Its R rating description is hilarious (“For language and a sexual gesture”), and its dialogue and performances don’t always connect, but low-budget, sci-fi-inflected thriller Altitude is a better-than-it-needs-to-be and at times even borderline-artful entry in the direct-to-DVD sweepstakes — a movie that makes smart use of its limited means, and works, in a sort of old-school Twilight Zone fashion, to wring maximum effect out of tried and true storytelling devices rather than merely goosing CGI special effects work.

The plot centers on a group of teens on a weekend getaway (they’re headed to a Coldplay concert) aboard a small plane, and the sudden turn for the worse that sparks much bickering, consternation and screaming. Jessica Lowndes stars as rookie pilot Sara — she of the mother whose life was tragically cut short by a small-engine airplane crash — and along for the trip are her socially awkward boyfriend Bruce (Landon Liboiron), her cousin Cal (Ryan Donowho), her friend Mel (Friday the 13th‘s Julianna Guill) and Mel’s insufferably jerky boyfriend Sal (As the World Turns‘ Jake Weary, showcasing his soap opera demonstrativeness). After take-off, unexplained mechanical malfunctions send the aircraft climbing out of control, and into the heart of a strange, dark storm. Unable to land, but running out of fuel, the group tries to troubleshoot their problem and figure out what’s going on, but eventually come to realize they’re locked in battle with a sort of supernatural (and perhaps fated) force.

Altitude‘s dialogue, in its efforts to evoke panicked realism, sometimes comes off as merely ridiculous (“This doesn’t make any sense — the systems aren’t supposed to fail like this!”), and a nod to Sartre doesn’t quite ring true coming from Sara’s mouth. Still, the basic third act plot twists are interesting and for the most part well rendered, which mitigates some of the movie’s uneven acting. It certainly helps, too, that director Kaare Andrews — who actually has a background in comic book artwork and animation, in addition to some short films — tells the story with an emphasis on, well, the story. There’s green-screen work galore, given the nature of the confined setting, but his camerawork, editing and even the film’s other fairly modest special effects feed a spiraling sense of uncertainty and doom. He also deftly interweaves some integral flashback material, related to Sara’s mother’s flight. Altitude isn’t a must-see smash, but what it accomplishes certainly bodes well for its behind-the-scenes creative team.

Housed in a regular plastic Amaray case in turn stored in a cardboard slipcover, Altitude comes to DVD presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen, divided into a dozen chapters, with an English language Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound audio mix, and optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles. It’s very heartening, too, that the DVD features such a robust slate of bonus material, anchored by 50 minutes’ worth of behind-the-scenes footage that includes interviews with all the cast and crew, and charts the movie from inception (producer Ian Birkett was a film school classmate of Andrews, and his older brother Paul worked up the script) through pre-production work, shooting up in Canada, and post-production. There’s also a separate 10-minute featurette on the film’s green-screen special effects work (one gets to fully appreciate the imaginative nature of a ceiling-mounted spinning camera), a trailer, and a scrollable “concepts gallery.” To purchase the DVD via Amazon, click here. B- (Movie) B+ (Disc)