As with last year’s The Void, Mohawk is wonderfully long on setting, mood, and practical effects, and woefully short on storytelling and drama. It concerns a Mohawk woman named Oak (Kanietiio Horn), her two lovers — one Mohawk, one English — and their efforts to rally her people to fight against the Americans in the War of 1812. Naturally, the Americans object, in particular, a scouting party made up of Fop, Steampunk, Grizzle, Grizzle Jr., and Bigfoot. (Those aren’t their names, just their personas.) Few of the actors seem to be going for a period feel, which is weird the way the synth-heavy soundtrack is weird, but it does give Grizzle (Ezra Buzzington) a chance to spatter his standout performance all over the landscape in entertaining fashion. And what a landscape! “The blood soaks into the ground,” intones Oak. “It seeps into the roots. The trees can’t sleep, and the whole forest goes mad.” Maybe so, but it looks great doing it. Alas, what appears to be a revenge-driven piece of slightly supernatural horror gradually morphs into a politically minded action movie, complete with punch-‘em-up showdown. It maybe could have worked as one or the other, but in its effort to be both, it winds up an unsatisfying mush. (2017) — Matthew Lickona
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