marguskiis I have to say "Hotel of Dead Mountaineer" is ahead of its time. OK, script was pretty anachronistic in 1978, because the basic book was written 1970, after social turmoils and "revolutions" in USA and Europe and some moments weren't so obvious in late 70s anymore. But after 9/11 is pretty sure that questions like "terrorist or freedom-fighter?" isn't so stupid at all. So the idea of naive alien helping terrorists doesn't look weird anymore.Movie's special ultramodern design, cold style and dark atmosphere looked maybe a bit over the top in late 70s but became mainstream in 80s, especially in sci-fi and A- category horror movies. "The Hunger" for example has very similar visual style but was filmed 5 years later. The Grünberg's music isn't typical 70s movie soundtrack, the cold and synthesized soundscape became popular also in 80s and later. Theatralic, unnatural, openly strange acting became popular also years later. I like "HUH" ("HODM") because it works, it looks cool and timeless and the movie is overall unforgettable. Like its one its influence, "Zabriskie Point", "HUH" is panned by critics from premiere but has remained cult classic anyway.

mardus All the commenters whining about this... what the hell is wrong with you people? Do you think Star Wars is proper sci-fi? I mean all the things described by peter-kuus as poor I find utterly brilliant - they add to the movie, instead taking from it. The surreal dark scenes of the interior of the hotel, those long bright direct sun shots and icy mountains are totally ethereal. PLUS the music - one should watch it because of the music alone. Droning, theremin-like synths with visuals of icy scapes, what more could you want?Shouldn't be compared to your run of the mill sci-fi or action-plot movies...

peter-kuus 25 years ago "Hukkunud alpinisti hotell" was considered to be among one of the three best Estonian films (together with "Viimne reliikvia" and "Navigaator Pirx"). No crime nor fantasy films were often produced in Estonia. So making a real sci-fi movie and shooting it in a far land (Caucasian mountains ?) had to be quite an event here. That was then... The thing i don't understand is why this piece of crap is still kept for the golden fund of Estonian films. Well, the beginning that is very much "Shining" alike is yet promising. But the more the film goes on, the worse it gets. Anticipation that is cognizable in the beginning doesn't form into tension as it should. Lack of technical cull disturbs enjoying the movie instead. First of all, the cinematographer Jüri Sillart should have been drunk or disabled, filming constantly close-ups. The picture is jumping from one close-up to another, so there's practically no overview what's going on in general. I don't even talk about conveying the characters through the picture. Shooting straight into the sun and its reflections in the film for no reason is the cinematographer's style too. Light in the hotel is extremely poor, so the action is time to time only cognizable, not visible. Secondly, the director couldn't reform the mediocre script into fluent running film. The action is nervous, jumping from here to there, so watching it i had a feeling that i had fallen asleep and missed some parts. Thirdly, the much-hyped Sven Grünberg's music doesn't fit in the movie at all as it is too monotonic and doesn't support the action. I can say that the movie interferes the music a bit but the music doesn't help the film at all. For the fourth, special effects are feeble and even embarrassing to watch. For example the scene in the end when the ET-s were escaping from the hotel gliding on the snow, was miserable ! It should have remade and not to put in the movie ! For the fifth, it's incredible how its possible to present good actors so poorly. The most important actor Uldis Pucitis is OK in the beginning where he didn't have to do much yet. The man's charisma helps him out there. Later when his role turns to much more demanding one, he doesn't control it anymore. He just exists on the screen. Estonian far-famed Mikk Mikiver shows that he should have stayed producing as his performance is very very non-realistic. The same critics goes almost to all the other actors as they don't manage with their rather a difficult roles. The actors are rather tin soldiers than individual characters, so even at the end of the movie it is not clear how many people were involved. The only exception is grand old Jüri Järvet who is good as always. And Aarne Üksküla reading text for Pucitis is superb. So watch it and i hope that the myth of the great Estonian sci-fi film is going to be broken at last.

kalku Film is based on the novel by Strugatsky brothers. Police inspector is called to a mountain hotel, but there's no crime. When snow avalanche blocks hotel from the rest of the world, strange things start to happen.. Brilliant soundtrack from Sven Grünberg.