Dead Mountaineer's Hotel — Dead Mountaineer's Hotel( UHD & Blu Ray)
From the late 70’s, Dead Mountaineer's Hotel is an Estonian film which mixes neo noir, with drama & mystery- finished off with light touches of surrealism, sci-fi & (very) low key horror. It’s set in an isolated/end-of-the-road/snow-bound hotel, where a policeman is called out seemingly by mistake to get involved with a selection of quirky guests, a murder, criminal intrigue, and possible aliens.. Here from Deaf Crocodile is a dual UHD & Blu-ray release of the film. It features a new 4k scan, a commentary track, and a blend of new & archive extras.
Dead Mountaineer's Hotel ('Hukkunud Alpinisti' hotel) is from the year 1979. It was directed by Tallinn-born Grigori Kromanov. Between the mid 60’s and late 70’s, he had five other features to his name. These were horror/fantasy/ comedy crossbreed Põrgupõhja uus Vanapagan (1964), post WWII drama Mis juhtus Andres Lapeteusega? (1966), medieval-set romantic adventure The Last Relic (1969), and 1920s Russia-set crime drama Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat (1975).
The film opens with a mix of shots of glittering white mountains and vast snow fields, topped with mysterious 'n' sparkling electro ambient soundtracking. We see a single car weaving its way through the small roads. Inside is a middle-aged/ hard-set-faced Insp. Peter Glebsky (Uldis Pucitis), who has a rather more rugged Sean Bean quality about him. In classic noir form, he’s voicing over the film in flashback, and we find out soon enough that he’s been called out to an isolated hotel.
He finally gets to the property, finding out from the places grey haired owner that he didn’t call the police. But as it’s somewhat of a drive back, and the sun is shining on the slopes, Glebsky decides to stay the night- with the places St Bernard taking his case to his room.
As he gets settled in, the inspector wanders around, and the place has a dark, by-design interior with a red neon-lit portrait of a dead mountaineer, a mix of glass windows, mirrors, etc. The place has a fair few quirky/ odd guests- such as a suffering from tuberculosis gangster, a constantly climbing the walls moustached physicist, a glamorous permed wig wearing woman, and a few others. Initially, things seem to be going fine, if a little odd; for example, they are playing pool with all-white balls.
But then someone ends up seemingly murdered, and it’s down to the inspector to figure out what's gone on. It’s fair to say the film is a very slowly paced affair, which at times does rather drag. It runs for one hour and twenty-two minutes, but it felt twice that length.
Our lead Pucitis is fine as the ragged/ by the book cop, and we get a good selection of quirky characters. I’d say you’ll need to be a fan of more mystery & weirdly edged drama to completely get and enjoy Dead Mountaineer's Hotel.
The UHD and Blu-ray features a 4k scan of the picture- this looks good, as it moves from its bright white snow banks, into the arty interiors. The balance of original dialogue and music is good/ even.
We get a few extras. First off is a new commentary track from film historian Michael Brooke- this, as we’ve come to expect from this track pro, is a wonderful, informed & researched affair. He begins by giving us Estonian translations of the film's title. He comments on how the opening credits are similar to Kubrick’s The Shining- we find out it was filmed in Kazakhstan. He touches on the film's synth score, and how its creator only had a short time to create it- due to the cost of studio time & the hiring of the kit to make it. We get a bio of the film's Latvian male lead, as well as shorter/ but just interesting bios for the supporting cast. He points out changes in one of the charictors hair cuts/ changes in clothes. We find out at one point that Estonian minimalist classical composer Arvo Pärt was going to score the picture. He talks about how the film shot uses nods towards both neo noir & giallo. He chats about changes to the film the Russians insisted on, gives us a description of the characters from the novel the films based on, and much more. Otherwise, we have “Snow Job: A Routine Investigation in Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel” ( 8.12), a visual essay by Ryan Verrill & Dr. Will Dodson of Someone’s Favorite Prod.
On the archive side, we have: In Focus- Dead Mountaineer's Hotel (19.56) a making of created by Estonian Public TV. Bonus Track( 13.24) Excerpt from a 2016 documentary on composer Sven Grünberg and his score for the film. And an original trailer.
When I became aware of Dead Mountaineer's Hotel, I was hoping for a higher level of both surrealism and horror. But the main focus is really neo noir and mystery, so I’d say you’ll need to be looking for that side of things more to enjoy this. Anyway, as always, it’s great to see the fine folk at Deaf Crocodile rediscovering/ reissuing this 1970s Soviet film.