Happened upon a home video print of "The Shadow of Chikara" last week, re-release title for the 1977 western/horror hybrid thriller "Wishbone Cutter" starring Joe Don Baker, Ted Neely and Sondra Locke, best known today as "Curse of Demon Mountain" in a severely cut form. The VHS picture quality of what I found is not up to modern DVD standards. But the print does have important stuff missing from the usual "Curse of Demon Mountain" edit common to bargain bin DVD sets & online streaming services.
Please be advised this post presumes reader familiarity with the film and is bursting with spoiler points which will ruin the mystery for those who have not seen. If in that camp please watch the movie first!! It's good as Posey's deer stew, wouldn't spend this much time on the thing if it sucked.
Click here to open video in a new window for fullscreen viewing options.
Read no further if unfamiliar with the movie and want to watch it before having the surprises ruined by spoilers.
DO IT.
Ok now we can continue.
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HOW ALL THIS NONSENSE CAME UP:
After randomly watching "Curse of Demon Mountain" last week I searched its other re-titles on Archive.org and found the movie presented as the feature in a home made "hosted horror movie" video from the VHS era with a character called "Dr. Lady". To its makers I owe at least one case of beer, call it in anytime. I do not know when the "Dr. Lady" show was created but from the look of the video my best guess is mid to late 1990s, and I do hope they went on to bigger things.
Using simple iMovie I removed the hosted parts - sidesplitting as they were - and what was left is a 1hr 29min PG rated version of "Wishbone Cutter" as a re-release print titled "The Shadow of Chikara" which is noticeably different than the "Curse of Demon Mountain" home video rips I am familiar with. Seen quite a few, having developed a fondness for the movie based on encountering it as a teenager on late nite TV & being utterly wigged out. Those are the ones I end up collecting different versions of and it was high time I caught up with "Demon Mountain" again.
A likely source of the Chikara print. Got it? Hit us up in comments.
The picture quality was very obviously sourced from a VHS video re-recorded from one deck to another, which is how we did things back then. I am fairly certain the source was a 30fps PAL format home video which if correctly time converted to 24fps NTSC would run 94 minutes. To experiment I did try slowing the movie down 5% in iMovie and got the expected 94 minutes but decided just to leave things as-is, DL the source file and engineer your own version if so inspired. The corrected 94 minute duration is also the stated runtime on the UK pre-cert VHS by Hokushin, which I suspect was the source of whatever bootleg was utilized by "Dr. Lady". I did add a blog link at all points where the horror host footage was removed to keep track of who did what. No other changes were made to the copy I uploaded.
Original release title poster. Nobody could figure out how to market this film to a wider audience. Went through at least six re-titles including "The Ballad of Virgil Cane" before "Curse of Demon Mountain" struck a chord.
The surviving "The Curse of Demon Mountain" prints commonly available for viewers today all look to have been made from a fullscreen (4:3) reformatted television print with all adult language removed which runs 91 minutes 30 seconds. The original director-assembled release print titled "Wishbone Cutter" is cited as running 114 minutes in 2:35:1 Panavision, meaning that as much as 23 minutes of footage was removed from what survives as "Curse of Demon Mountain". The "Wishbone Cutter" title seems to have been changed to "The Shadow of Chikara" during a wider re-release focusing on the horror angle, with other title changes to follow into the home video era. No true widescreen home video release of the entire film has ever been presented under any title and no studio authorized digital restoration of the film has ever been hinted at.
Somebody else's Greek Chikara tape on the mighty Joconda Video label. Got one in a box somewhere.
Earlier more complete home video releases exist, including a North American VHS with "The Shadow of Chikara" title cited on its box as running 96 minutes. The same version is apparently found on English language VHS versions from Spain and Japan. There are other prints which ended up on home video with the titles "Thunder Mountain", "Diamond Mountain", and "Shadow Mountain" with varying stated runtimes. But so far there is no indication that the original July 1977 "Wishbone Cutter" assembly ever found its way onto home video. Just re-release prints with varying degrees of cuts.
That'd be worth sitting through.
The two DVD versions of the film I have on disc are in budget line collections with 50 other movies that anyone can sell without too much worry of a lawsuit. I also have a nice Greek made VHS of "The Shadow of Chikara" in storage, need to get organized and run a DVD recording of it. I also have a bootlegged PAL format version running a speedy 82 minutes, no idea who made it. I never found an NTSC VHS of the film before the bottom dropped out of the VHS scene, good to see it's coming back again and intend to land some tapes of the re-titlings.
The only NTSC CODM VHS I've ever seen even just a picture of. Looks like an EP mode from the $2.99 bin that rattles when you shake the tape.
There is a retail DVD release flogged on Amazon by "Synergy" which disgruntled buyers have pointed out is just the standard television version now on Plex, YouTube, Tubi, Archive or any other free online streaming platform you can think of. Another US company whose name slips the mind also has a coldpress DVD of the title for sale on Amazon but at least has the courtesy to acknowledge the 90 minute runtime. Customer reviews are just as dire. My advice is not to bother with either unless you need a new DVD case to re-use. Just watch it online or burn your own disc from what Archive has (see link in next paragraph). There is a German made DVD by (difficult to read on my picture of it) "BMR Trading" whose box cites 114 minutes, fullscreen 4x3 with German language spoken. Costs $40 to find out how much of that is accurate and I'm not biting just yet.
Avoid any DVD with that image on its cover. Crop down of a "Wishbone Cutter" poster with the CODM title pasted where the credits should be. Synergy uses it too. There's any number of Dollar Store type DVDs as well using Joe Don Baker pictures from several films. None are licensed presentations including the one above.
I have not ventured into Grey Market non-retail world to sample which version(s) outlets like Sinister Cinema et al have on their non-licensed custom made DVD-Rs. There are plenty to choose from, most of which sound like the same recycled 90 minute TV print. Sinister's was available through Amazon, customer reviews hinted that it showed the standard television version and did not avail. (Would be interested in hearing a report if anyone has it.) I did find a Blu-Ray 1040p rip upload of the standard CODM television edit on Archive which is quite nice as far as uploads of it go, but covers no material. Still worth downloading a local copy to compare against Chikara if a fan of the movie.
North American NTSC release citing 96 minutes. If that's accurate it is not the same print shown here. If it runs "96 minutes" with company credits and preview for other movies, maybe. Does it have the song? Hit us up in comments if you know.
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For now this will have to do, and Here's what I noticed as different along with commentary on certain plot points too weird to go unmentioned.
- Onscreen title is “The Shadow of Chikara” (hereafter referred to as Chikara for short) in a noticeably different font than used for the “Curse of Demon Mountain” title (hereafter referred to as CODM for short). The Chikara title credits are shown over a freeze-frame of a scene borrowed from "The Undefeated" (more on that below) which opens both surviving versions. The CODM title was inserted over a freeze frame of the Chikara titles between title cards. The CODM font lacks a shadowed block effect on the Chikara lettering. Both of which were re-release edits: The original titles sequence for "Wishbone Cutter" remains unseen on home video.
- Total runtime is 1hr 29mins 29secs but with content which had been removed from the 90 minute “Curse of Demon Mountain” prints. My guess is that the source was likely a PAL format home video transfer then converted to NTSC, with its original print runtime amounting to 94 minutes. That duration matches the stated runtime on the UK pre-cert by Hokushin, would enjoy seeing an MP4 rip of that if anyone has it handy.
What we're used to seeing. No "The" in the title either, at least on this print.
- The color and bright/dark contrast is more "seeable" than the surviving “Curse of Demon Mountain” (CODM henceforth) prints I have been able to see. It still looks like crap compared to the modern studio authorized remastering we have come to expect from feature films restored for DVD. But you can see most of the nighttime scenes a bit clearer and the color has “flush” look that I associate with PAL to NTSC signal conversion.
Half Moon shouldn't be there, not even half of Half Moon. Neither should this scene.
- The pan/scan small screen formatting from Panavision 2:35:1 to older television 4x3 format is noticeably different than the CODM prints. With sloppy positioning of center resulting in characters often speaking dialog while chopped in half by the screen frame. There are also scenes where action ends up taking place offscreen when the pan/scan does not track the movement of characters. The CODM versions have much smoother pan/scanning.
- The PG rated curse words removed from the CODM prints are heard clear as a bell (a big "sunnovabitch", three instances of “slut”, one “bastard”, a hearty "god damn", a followup "dammit" and two instances of "bitch": Yep, I counted).
- The opening battlefield scenes go on for about a minute longer with a few more shots of the protagonists engaged in their cavalry action & stuff getting blowed up real good. Both battles end at about the 5min 9second mark, but with that 5% speedup it would be more like six minutes. How much of was cribbed from the 1969 John Wayne movie "The Undefeated" is easy to spot. They only use the opening 90 seconds depicting a Civil War battle with a Union cavalry charge. Confederate cavalry is not depicted. (Did they have access to footage filmed but not used in the Wayne film?). The complete Wayne movie is available here on YouTube.
My guide: If you see random guys fighting with special effects explosions blowing people through the air like in an A-list production, it's probably "Undefeated" footage. If it looks like Confederate types bumping around on horses shooting blanks at each other, it's probably footage made for "Wishbone Cutter". Would enjoy learning how Tailwinds/Howco got permission to use the "Undefeated" scenes.
Not on this version they don't.
- “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” has been replaced by looped audio of the quiet snare drum theme which starts the movie, indicating a certain amount of oversight; Whomever prepared the version observed not having the copyright clearance for the song, which is present on all of the CODM prints I have seen. It is not present on the Greek made "Shadow of Chikara" PAL format VHS which also cites a 94 minute runtime. Oddly, The Band and Robbie Robertson still receive onscreen credit, suggesting the looping happened after the film print had been transferred to the video master.
Even Major Blackburn helping himself to a drink is cut from the Demon Mountain prints.
- The confrontation between Cutter, his wife and the Yankee Major retains the intended adult edge blunted for the television edit. Not only with the uncensored insults but more about the disreputable character of Major Blackburn, including he was the “dunce” of the class at West Point and cheated his way to graduation. What’s different about the exchange is that it establishes Cutter as a West Point graduate who went home to Arkansas for the war out of loyalty to their shared home state, a point glossed over by removing the scene. Blackburn instead took a commission with the Union, which could be perceived as its own kind of disloyalty. Doesn't make Cutter any more noble or worthy of redemption, but is an indication of how the war ruined his life while Blackburn thrived just by being the scoundrel he was born as.
Frequent Howco stunt performer Bud Davis as Major "Blackie" Blackburn with Linda Dano as the thoroughly horrified Rosalie Cutter. She did seem sorry about his mom. Little else.
Cutter accuses Blackburn of taking up with the Union and bilking his way through the ranks to be Provost Martial to avoid the danger of serving in combat. All of which makes the betrayal of his wife more poignant, including a more direct implication that they’d been having sex while the sentry was posted outside. We also learn of his nickname "Blackie" which explains why Moon refers to "Blackie's troops" in the next scene, the meaning of which was something I'd always wondered about. The resulting fistfight and Moon’s stopping it is pretty much the same as in the CODM print.
- One of the mysteries of the surviving versions of the film film are named actors/actresses credited as "Bartender", "Barmaid", and "Bar Patrons", as well as a "Union Officer", all of whom are unaccounted for in the surviving versions. Sadly other than a brighter picture and different pan/scan placement the scene at the tavern where Cutter & Moon first meet with Teach is the same as in the all CODM prints I am familiar with.
Now we can see everyone clinking glasses. And that glowing shiner on Cutter's face from the fight. So it only took them a day or three to find Teach and have a sit-down or the shiner would be gone.
Not that it matters to this particular writeup, but there are two significant offscreen spans of time unaccounted for: Between Virgil expiring after the battle and their arrival at Cutter's (former) house. And another between Moon sewing up Cutter's head and the scene in the tavern with Teach. Cutter and Moon both refer to Yankee soldiers on their tail in the tavern and look around pensively as if they may have just ducked some - Maybe the unseen Union Officer? I seriously doubt Earl Smith would have had the pair hit up a bar after the battle, so the missing bar characters had to have been cut from the tavern scene. Which is also suspiciously missing an exterior shot establishing where they are.
- In another important inclusion, the Chikara print shows Cutter step off to the side after pulling the arrow out of Teach to examine more of them. Moon helps Teach to sit next to Drusilla and open his coat. We then see Cutter pick one of the arrows up, notice something, peer closer, and are shown the Chikara symbol on the the arrow shaft. He stands as Moon walks over, asking if he has ever seen the symbol before and Moon answers "I don't know, Captain. I don't know the sign." On the CODM prints the scene cuts before Moon helps Teach sit down to just as he says "I do not know, Captain. I don't know the sign" without us being shown what they are referring to.
The cut makes it unclear how Cutter was first able to describe the symbol to Posey in the cabin scenes and later recognize the mark on Drusilla at the end.
- Posey's attempt to bushwhack the heroes has different sound editing than the CODM prints, but most significantly Cutter asks Posey if he lives there, to which Posey answers how he and Dancer had just bagged a fresh deer and politely invites the travelers to join them for a meal. He even takes off his hat to the young lady. The CODM prints have him suddenly hatless.
Posey cleans up real good.
- The character of Rafe makes a more substantive appearance in their cabin before the three take off after the heroes. Both he and Posey are verbally abusive towards Dancer, something removed from the television version with a very sloppy cut. Once outside the cabin all of their scenes are the same as on the CODM prints.
Rafe's line "We're going to have to waste good ball & powder on them 'cosa you" suggests an error: All three bushwhackers are armed with cartridge firing Winchester type rifles, with Posey also carrying a cartridge firing Colt style revolver.
- An item still unanswered by the Chikara print: Who lights the fuse which sets off the dynamite that triggers the landslide which buries the bushwhackers? Mighty short fuse too, one good fizzle and BOOM. We will ignore the fact that dynamite wasn't invented until 1867, and in Sweden. The scene works.
But here's the thing. Teach was the one who suggests using the explosives, recommending that Cutter and Moon provide a distraction by re-shoeing a horse while he and Drusilla pretend to take a walk. Then sneak up to the top of the bluff above the villains and explode the dynamite. To which Cutter cheerfully agrees, "Hell of an idea, let's do it." So we know it wasn't he or Moon who lights the fuse. Problem is that when said dynamite blows up seconds later all three of the men are shown to be startled by the unexpected explosion which they had no opportunity to initiate.
Cutter and Teach responding with obvious surprise to the explosion. Drusilla is smiling and doesn't flinch like the seasoned combat veteran.
If Teach had set the fuse they should have been counting it down then diving for cover. There would have been no surprise. Moon's position is unclear but followup reaction shots place him with the other three and wearing a coat which does not match the person lighting the fuse. Pretty easy to tell those are not Drusilla's hands, so if one of the heroes it would have to be Teach. The coat is a similar brown color to what Teach is wearing, but how did he get up there, light the fuse, and get back down in time to be visibly startled by the explosion? Teach is also seen wearing gloves during the sequence where the fuse-lighter is bare handed.
Most bafflingly there is no discussion of the event in the subsequent scenes including upon finding Rafe's bloodied corpse, which does suggest it may have been Teach in scenes cut from continuity. The movie just continues as if their plan worked without a hitch, and my suspicion is most viewers don't think twice about the omission since the action fits what Teach suggested. The way the scene is edited in both the Chikara and CODM prints implies the explosion happens immediately after Teach makes the suggestion. So it couldn't be him lighting the fuse, and it wasn't Drusilla, who is the only one unfazed by the detonation. She even smiles.
- The setup for and cliff fall scenes with the horses play out differently. The sequence still begins with Drusilla overlooking the valley and Moon coming up behind to advise against it. But after her “I guess it was stupid of me” line Drusilla points to what she describes as an easier trail back down to the river, which Moon acknowledges and praises her for spotting. We then cut to the cave where Cutter approaches and asks what they are doing. Only then does Moon state “Drusilla and I are going to water the horses.” In the CODM prints we cut immediately from Drusilla saying it was stupid of her to Moon proclaiming they are going to water the horses.
Drusilla setting up Moon for their turn over the side.
As edited for CODM the rock slide which precipitates the fall suggests an unfortunate accident of opportunity which may have had no real cause. When reading the story backward knowing her involvement of picking the way down, Drusilla's pointing out the trail makes her the orchestrator of the event. Her odd jump from the saddle also comes off less like a poorly staged take and more like suggesting she may have transformed into the eagle seen circling after. Dunno.
The horse fall scene itself appears the same if framed differently by the odd pan/scan. Because of the center placement we see a bit more of Moon (or his articulated dummy) being mangled as he falls from ledge to ledge. I'm pretty sure the audio is more potent as well but it may just be a different audio channel (the sound during Posey's gunfire exchange with Cutter is also different).
What look like tree branches at lower left are the stiff looking legs of a horse mercifully cropped out by the picture frame.
As for legends of living horses being herded to their doom for the camera, I don't know ... The Chikara print provides nothing to bolster the claim or dismiss it. Looks about the same. How the sequence came about was barbaric especially if rigor stiff offal horses from a rendering plant had been utilized, which is my best guess: "Second unit work, no principal cast present, push em over the edge, three camera setup, one take, use slowdown effects in editing to stretch out but keep things in boundary for a PG rating."
Cinematographer James Roberson had a successful career including as a director and seems like a smart enough guy to think around having to kill horses on camera for a low budget movie stunt. Star Joe Don Baker had been in numerous Westerns & displays an affection for his horse during the film which comes across as ad-libbed natural. He's well familiar with getting on and off horses, riding, shooting from one etc, all of which took years of experience to learn. I can hardly see Baker participating in anything so cruel as forcing the animal over the side for a chilling shock sequence in a low budget movie. But I can see him cracking skulls with a 2x4 upon finding out something like that was added after his scenes were complete.
Will keep searching the topic for old interviews or publicity etc, it must have been discussed somewhere other than cult movie boards or blog posts. Until there is verifiable details from those involved about how the scene came to be the worst possible scenario will be the rumor. Stories about onscreen animal cruelty will continue to plague the film and are a valid reason why those in control of the film's may not be interested in revisiting it. Understandable, and my feeling about the sequence is it was regrettable and difficult to watch no matter how it came to be. I don't champion, recommend or defend the scene, but watch in baffled amazement that it came to be at all.
"You'd be a fool if you didn't" from the HD CODM print on Archive.org.
- After examining the stones Teach briefly advises Cutter that Virgil's collection of stones were just a few scattered about by erosion and that he would be a fool if he didn't set up a series of claims to look for more. On the CODM prints there is a quick jump cut to where Teach says "You'd be a fool if you didn't" for no apparent reason.
The end? Nope - Drusilla posed to be found by the heroes earlier in the film. She takes on the exact same positioning at the very end to be "found" all over again.
My theory? She's a revenant of a woman who had died in that exact pose from unseen events prior to the story, and returns to that position when Chikara needs to utilize her as a Siren to snare violators of its sacred grounds. The choice of a youngish white woman in need of protection meant as bait for a trap. "Drusilla" may not be human at all as she displays bird-like movements numerous times. She is re-animated to join whichever group "finds" her, learn of their purpose in the area and serve as an agent of their demise. Then stage the scene to look like a massacre and return to her pose to wait for the next travelers to happen along.
UPDATE! 070423: Found this image while searching the original title "Wishbone Cutter" online:
DUDE!! Looks to be Slim Pickens playing a younger Virgil Cane up trappin' on the Buffalo? Just as he describes to Cutter and Moon while succumbing to his injuries. Obviously from a cut scene, it's framed as a 4x3 publicity photo but he's in full costume with props and not just posing randomly. They must have strapped him into a "fat suit" with makeup to appear older in the Civil War scenes (Pickens would have been 57 in 1976 when the film was made, so he might also be made up to look younger above) as his aged appearance is part of the tragedy of his character dying so pointlessly.
Virgil proving a capable cavalry soldier during the battle, and Pickens a believable horse performer even at 57. But note how his belly heft protrudes well above his waist, indicating that he's wearing stuffing to appear overweight.
Nobody in that shape should have been serving as a front line soldier, which I'd always read as a symbol of how the Confederate cause was failed, corrupt, and unworthy of Cutter + Moon's service to it. Down to recruiting old men and the hollow eyed teenagers seen in the song montage, with unjust leaders knowingly ordering troops to be slaughtered. Cane's death scene makes some of that more real, so give extra credit to Pickens' acting, never really noticed he'd been playing it up that much. Just thought he'd gotten old.
Pickens as Virgil wearing what looks to be a wig sprayed to look gray. Slim's natural color peeks out just behind his ear. Not meant as exposing a goof but to underscore how much Pickens was invested in the role. If his character's only function was to get bayonetted onscreen for a War Is Hell Moment there was no reason to make Pickens look any older than he already was.
The obvious question: At what point in the narrative would the sequence in the publicity photo have taken place? Have been looking for the screenplay online. As the film exists now my guess is it would have had to take place either before the battle scenes, while Virgil was dying, or just before three heroes began their own journey. The surviving versions of the film I am familiar with all begin with a freeze-frame of what I'm pretty sure is footage cribbed from "The Undefeated", which is a funny way to begin your big mini epic adventure.
But could work in advancing what might have been deemed an overly lengthy film along by removing something before it which a re-release distributor felt slowed the pace. Cut directly to the action, which is what we see on both surviving home video versions linked from this post. We know as much as 23 minutes of film are missing and that the original "Wishbone Cutter" title sequence was entirely eliminated. So there's good reason to suspect a more serious omission from the beginning focusing on Virgil, his activities on the Buffalo River, and how his experience sets the stage for what takes place. The film was re-titled "The Ballad of Virgil Cane" but Pickens' existing scenes don't justify it even with the song. It would if the film had opened with his back story.
Virgi's goodbye from the HD CODM print. His mustache is darker than above, indicating it's fake. Keeps in reverse-step with the Beard Rule, where movie stars appear with beards in movies so they can be shaved off and look like their star image. Pickens was known for wearing facial hair in other roles but I call that Rollie Fingers 'stache above a fake.
I also wonder about the moment where a delirious Virgil asks "CAP'N WHERE ARE YA? WHERE'D YOU GO?" As it exists in the surviving prints it's an effective non-sequitor to establish that Virgil was nearing his end. But it could have served as an abrupt end to Virgil having a deathbed vision of being back up on the Buffalo with his beaver traps then snapping back to reality. Such a "flashback" could not have been very long or it would have shifted focus away from the drama of Virgil's life coming to an end.
The other place it might have worked is just after the tavern as our heroes begin their own adventure up the Buffalo, with Virgil's adventure depicted as a flashback which leads into the discovery of the "massacre". I think this is less likely, as having Virgil's scenes take place before the battle would have added more continuity to Pickens' screen presence, justified the "Virgil Cane" title better, and made his tragic end a more pointed part of the story. Having him return for a flashback as a younger man would dilute the depiction of Pickens as an elderly Virgil. But seeing it before the war scenes would have made it a performance. It's a shame that whatever range he was allowed to act on camera for the movie isn't being seen in full.
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Somebody please save this movie from oblivion. The horse thing is bad, nobody needs to see that any clearer. But it only lasts fifteen seconds. If the scene is an actual impediment to restoration its potential controversy could be addressed appropriately via commentary & on camera interviews with any left who were involved. Set the record straight and allow the movie to be re-evaluated on its many other merits.
Or just fucking cut it: The shots in question can be edited around in a way that still works with the story. Am a decent digital editor, give us a shout always looking for work. Fans of the movie would understand why it had to go & find it an equitable tradeoff to see the other 113 minutes 45 seconds in the correct scope with everything else restored. New viewers wouldn't miss a thing. Just sell it online as an archive version for starters, don't bother with retail until the restoration costs have been made back.
Do it.
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Would enjoy learning more from others who may be in the know on the movie, one does not need to sign in to comment. You can also email space.trucks.1138 @ gmail.com.
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