The Shadow of Chikara (1977)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Simply A Masterpiece

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

After the battle in American Civil War the dying Virgil Cane tells Confederate officer Wishbone Cutter about diamonds hidden in a cave along the Buffalo River.Coming back Cutter finds his wife and her new husband.After violent fight he sets out with his Irish-Cherokee companion Half-Moon O'Brian and geologist Amos Richmond to find the diamonds.Along the journey they meet a young woman Drusilla Wilcox in a nearly catatonic state and take her with them.As they head up into the mountain Half-Moon realizes that it is the Mountain of Demons,which is cursed by the spirit of Chikara who promised to kill all who ventured into its domain."The Spirit of Chikara" is an interesting mix of ugly western and eerie horror.The acting is believable and the climax is very surprising.The scene of two horses falling down from the slope is shocking and unsettling.8 out of 10.

Arkansas, circa 1865: After losing the final battle of the Civil War, sexist, sadistic Conferate commander Wishbone Cutter (a gruff, intimidating, but fairly restrained turn by the often overly hammy Joe Don Baker, here giving one of his better, less blustery and bombastic performances), faithful half-Irish, half-Native American companion Moon (beautifully essayed by Joy Houck, Jr., a good, engaging actor who usually toiled away in forgettable junk unworthy of his talent), and laid-back geologist Amos "Teach" Raymond (affable Ted Neeley, who played God's only son in "Jesus Christ, Superstar") venture into the dense, remote, uninviting Arkansas wilderness to unearth a diamond stash located on a sacred Indian mountain that's rumored to be guarded by territorial demons. Along the way the motley threesome pick up the comely, beguiling Drucilla Wilcox (the mesmerizingly winsome'n'willowy Sondra Locke, whose pale, haunted, crystal-clear blue eyes are vaguely redolent of Meg Foster's otherworldly orbs), the lone shell-shocked survivor of a brutal Indian attack. Pretty soon the quartet is being terrorized by some mysterious assailant(s). Could they be a strange tribe of inhospitable Apaches? Or is it the lethal woodland spirit Chikara, who rules over hawks and doesn't take kindly to interlopers trespassing on its terrain?Writer/director Earl E. Smith, who wrote both "The Legend of Boggy Creek" and "The Town That Dreaded Sundown" for Charles B. Pierce, does a superlative job of keeping the viewer on edge, adeptly creating a spooky, yet somehow oddly plausible and flavorful period tone which slowly, but surely grows on the viewer as the film gradually, carefully, and skillfully reaches its genuinely chilling and startling conclusion. The top-notch acting greatly contributes to the film's overall gritty credibility, with particularly nifty bits by the ever-scummy and unnerving unsung Western supporting villain John Davis Chandler as a repulsive backwoods psycho, Dennis Fimple as a grizzled, cloddish fur trapper who refers to the forest spirits as "haints," and the magnificent Slim Pickens in a lovely, touching cameo as Virgil Cane, a sweet old-timer who's fatally wounded early in the picture and tells Cutter about the cache of diamonds right before he dies. The rousing, ferociously rough and pulverizing opening battle sequence starts the film on a stirring and striking note, with excellent, poignant use being made of the Band's terrific, tearful ballad "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down." There's also some surprisingly vicious violence that one doesn't always see in a PG rated flick (e.g., the scene where Cutter removes an arrow from Raymond's arm is especially painful) and plenty of supremely creepy skin-crawling enigmatic "what's really going on here?" atmosphere. Quirky, low-key, and above all refreshingly different and original, "The Shadow of Chikara" is undoubtedly the finest, scariest and most exceptionally well-crafted horror-Western to ever grace celluloid. It's an unjustly forgotten little jewel of a sleeper that's well worth the extra effort to dig up and check out.

Watch Predator Watch thisFamiliar isn't it, Jungle coming to life, invisible enemies, a lone girl who has experienced the terrible thing that comes from the trees. The brave Indian tracker, its all there. Predator by any other name, and worth watching. Forget the other reviews, this was blockbuster (popular soundtrack The Band, horror, fear , scares, b grade cast?) Great cast they are familiar. Just watch it, its good.The director should have made more films, he had a talent and I think it was wasted, I loved it Earl, you did well

Offbeat western in which an ex-confederate captain (Baker), his Indian friend(Houck) and a professor (Neeley) joined forces to find a treasure of diamonds buried in a haunting mountain. Low budget production has some charming moments but the outcome is just a forgetable tale of horror blended with western style. Miss Locke, Eastwood's ex-wife, is the girl on the spot. I give this a 05 (five).