''Shadow of the Hawk'' is a 1976 American-Canadian horror film directed by

George McCowan George McCowan (June 27, 1927 – November 1, 1995) was a Canadian film and television director in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. McCowan began his career working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He worked as an actor and director fo ...

and written by Norman Thaddeus Vane and Herbert Wright. The film stars

Jan-Michael Vincent Jan-Michael Vincent (July 15, 1944 – February 10, 2019) was an American actor known for portraying helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke in the TV series ''Airwolf'' (1984–1987) and the protagonist, Matt Johnson, in the 1978 film ''Big W ...

, Marilyn Hassett, Chief Dan George, Pia Shandel, Marianne Jones and Jacques Hubert. The film was released on July 14, 1976, by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. The film was shot on location in British Columbia Canada using West Vancouver, Vancouver and the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge as backdrops throughout.

Plot

An old Native American

Shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...

trains his skeptical grandson to take over for him as the new tribal “Medicine Man” of his small village. Along the way, they battle the Shaman’s enemies, and their black magic.

Cast

as Mike * Marilyn Hassett as Maureen * Chief Dan George as Old Man Hawk *Pia Shandel as Faye *Marianne Jones as Dsonoqua *Jacques Hubert as Andak *Cindi Griffith as Secretary *Anna Hagan as Desk Nurse *Murray Lowry as Intern

Release

Home media

The film was released for the first time on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on November 1, 2011. It was scheduled to be released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

by Mill Creek Entertainment on October 2, 2018 as a double feature alongside '' Nightwing''.

Reception

Critical response for ''Shadow of the Hawk'' has been mostly negative. Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars, criticizing the film's screenplay, and dialogue. ''

Time Out London ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'' panned the film, calling it "A tired, TV-style chase movie", and stated that the film's only point of interest was Dan George's performance. Alternately, Kurt Dahlke of

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

gave the film a more positive review, commending the film's imagery, and special effects, while also noting the occasional "static pacing", and what he called "dueling-eye-closeups". The film was the third-highest-grossing English language Canadian film of all-time in Canada with a gross of $1.5 million.

References

External links

* * * * 1976 films 1976 horror films American supernatural horror films English-language Canadian films Canadian supernatural horror films Columbia Pictures films Films produced by John Kemeny Films directed by George McCowan 1970s English-language films 1970s American films 1970s Canadian films {{1970s-horror-film-stub