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The Ghost Dance
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Vinegar Syndrome Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (25th October 2024). |
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The Film
 An archaeological dig being conducted by University of Arizona, Tuscon anthropologist Dr. Kay Foster (Julie Amato) is the subject of much controversy among the elders of a local tribe, particularly when her team unearths a coffin of a mummified corpse buried facing down as is the practice to prevent evil people from avenging themselves from beyond the grave. When the camp guard vanishes and an indigenous worker is badly-injured in a freak accident, the elders believe that the body Kay has unearthed is that of Nahalla but they refuse to tell her anything about this man and the only way she believes she can placate them is to scientifically prove that the body is not this person. As colleague Paul (Fighting Back's James Andronica) starts delving into local indigenous history, Kay tries to get her boyfriend Tom Eagle (Johnny Firecloud's Victor Mohica) to help ease tensions with the tribal elders; although Tom has spent most of his life trying to get away from "fairy tales." What none of them know is that after the coffin was taken away, local medicine man Aranjo (Doin' Time's Henry Bal) managed to unearth sacred objects belonging to Nahalla who he believes will stand by his side in ushering in a new world for his people who are being pushed off the reservation towards the cities. When he summons Nahalla, however, the dead medicine man possesses him and becomes drawn to Kay, slaughtering anyone who may prevent him from "possessing" her. A regional horror picture shot in Arizona, The Ghost Dance belongs to a sub-genre involving vengeful indigenous spirits or creatures associated with them that informed films like the Poltergeist franchise, Pet Sematary, and The Shining on one end and the likes of Scalps, Ghostkeeper, Ghosts That Still Walk, Death Curse of Tartu, and Haunted on the other. The Ghost Dance belongs to the latter end as both a supernatural horror film and pseudo-slasher (that happens to include among its victims a secretary and a photographer who decide to hang around the museum after hours for some nookie among the exhibits). Despite making a medicine man a vicious killer, the film does seem to be trying to do more than just exploit the Indian burial ground trope with Aranjo justifiably bitter but too proud to even listen to his wife Lena (Deloris Maaske) who is more concerned with putting food on the table than waiting for the day that someone needs Aranjo's services on any meaningful level, Kay's lectures focus on the sociopolitical origins of the Ghost Dance rather than more salacious details of magic and evil spirits, the film's good medicine man Ocacio (Creepshow 2's Frank Salsedo) is just as shunned by his own people and seemingly also waiting, and Tom's aversion to his tribal traditions is rooted in a traumatic experience as a child. On the other hand, the plot is rather listless with most of the victims seemingly just there to be victims apart from one who might actually warn Kay of substantive danger – it does not help that she looks like Judith Light circa Who's the Boss – and really only picks up during the climax which includes a predictable but nonetheless dark ending. In between, there are moments of atmosphere in Nahalla's stalking of Kay which includes some shapeshifting and showering, and a few attractive desert landscape sequences, all of which can be primarily attributed to the photography of Fred Murphy (Stir of Echoes) – with second unit work by Hanania Baer (Masters of theUniverse) – and the scoring of Joseph Byrd (The Ski Bum) which is not so much lyrical as a layered sound collage of chanting and choral voices. While the cast includes a number of theater, film, and television character actors along with local Arizona performers, the most recognizable name (more so than face) for horror fans would probably be stuntman Don Shanks (Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers). As far as "Indian burial ground" horror films go, The Ghost Dance has a certain sensitivity to indigenous issues and some moments of atmosphere but is otherwise just a slasher under the guise of a supernatural horror film. 
Video
Shown in four-walled theaters by the film's producers, The Ghost Dance gathered dust on the video shelves as both a Trans World Entertainment domestic tape and Canadian Interglobal Home Video edition that made its way south of the border (oddly enough, this one did not turn up on unauthorized DVD sets in the early 2000s although one can imagine how much worse it would have looked given the likes of Mill Creek's multi-movie VHS rip releases). Both rendered Murphy's low-light and moody photography virtually pitch black. The 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray comes from a new 4K scan of the original internegative which shows off Murphy's lighting to better effect with good rendition of fine detail in close-ups from skin textures and hair to the mummified corpse of Nahalla which was rather a washed out amorphous shape on video. Shadows can still be noisy and somewhat flat and streaky in a few of the night-for-night exteriors on the campus but the desert and cave scenes seem like they were framed with the limitations of the lighting equipment kept in mind. 
Audio
The sole audio option is a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track which sports clear dialogue and effects while giving a nice presence to the chanting score which enhances the mood of some sequences. A minor quibble with the optional SDH subtitles is that whoever transcribed them did not bother to check the closing credits crawl to see how some character names were spelled. 
Extras
Extras start off with an audio commentary by genre critic and author J.A. Kerswell and film and TV historian and author Amanda Reyes who reveal that the film was conceived in 1974, shot in 1980, and released in 1982, encompassing the golden age of slashers but being released at the tail end of the genre. Kerswell and Reyes discuss the use of Native American mythology in horror films, the place of the American Indian movement in the late seventies, how the film represents indigenous peoples, the use of middle-aged characters in a slasher scenario, as well as some of the more interesting variations of the genre that came towards the end of its boom. They also provide some background on the filmmakers and the cast, including Shakespearean actor Bal who was often cast as Native American characters and Maaske who only has one IMDb credit with this film but was and still is a working and well-traveled stage actress.  "Looking into the Past" (25:33) is an interview with co-writer/director Peter Buffa who was friend with producer Robert M. Sutton when they were at the University of Arizona and they had been tossing around the idea of making a feature film themselves since the mid-seventies. Buffa discusses doing research but being "too uneducated" to grasp the potential ramifications of his representation of Native Americans and the Ghost Dance which he just thought was a cool idea. He reveals that Sutton got cinematographer Murphy through his working relationship with Coppola's American Zoetrope and that he was a huge fan of the "golden time" or "magic hour" in the desert which often did not last long enough to get the shots they wanted. "This Is Great Stuff!" (22:10) is an interview with co-writer/producer Sutton who discusses trying to finance the film with his television director brother-in-law Christopher Hibler lined up to direct before he decided to fund the film himself. He recalls negotiation with the Xaqui Indians about shooting on their land but they refused him when they heard about the script (after which rumors started about its content) and he ultimately struck a good deal with the local Boy Scouts to shoot on their campgrounds. He also discusses the casting and the expense of shooting on location, as well as Salsedo's legal troubles. "Dances with Ghosts" (17:02) is an interview with stunt coordinator Shanks who recalls beginning without any experience as an actor/stuntman wrestling bears on The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams and was offered a role and stunt work on The Ghost Dance by actor/production manager J. Christopher Senter (Runaway Nightmare) who was among the few cast and crew to injure themselves on desert cacti and encounter large rattlesnakes among the electrical cables. The disc also include the film's theatrical trailer (0:40). 
Packaging
The standard edition comes with a reversible cover while a spot gloss slipcover (designed by Wes Benscoter) limited to 6,000 units is available directly from Vinegar Syndrome.
Overall
As far as "Indian burial ground" horror films go, The Ghost Dance has a certain sensitivity to indigenous issues and some moments of atmosphere but is otherwise just a slasher under the guise of a supernatural horror film.
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