The basic premise of this movie, as the title suggests, is the stirring up of a Skinwalker - a fearsome, shape-shifting spirit that wreaks vengeance on those who awaken it.
Spoilers below: ****************************************************************************
Throughout the movie we see characterizations of "good guys" and "bad guys". The bad guys look like greedy, vicious murderers, but show compassion to fellow bad guys and even to those who sneer at them. The good guys prove to have traits that sometimes repel the bad guys. The characters develop, something that doesn't often happen.
The action is a bit confused; sheriff and deputy kill one bad guy and take his female companion with them to turn in for a reward. They find a town that has been devastated by plague, so they are forced to take her to a town farther away, through dangerous territory.
In the meantime, one bad guy grabs a talisman from an Indian above-ground grave, which begins the terror of the Skinwalker.
What follows are scenes where the female criminal shows compassion and care towards her captors; where other bad guys take over a cabin where three women live - without abusing the women. The women sometimes sneer at the criminals for being low-lifes; but the criminals behave with compassion.
Ultimately, after considerable uproar and killing almost everyone, the talisman is returned to the gravesite, and a shaman performs rites to appease the spirit. All is well.
After some heartwarming scenes of reconciliations and goodbyes, the criminal woman and a "good" woman are riding a train to California. Then we see a newsboy selling papers; a headline tells of how the US Army is being used to clear Indians from the mountain.
The medicine man is at the gravesite when soldiers appear. They soldiers point a rifle at him, telling him he's got to get off the mountain. The medicine man pulls the talisman from the corpse and hands it to a soldier, telling him that the mountain is theirs.
On the train, one of the women suddenly turns into a Skinwalker, and the movie ends.
This might be seen as a realistic outcome, but I didn't much care for it.
Spoilers below: ****************************************************************************
Throughout the movie we see characterizations of "good guys" and "bad guys". The bad guys look like greedy, vicious murderers, but show compassion to fellow bad guys and even to those who sneer at them. The good guys prove to have traits that sometimes repel the bad guys. The characters develop, something that doesn't often happen.
The action is a bit confused; sheriff and deputy kill one bad guy and take his female companion with them to turn in for a reward. They find a town that has been devastated by plague, so they are forced to take her to a town farther away, through dangerous territory.
In the meantime, one bad guy grabs a talisman from an Indian above-ground grave, which begins the terror of the Skinwalker.
What follows are scenes where the female criminal shows compassion and care towards her captors; where other bad guys take over a cabin where three women live - without abusing the women. The women sometimes sneer at the criminals for being low-lifes; but the criminals behave with compassion.
Ultimately, after considerable uproar and killing almost everyone, the talisman is returned to the gravesite, and a shaman performs rites to appease the spirit. All is well.
After some heartwarming scenes of reconciliations and goodbyes, the criminal woman and a "good" woman are riding a train to California. Then we see a newsboy selling papers; a headline tells of how the US Army is being used to clear Indians from the mountain.
The medicine man is at the gravesite when soldiers appear. They soldiers point a rifle at him, telling him he's got to get off the mountain. The medicine man pulls the talisman from the corpse and hands it to a soldier, telling him that the mountain is theirs.
On the train, one of the women suddenly turns into a Skinwalker, and the movie ends.
This might be seen as a realistic outcome, but I didn't much care for it.