Shadow of the Hawk

I saw this for the first time recently. Got pulled into seeing this after reading lots of glowing reviews on imdb. I didn't enjoy this film as ther is nothing eerie, spooky or horror bah it.

Generous with a 4 cos the film has some good locations n most of it is shot in broad daylight. It has a creepy snake, a creepy ghost (Jennifer from Masters of Horror lookalike).

The bridge scene cud have been tension filled but they filled it up with shaky cam.

The bear scene is badly done n the bear looked fake as if some human made to act in bear costume.

This movie like a lot of them made in the 70's contains an interesting plot and some substance. It gives a subtle touch of spirituality and some thrilling scenes of action and even creepiness. The characters seem convincing in their roles and the old man ( played by Chief Dan George) has a lot of personality in which he speaks very little being a very wise powerful medicine man. The other characters seem to pull of f their roles as well with the acting being realistic and not forced or awkward. I found the suspense in this movie to be "real" without all the special effects thrown in to make it look over the top and ridiculous like a lot of action flicks out there today. I guess you can think of this movie as one that leaves you with a good feeling at the end. The score of nine may seem a little high but I feel it really deserves it , due to it's subtle way of telling the story and leaving it up to the person watching the film to exercise their imagination. Also I think being someone who saw this film when it originally was released it brings back some memories and didn't disappoint years later when I watched it again for maybe the third or fourth time. A lot of movies that you had watched growing up appear a little different as you remember them but this one is in good standing. I also think that this movie is my favourite among the Native North American themes.

I really liked the first 45 minutes of this one. Usually, films made around this time come across to me anyway as pretty dated and they usually are trying so hard to be 'cool' that they come across as pretty lame. But, this director really sets a nice moody atmosphere which fits the Native American story really well. Very good use of visuals and I loved the soundtrack on this first half and felt that it was very effective.

BUT... from about the part with the guy in the bear suit... Well... that was pretty dang funny. And then they wandered around a lot during the 2nd act. The 3rd act got a bit more interesting where the Chief was preparing his grandson in order to pass his powers on to him. Again, in the cave and towards the end the effects with the faces of the Evil Ones, I thought it was fairly effective.

I'm not familiar with the woman who played the lead, but I was quite impressed with her very naturalistic and pleasant performance. Again, so many times films made during this time the characters were so artificial and irritating, but I think her character was truly one of the very best I've seen from around that time. The old Chief was pretty good too with a nice, natural, earthy style and just a shade of dry humour.

There was a scene where the Evil Witch Woman was doing this ritual to conjure the snake. It actually caught me a bit off guard with how sensual it was in a very naughty way. Many things could have come across as extremely CHEEEEZY in this film, and some do, but I honestly felt that the director particularly (although I don't think I am familiar with his work) had a good sense for what visuals, sound, and timing had the most effect.

The Blu-ray is unusually sharp and the picture quality is superb. The locations and cinematography are lovely. The sound is done very well. I really loved the soundtracks to Horror movies around that time and slightly earlier because they were more heavily used and if effectively done could really added to the mood of a film. A great example is the 1973 Telefilm 'A COLD NIGHT'S DEATH' There are only two actors, Robert Culp and Eli Wallach, and almost all the scenes take place in this one isolated research station in the Arctic. But, the use of sound is so effective that what could have been very static, boring, repetitive shots really came across as extremely dramatic and scary. The first half of this film is like that.

The 2nd half after the guy in the bear suit does start to come across more loosely and not as good. But, there are some good atmospheric moments here and there. If he had been able to sustain the same level of mood and tension in the 2nd half, then I think it would have been a really good film with nice Native American Spiritual overtones. As it is, I basically give it pretty much what the average rating most others gave it. But, overall, if you look past some of the goofier parts, there are some great, effective moments in it. Watch out for that rather sexy ritual part. It just might catch you off guard too : )

SHADOW OF THE HAWK is a low budget rural US horror dating from 1976. Although long forgotten by modern audiences, it's a spooky little adventure that makes great use of its British Columbian locales. Certainly as a slice of rural horror it ticks the same boxes as the likes of RITUALS and THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK.

The story is a simple one in which a Native American finds himself subjected to a curse by a terrible female demon. His estranged grandson finds himself plagued by equally horrific visions and sets off on a journey to rescue his grandfather and beat the curse, but many supernatural enemies stand in their way.

For a low budget film, this is efficient stuff with some truly memorable moments, like the bear attack and the car accident which is achieved with some excellent in-camera trickery. Director George McCowan had previously handled horror with the cult B-movie FROGS so he knew his way around the genre. Jan-Michael Vincent (AIRWOLF) is the erstwhile protagonist, but the main actor of note is Chief Dan George, who achieved fame of sorts thanks to his role in Eastwood's THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES.

What the hell are you supposed to do when suddenly one night, during your birthday celebration moreover, your old and physically exhausted grandfather shows up on your doorstep and begs of you to disregard everything and drive 300 miles to bring him back home? You could refuse and put him on a bus, seeing that he also managed to find his way there alone perfectly fine, but – like the cute woman accompanying him already pointed out – he is your grandfather and you just don't do a thing like that. So what other option is there but to politely offer a ride to both gramps and the lady? During the road trip, however, granddaddy reveals he's entangled in a spiritual battle with a ancient witch called Dsonqua and you are involved through your bloodline. A-ha! That immediately explains the eerie hallucinations you're having about wicked witch masks inside the pool and outside your bedroom window! All this is what's happening to Jan-Michael Vincent in "Shadow of the Hawk"; an above average compelling and atmospheric 70's thriller with a good cast and astonishing Canadian filming locations. Especially the first half of the film is more than fascinating to observe, what with all the mysterious Indian mythology and the genuinely creepy images of the witch's frightening mask. Unfortunately the film loses quite a lot of its pace and interest halfway and ends up being a rather dull and unmemorable supernatural hocus-pocus thriller. The most exciting moments of "Shadow of the Hawk" occur during the road trip, like for example the crash into an invisible wall, whereas the long-anticipated climax battle against the witch and her disciples is tedious and disappointing. George McGowan, known from the nature-revolts classic "Frogs", directs with a noticeable disinterest, but luckily the cast is excellent. Chief Dan George and Jan-Michael Vincent (one of my personal heroes of the 70's) are terrific and very believable as the Indian saviors. "Shadow of the Hawk" is quite difficult to track down these days, so make sure you only take the effort in case you're really interested in the film.