I thought the concept for this 1880's Western was pretty interesting, although when you see a modern day ranch house plopped into the story it's easy enough to get distracted. That's what happened in an early scene with Maisie Jackson (Eva Hamilton) entertaining her overnight friend Elmer (Christopher Beeman) just before Marshal Bascom (Dan Higgins) and Deputy Riggs (Cameron Kotecki) came calling. I've seen a handful of these recently made Westerns, and I think the reason they score so low with IMDb viewers is that they're filmed with such a pristine look they don't convey the gritty texture of the Old West. Sometimes the acting and dialog is on the amateurish side as well, dealing another death blow to the picture. This one wasn't terrible, but it takes some getting used to as it skips around between different sets of characters before it settles down to the main plot.
The skinwalker concept comes into play when a grizzled hunter (Nathaniel Burns) helps himself to an elder death token from the corpse of an Indian woman, thereby inviting a demon curse to overtake his body by means of a shapeshifting, evil spirit. The demon is an active sort, transferring from one victim to another throughout the story as it's host body dies or is killed by an adversary. Generally it draws blood to move from one victim to another, making for a genre mixing effort that adds a touch of horror to the film's Western roots. The shaman (Edward Rodríguez) in the story adds a nice touch to the proceedings, insuring that the death amulet makes it's way back to the point of origin from where it was originally stolen. The ending however is served up with some ambiguity, as the medicine man/shaman offers the death token to a cavalry corporal, thereby suggesting that his unit would be cursed for attempting to relocate the local tribe, while at the same time, the last woman (Amelia Haberman) to have contact with the demon's victim serves up a neat jump scare right as the movie comes to an end. From that I guess, you have to draw your own conclusion.
The skinwalker concept comes into play when a grizzled hunter (Nathaniel Burns) helps himself to an elder death token from the corpse of an Indian woman, thereby inviting a demon curse to overtake his body by means of a shapeshifting, evil spirit. The demon is an active sort, transferring from one victim to another throughout the story as it's host body dies or is killed by an adversary. Generally it draws blood to move from one victim to another, making for a genre mixing effort that adds a touch of horror to the film's Western roots. The shaman (Edward Rodríguez) in the story adds a nice touch to the proceedings, insuring that the death amulet makes it's way back to the point of origin from where it was originally stolen. The ending however is served up with some ambiguity, as the medicine man/shaman offers the death token to a cavalry corporal, thereby suggesting that his unit would be cursed for attempting to relocate the local tribe, while at the same time, the last woman (Amelia Haberman) to have contact with the demon's victim serves up a neat jump scare right as the movie comes to an end. From that I guess, you have to draw your own conclusion.