A white trapper (Tim McIntire) and his pregnant young Apache bride (Serene Hedin) unknowingly build a home on a Paiute burial ground. The Paiutes don't like it. After some stuff happens, the trapper turns to crazy old Jack Elam for help. Not half-bad little western from Charles B. Pierce, best known for The Legend of Boggy Creek. Pierce clearly had an interest in all things Native American as he made a handful of westerns and, of course, the cult classic Vikings vs. Indians movie, The Norseman. One thing I can say about Pierce is that his movies intrigue me, even if they don't always fire on all cylinders.The main selling point of this one is the pretty scenery. The cast isn't terrible, either. Tim McIntire plays our "hero" and his performance is something else. Half the time he appears to be ad-libbing but it could just be that he forgot his lines and they didn't do multiple takes. Either way it adds a crudeness to his performance that winds up helping the film more than it probably should have. Vets Jack Elam and L.Q. Jones are fine in their scenery-chewing roles. Serene Hedin is lovely but not the greatest actress. She would make two more films with Pierce, including the notorious stinker Boggy Creek II.This isn't something I'd ever want to watch again but it's not bad. It's a little slow-going and the plot is hardly original but, as is often the case with Pierce movies, there are enough interesting things going on to keep my attention.

This story of a mountain man, his Indian wife, and their accidental violation of sacred ground, is both interesting and different. The movie has a gritty, authentic feel to it throughout. This really is minimalist entertainment, almost entirely filmed outdoors in southern Oregon. A couple of annoying glitches crop up, include disappearing and reappearing snow, and Indians who speak their native tongue or English at various times, without any rhyme or reason. Nevertheless, "Sacred Ground" is filled with authentic feeling characters, the standout being Jack Elam. Recommended for those seeking a story that you haven't seen before. - MERK

You don't see much of it until the second half of the film, but in the background shots you'll see one of the Cascade Range's oldest and most beautiful volcanoes, Mt. McLoughlin. The sentinel of southern Oregon, this majestic peak rises above the location of this story which is equally ancient. Wife stealing as a plot device was central to Homer's tale of Helen of Troy in "The Iliad" and King David's chicanery to possess Bathsheba, the wife of his soldier Uriah, in the Old Testament book of 2nd Samuel. A latterday Samuel (Pierce) has updated the story a few millennia later by having his hero steal an Indian's wife for a wetnurse when his own Indian wife dies while giving birth to their child. He feels justified in doing so after she's mortally wounded in a skirmish with the local Paiute tribe who had taken umbrage over the mountain man and woman building a cabin on their burial ground. Using a little Davidian chicanery himself, Pierce's hero persuades another mountain man into helping him steal the woman and then, lacking a thousand Greek ships, he steals a Henry repeating rifle to hold off the angry Paiutes. Although the dialogue and plot development leaves a lot to be desired, Pierce, who also was the Director of Photography for this production, redeems himself as a better DP than screenwriter. The location footage shot in Oregon's Klamath County brings this film to life as it muddles along with the story. It's still a very enjoyable film, with some good performances from Jack Elam and L.Q. Jones, both of whom develop their characters without going too far over the top. And the location footage makes me wish I had travelled further south in my trips to the Beaver State. Dale Roloff

Do you want to feel the _real_ old West? "Sacred Ground" will show part of it to you. It is very much like being there. The characters are not posing or becoming legends. They are living on the screen. I don't care in this instance that the story and ending are only so-so... unusual but not deep. I rated this film a _9_ based upon: 1) almost perfect acting during 3/4 of the film; 2) authentic and beautiful outdoor location scenes; 3) worthwhile costumes; 4) very believable indoor sets; and 5) everything else being at least adequate. In the collision between European Americans and American Indians, this movie shows human values with more depth than "Little Big Man" or "Cheyenne Autumn." While they are struggling desperately in conflict, neither is given too much nobility nor too much shallowness. Who is the "hero" and who is wrong tends to shift organically as decisions pile up through time....more authentic even than some great movies like "High Noon" with Gary Cooper. ...... The editing tells the odd tale almost seamlessly with just a few glitches. One or two minor moments of "huh?" happen in the plot. Actor Tim McIntire lived several years in the wilds of Montana before electricity arrived. It seemed he was on "familiar ground" and not just "making a movie."