700th Blog!! Weird West Week: The Shadow of Chikara

Salutations youngins and welcome back for Day 4 of Weird West Week. Well we have had vampires, weeping women, monstrous gunslingers and even a dinosaur so what could possibly be next? How about we journey to Arkansas (only watching the film.. kind of a weird state) towards the last days of the Civil War, when one of the confederates knows he is not gonna make it so he tells two of his buddies of a mound of rocks that may be a treasure in the makings. This is The Shadow of Chikara a.k.a. Curse of Demon Mountain a.k.a. Demon Mountain a.k.a. The Ballad of Virgil Cane a.k.a. Thunder Mountain a.k.a. Wishbone Cutter a.k.a. Shadow Mountain.

Damn Yankees took all our bacon!!

Former Confederate Captain Wishbone Cutter (Joe Don Baker of Lancer, Wild Rover, Walking Tall, Mitchell, The Pack, To Kill a Cop, Fletch, The Living Daylights, In the Heat of the Night and GoldenEye) Irish Indian Half Moon O' Brian (Joy N. Houck Jr of Night of Bloody Horror, Creature from Black Lake, The Brain Machine and Down by Law) and mellow geologist Amos Raymond (Ted Neely of Jesus Christ Superstar, A Perfect Couple, Hard Country, Summer Camp Nightmare, Of Mice and Men and Django Unchained) decide to journey the remote regions of the Arkansas wilderness. Hopefully they avoid a collection of grossly disfigured inbred cannibalistic mountain men similar to the villains of Wrong Turn.

Rough mountain terrain moves deep into the cave their late compatriot described and discover a cache of diamonds. Wealth beyond their wildest dreams and thus far no disturbing hillbilly melee weapon wielding psychos. Then Moon recounts of a tale he has heard of demons that guard a sacred mountain and realizes it may possibly be this mountain (NOW A WARNING??!!!). Warnings aside the threesome collect as many rocks as possible but still light enough to move around the treacherous underfoot when they encounter a battered woman who claims to be the lone survivor of a vicious Indian attack. As shell shocked as she is, she tells the fellas her name is Drucilla Wilcox (Sondra Locke of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Every Which Way is Loose, Sudden Impact, Ratboy and Clean and Narrow). Wishbone less than thrilled a damn woman (his words!) is along to get in the way and may make a play for their treasure reluctantly deals with her joining the party. Methinks he is just bitter because Amos and Moon are vastly prettier than he and more likely to get the girl.

So... live around here?

The long trek back the Untouchable Trio Plus One are ambushed and confused to what is laying these onslaught of attacks. Roving band of Apaches?? The moonshiners from Deliverance? Demons watching over their sacred mountain? The answers to these questions begin to frighten the hell out of them as they become scared, paranoid and loaded with firearms. Will they strike it rich only to die for their uncovered funds? Will life be more important than the diamonds? Why does Wishbone look like Meatloaf?

A few comments on the flick now. Factually speaking diamonds were not discovered in the hills of Arkansas until 1906, 41 years AFTER the Civil War and the use of dynamite for mountaineers, farmers and railroad workers won't happen until two years after the film's set timeline because Sweden hadn't developed it yet. Aside from these mildly interesting facts, this has all the hallmarks of a 70's slow build-up Horror movie. The gradual and meticulous tone that says something spooky is on the rise but we have no idea when the trap is sprung. Painfully staked with an excellent mood altering musical score this film is low key and definitely worthy of the term Ghost Story of the Old West.

The cast is superb, the film has a fair degree of violence for PG which would be bumped to R these days and the setting has a good creep factor. Frankly this is a forgotten gem that deserves a good DVD release. The copy I saw was grainy as hell, recorded in Technicolor and mono so adjust your speakers accordingly. Curiously enough, our director/writer Earl E. Smith also created The Legend of Boggy Creek, The Town That Dreaded Sundown (Original 1976 version) and Sudden Impact. Folks I am 4 for 4 this week and loving it!!! Easiest copy to find is the title Curse of Demon Mountain.

So I'm too doughy to be the Lone Ranger?  Damn.

Weird West Week: The Beast of Hollow Mountain

Welcome back lil' doggies to Day 3 of Weird West Week. Boy howdy this one is a bit of the strange but well keeping into the theme of the week, our story involves an American cowboy tending a ranch out in the Mexican territory. A wretched hive of scum and villainy(just kidding) as several of his cows have gone missing. Leading a team of cowboys to investigate it all seems to connect to an unexplored mountain said to be cursed according to the local villagers. This is The Beast of Hollow Mountain.

Hmm think Speilberg went a little cheap this time.

Cowboy/ranchman Jimmy Ryan (Guy Madison of Red Snow [1952], The Last Frontier, On the Threshold of Space, The Hard Man, Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, Gunmen of Rio Grande and Five for Revenge) finds himself in quite the pickle as his livestock has gone missing with huge, massive tracks leading away from the granging area. With a posse of 4, Ryan leads the investigation following a path of destruction that leads to Hollow Mountain alongside the swamps that interconnects the land. While checking on the cattle, ranch hand Fellipe (Carlos Rivas of Bonanaza, True Grit, The Undefeated, Topaz, Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze, The New Adventures of Zorror and Mi vida loca) tells Ryan the tales of the land of a strange beast said to reside in the valley and returns to reek havoc on the lands until its blood-lust is sated.

As they head back they see another ranch as a pack of dumb preteens toss fire crackers spooking horses and cause the ranch owner Pancho (Pascual Garcia Pena of Hidden Paradise, El Zorro vengador, House of the Frights, Los parranderos, Bring Me the Vampire, las mascara de jade, Youth Without Law and The Bandits) to be thrown from his horse and drug in front of his son Panchito (Mario Navarro of The Road of Life, The Black Scorpion, Villa!!, Bolero inmortal and The Magnificent Seven) aiding him from getting bounced around all the terrain.

I bemused by this plucky stranger.

Immediately falling for Don Pedro's daughter Sarita (Patricia Medina of Stranger at My Door, Miami Expose, Zorror, Count Your Blessings, Latitude Zero and Timber Tramps) and is disturbed to find out an wealthy, loathsome ranch owner is chasing after Sarita offering to watch over her father's ranch in return for her hand in marriage and told Jimmy to go back to Texas to ranch.

With the constant squabbling from Enrique the rancher (Eduardo Noriega of Deadly Reef, Mad Drivers, Mojados, Guyana: Cult of the Damned, El hombre sin miedo and Zorro: The Gay Blade) and Jimmy it is getting so the tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife. Pancho decides to continue looking for the lost cattle, tells Panchito to let Jimmy know where he went into the swamp if he does not return by dusk. A loud roar terrifies Pancho and something attacks him.

Fearing the worse, the fellas watch after Panchito before he drops him off to Don Pedro's home and leaves to see off his cattle for shipment. Panchito escapes the house and heads back to the swamps to find his father. Ryan, Enrique and a few others go out to find the boy and encounter a large reptile of prehistoric standing. The Allosaurus proceeds to chase down the horse riders and all hell breaks loose. Can the cowboys stop this massive monster? Will Panchito be saved?

A few points of interest in our movie. Practical effects artist Willis H. O'Brien developed the stop motion creature making it about two feet high and full articulated in over 50 points allowing the creature to move about, clamp his jaws and breathe heavily with an air compression tube.

This is the first film to use stop motion animation with the anamorphic lens or Cinemascope and in Technicolor as well. It has been shot in both Spanish and English with Guy Madison dubbed as his Spanish was barely passible. Aside from a bit of the slapstick drunk antics, this had all the Western themes of fist fights, gunplay and a serious vibe to this monster movie. 3 for 3 this week.

Why yes I am incredibly handsome and rugged.

Season One Show: Firefly

Dàjiā hǎo! Welcome to Season One Shows' Day One and yes I thought it only proper to get this ball rolling with one of the most talked about, beloved and thoroughly aggravating shows that Fox has ever cancelled. While House went kicked, punched and eye gouged the shark, this show got one season while the creator's main show and its spin-off were also being handled. Showing life in a frontiersman's setting across planets, cattle rustlers and criminals of the like not see in this here 'verse. This is Firefly.

Open the pod bay door, Joss.

Created by writer/director/producer Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Toy Story, Angel, Alien: Ressurection, Speed, Dollhouse, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and The Avengers) and set 500 years into the future, the Earth's resources, natural splendor and living conditions are done. Humanity leaves its cradle of civilization in search of new planets to live and prosper. Core planets are guarded, protected and shielded by an assortment of laws and regulations by the Alliance, while the outer rim planets are handled by cattle ranchers, pioneers and tradesmen that can be sacked, bushwhacked and paddywhacked at any time. These are the non-allied worlds. Soon after the push to space, the Alliance wished to add even more planets under the yoke of their rule and the non-allied worlds rose up in a intergalactic civil war broke out. With more tech, manpower and resources the Alliance finally broke the Independents and proceeded to continue to carve up space.

For former Independant or "Browncoat" Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Justice League, Drive, Desperate Housewives, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and Castle) being a criminal means taking risks so his ship can stay flying, sticking it to the Alliance and making a life for himself and his crew. Deft but goofy pilot Wash (Alan Tudyk of of Patch Adams, A Knight's Tale, Ice Age, I, Robot, Serenity, Young Justice and Newsreaders), his second-in-command Zoe (Gina Torres of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Cleopatra 2525, Angel, Justice League, Standoff and Suits), his hard headed bad ass desperado Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin of Predator 2, Wyatt Earp, The Cape, The X-Files, Stargate SG-1, Angel, Evil Eyes, Jackie Chan Adventures, Chuck and The Last Ship) and plunky engineer Kaylee (Jewel Staite of Space Cases, Flash Forward, Just Deal, Firefly, Stargate: Atlantis, The L.A. Complex and The Killing). Between ferrying legitmate cargo and taking on passengers, the thefts are always paying better but the law is always around, criminals looking to screw them out of their hard earn coin and a myriad of psychotic cannibalistic men and women known as Reavers take to the skies as well.

Dinner with all the trimmings.

Hard to sneak about and be viewed as respectable but licensed companion Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin of Roger Dodger, Still Life, Serenity, Justice League, Stargate SG-1, Stolen, V, Back in the Day, Son of Batman, The Flash and Gotham) gives them credibilty on the core worlds as well as picking up fares such as: holy man Shepard Book (Ron Glass of The Streets of San Francisco, Barney Miller, Crash, The New Odd Couple, Back in Business, Serenity, All Grown Up and Lakeview Terrace) and Doctor Simon Tam (Sean Maher of Party of Five, The $Treet, Firefly, Serenity, Much Ado About Nothing, Arrow and Son of Batman). Events unfold and Doctor Tam is revealed to be a wanted fugitive for rescuing his sister River (Summer Glau of Angel, Firefly, Serenity, The Unit, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, Knights of Badassdom, Arrow and Sequestered) from an Alliance research and development program.

Is this more than Reynolds bargained for? Can the crew and passengers co-exist peacefully? Is there a reward for the brother sister duo?

A quick few bits on the show now. Mutant Enemy Productions released this show in September 20, 2002 with the set of Serenity, the ship being as much as a character as the cast given she was split level and built full-scale across two sound stages for upper deck, lower deck, shuttle docking bay and holding bay and all sets were connected. The Alliance officer and solider uniforms were leftover armor and suits from Starship Troopers. Every scene in space did not have sound effects as it would be in real life as SPACE IS A VACUUM... of course the background music was still played but hey there is only so much realism.

Fox aired the episodes out of chronological order primarily because the pilot was deemed too long and less hard hitting as its second episode, "The Train Job". One of the first TV sci-fi shows to be exclusive without extra-terrestrial life it made certain that the two predominate powers and language would be English and Mandarin Chinese (which allowed swearing to get around the censors).

A clever story line allowing 8 main characters to be properly developed, giving them hurdles in life, put in real life scenarios as much as fictitious ones. Would it held up in another season or even 2? That has been the subject of many debates. In this humble reviewer's eyes, I feel we could have explored more of each crew members' back-story with the bonus of who they were to where will they go from here. With the completion of Serenity, many questions were answered and it did put a nice cap on a few issues. Is a sequel in the works to this day? Only Whedon knows.

Feel like a trap?