An interesting mix of western and horror movie delivers just enough to hold one's attention throughout. The top billing of Jack Elam is mendacious; he's there for about three minutes at the beginning and then we're on our way up the haunted mountain with a cast of unknowns. The only two vivid characters are the vociferous loser Billy Ray and the bearded heavy, an apocryphal survivor of the Donner Party. Most puzzling character is a Man of the Cloth who's apparently a preacher of a common frontier Protestant sort but is throughout called a "priest" and "padre". The atmosphere is pretty well controlled and I especially liked the way the cinematographer picked up the mist on the mountain. I suspect any other viewer will share my confusion about what happened to Winchester at the end.
