Name: Natas: The Reflection
Genre: Thriller
Released: 1986-10-21
Duration: 1 h 30 min
Rating: 3.3
Cast: Randy Mulkey, Pat Bolt, Craig Hensley

Mixes Equal Parts of the Ridiculous and Genuinely Eerie

Young newspaper reporter Randy Mulkey is determined to prove the existence of an obscure Indian legend. He trundles off to a mountain cave in search of a "living spirit" to tell him where to find Natas, the evil one of the desert mountains who imprisoned 100 souls back in the wild-west days.

On the way, he wanders into a ghost town populated by blackened, shuffling zombies in ten-gallon hats, and sees his face on a "wanted" poster. Before these chatty creatures can hang him, he escapes and runs smack into "109-year-old" Nino Cochise, the living spirit (who rides a white horse). Cochise gives him a wooden peace-symbol necklace as protection against the evil spirits, and says, "Beware the serpent" before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Mulkey returns to Tucson, Arizona and alerts his girlfriend, a TV newswoman who has had it up to here with talk of Natas. They return to the ghost town with a camera crew and all hell breaks loose. One fellow is staked through the neck by a ghost, another is decapitated by a flying scythe, and a naked woman crawls into bed to find a decayed but lively, murderous zombie waiting for her.

Having endured these improprieties, Mulkey and his girlfriend head up the mountain and encounter Natas -- that's "Satan" spelled backwards -- a weird-looking bat-like beast that takes one look at the reporter and spikes him with a red, electrical force ray. No one's looking when Mulkey's girlfriend shines a mirror in Natas' face, which sends him back to the wherever. In a stupid ending, the ghost town vanishes and Mulkey's dead friends come back to life, unable to remember that they all died.

Overall, NATAS--THE REFLECTION mixes equal parts of the ridiculous and genuinely eerie. The net effect doesn't add up, but the early scenes in the ghost town and Natas' anti-climactic appearance make the rest of it tolerable. The 16mm photography is very dark.

The thriller genre features suspense, tension, and excitement. These stories are known for keeping audiences on the edge of their seats and delivering intense emotional experiences by revolving around high-stakes situations, dangerous conflicts, and the constant anticipation of unexpected events.

A reporter searches for the truth behind an old Indian legend about a spirit that guards the entranceway to heaven and hell.

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Natas: The Reflection

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