the City of Surrey, adjacent to Cloverdale, and surrounded on the north, east and south by Township of Langley.-History:...
airport. The small light twin Piper Chieftain
Piper PA-31 Navajo
The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engine aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also licence-built in a number of Latin American countries. Targeted at small-scale cargo and feeder liner operations and...
(C-MYZX) aircraft that was the main setting of the film was originally a salvaged airframe, but it served the purpose well as a movie set, with panels and sections that could be easily removed for shooting into the cabin. The majority of the aerial sequences involved CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
work.