Ben Larson I spent a lot of my formative years in Arkansas, and I may have even went diamond hunting - I can't recall. The civil war soldiers in this film go hunting for diamonds in Arkansas.The film sports numerous names. Some variation of Demon, Shadow, Thunder, or Diamon Mountain, or something indicating the presence of the Chikara.Captain Wishbone Cutter (Joe Don Baker) of The First Arkansas Calvary returns from the war to find a Yankee Major (Bud Davis) living with his wife (Linda Dano). So he heads off looking for the diamonds some dying soldier told him about.Along the way they find Drusilla (Oscar nominee Sandra Locke, in-between The Outlaw Josey Wales and The Gauntlet). Now, I thought this may be a gay film as they spent time discussing whether to take Drusilla along or leave her behind. Since Locke was listed as one of the top sex stars of 1969 by Playboy magazine, I found this discussion puzzling.Well, they head to the cursed mountain, and they find diamonds along with the curse - too bad.

Woodyanders 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.

Mr. Pulse Joe Don Baker has made some slip ups in his time but truly, Demon Mountain, or Shadow of Chikara as it is listed here has to be up at the top of the heap. The film hurts. I mean physical torture. I think I'd rather have my eyeballs put through the VCR than put this tape in my machine again. I got this thing dirt cheap, and I got robbed. It's worth less than dirt.A little rule of thumb for you bad movie lovers out there. Sign #32 that the movie you are about to watch is a stinker; it has more titles than you can think of for it. This film's library of title includes The Ballad of Virgil Cane, or The Curse of Demon Mountain, or perhaps you are more familiar with Shadow Mountain, or some even call it Wishbone Cutter, but whatever you wish to call it, the old line about roses and stank still applies. This thing stanks. When a movie cannot even bother to watch the length of its heroes sideburns, what can be said? Watch Joe Don Baker's mutton chops in several scenes (especially the one where they first meet the girl). From close up to wide shot, his sideburns morph, long and short, and back and forth. That's not incompetent, that's just sad.The plot involves a bunch of Civil War vets from the South who make a trek up that titular (Well quasi-titular, the mountain is mentioned in a few of the gazillion titles anyway) to what purpose I admit I cannot recall. You can bring criticism down upon me now, and question my integrity as a reviewer, but the way I see it, I am doing you a favor.It goes on and on and on like the gasping monologue the Slim Pickens delivers at the opening of the piece (During a Civil War battle scene slightly more engaging than something reenactors from that period could do. And I'm talking in the condition they are in NOW). You feel sad for him, and you feel sad for Joe Don (I mean the guy is not a superstar, but even he deserves better than THIS), but most of all you feel sad for yourself.

William 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.