Thanks for the memories!

hyped garbage

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The tape I ordered was to be 114 minutes and titled "Curse of Demon Mountain". The tape I received was 90 minutes, words were bleeped, it was recorded in EP mode, and the title was "Diamond Mountain". Now for the bad news. The quality of this tape is basically unwatchable. It's not the first disappointment I've had with this film. I previously ordered a DVD, which proved to have no audio. Maybe the movie really is cursed? From what I can gather, it is a very different kind of western. If you wish to see it, you might want to double check what you are getting before committing to buy, as I know I will if I decide to give this a third try...... Update. I finally was able to purchase a watchable DVD copy. Still bleeped, and of poor quality, but nevertheless watchable. "Curse of Demon Mountain" is a movie that has a lot of wasted potential. It's a shame, because the story is intriguing, but the acting, editing, and lack of a quality print drags it down. - MERK

How many titles does it want to come under, and how close do they want to sound. For an immensely under-seen film, it's a long list that's for sure and this could mean there's a whole bunch of alternative versions. Possibly? Anyhow 'Curse of Demon Mountain' is very offbeat, but murky western / horror variation set during the end of the American Civil War. It's a low-cost looking production, but its minor handling and realistically down n' gritty vibe helped engrave a hauntingly grim atmosphere. Never does it fault on that aspect. The material might be slight, but because of its ambiguous air, paranoid questioning and often mentioned superstitious framework it does genuinely keep you compelled.At the end of the Civil War Southern Captain Wishbone Cutter, Indian/Irish companion Half-Moon O'Brian and geologist Amos Richmond head out on a journey to a cave which supposedly holds some valuable stones. Along the way they come across a young lady, Drusilla Wilcox, who was the last survivor of an Indian ambush and decide she'll come too. But it doesn't seem quite right, as they are being followed by some unseen force who doesn't want them to reach their destination.Really there's nothing there to blow you away about the concept, but the claustrophobic build-up, the uncertain spookiness and unpredictable developments make-up for its clunky and patchy moments. Earl E. Smith (who was director/writer/producer) can fall into some slipshod mechanisms, but his organically leery and edgy touch is well devised. The simmering score felt rather one-note, but the terrible audio sound on my VHS didn't do it any favours. In the soundtrack there's an odd inclusion of "The Night the Drove Old Dixie Down" by The Band, which plays during the opening battle sequence. The performances are very well brought across. Joe Don Baker burly and larger than life temperament is kept under check with a dominant, but careful portrayal as Cutter. Sondra Locke brings a bewildering innocence to her role. Joy Houck, Jr sensationally holds his own with Baker and Ted Neeley is ably good too. Slim Pickens also clocks in for awhile.I see it brought up, but the use of horses in one particular scene is quite disturbing if it was for real. I can't see it not being so.An interestingly novel and for most part an effective production, which has got be an eventual cult item.

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.

Halcow international film (who was famous for making western in the 60's & 70's drive-in era) made this poorly put together film. Paramount Pictures picked it up in 1977 under the title SHADOW MOUNTAIN and released briefly before it disappeared and to re-appear in several diffrent video labels. Joe Don Baker stars as a Southern soldier who comes home to find his wife with a Northern Soldier after the Civil War ended. He, Ted Neeley (from Jesus Christ Superstar) and an indian goes and travels and finds a Sondra Locke who is hiding some secret. Pretty amateurish film with bad sound, bad lighting, and a cameo by Slim Pickens. A song from the rock group "The Band" is also heard in the soundtrack.