Blood River (2009)

Purely Joyful Movie!

A Masterpiece!

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

There really should be a disclaimer at the start of films that rely on any form of fantasy to hold a plot together...at least ones that masquerade as a thriller, like "Blood River." To expect us to believe the "avenging angel" nonsense might fly on some Disney TV show or some bible-belt rouser like "In Search of Historic Jesus" but in the context of a traditional horror film, it's just lazy writing.I can't remember being so let down by a film. This is a very well-made, well-shot, generally well-acted picture that falls apart in its last twenty minutes through a variety of indecipherable and unclear "revelations" all of which may or may not be true. No one knows....no one. Every single post I've read falls back on either the angel explanation (which Mason obviously BELIEVES, according to interviews) or just meanders with semi-plausible, wistful thinking. The killing, torturing savior for Jesus, right? Ugh...fine. You believe...whatever. Don't insult the rest of us with this fairy nonsense.What really stinks is what a waste this film is. Lots of good character conflict, good dialog, some genuine tension...and it ends in a pseudo-Sunday school lesson. What a gyp.

No one loves dark horror slasher flicks better than me especially if it follows a certain formula and to me Blood River had all the makings of that great horror genre. Isolation, ghost town, mysterious stranger, stranded in the desert, a distinct western feel how could it go wrong? Well it can go wrong by just being boring. Gore is at a bare minimum and while the dark stranger and isolation would seem to be an easy setting for some nice intensity and thriller like qualities but instead the film crawls at a snails pace and you just want it to be over, a true disappointment.Ian Duncan and Tess Panzer play the young married couple who find themselves in a terrible accident in the desert. Ian Duncan looks crazed and insane right from square one. I think he looks the scariest of everyone and if overacting was an award he could take it home easily. Tess Panzer is great eye candy and she does the scream queen thing decently but it is just absurd how quickly and easily she trusts the strange cowboy. Ian Duncan plays the strange cowboy and psycho. In a better written and directed and created film he and his character might have been solid because he has enough experience as an actor but then they all do but this drivel of a story doesn't help.I think the biggest issue with Blood River is the pacing of the story. It just seems to go on and on and doesn't have enough twists and turns to keep you riveted to the story. The cast has very very little chemistry with each other whether its the husband and wife or either of them to killer you just don't sense any chemistry. Director Adam Mason apparently loves straight to video horror flicks having directed a handful of other ones which I have not seen and I hope for his sake he gets a better script to work with. I read a lot of reviews both on IMDb and independently and some of them were reasonably good calling this a creepy western, and well thought out and a stimulating thriller and I just didn't see it. This one for me was a dud in every sense of the word. 3/10

I was definitely let down by this film. This is partly my fault for having high expectations due to someone else's post.The acting is decent enough to carry the film but I was longing for it to end. Was too unbelievable and predictable. The overall plot is a good premise but failed to execute. I was left watching the credits wondering why I watched this movie in its entirety. My only explanation is that I was hoping for some salvation at the end and my prayers were not answered.I know everyone is a critic so if your like me, take the time to watch it but you will have been warned. Others here hype this into more than it is. Makes me wonder what there favorite horror movie is. This is another good B attempt at a good premise.

"Blood River" is a real surprise... I did not expect much and was pretty much blown away since everything in this movie seems to fit perfectly until the song in the credits. The movie starts with a couple heading through the desert and passing a cowboy style guy. They stop in a motel where he re-appears and his face first shows when he lays prayers on the motel owner who ends up slitting her own wrists with a cross carved in her forehead. The couple continues their journey just to have a tire burst and be stuck in the middle of the desert and end up in an abandoned town called "Blood river". I was expecting the whole thing to turn into a cheesy horror movie but it doesn't. Cowboy guy soon re-appears, introduces himself as Jo and starts playing mind games with the couple, the tension between him and the husband rises slowly and the whole atmosphere captures you. There's awesome shots of the desert since right in the title sequence, the acting is stunning and carries a lot of the movie. The final revelation between Jo and the wife is awesome and I hope actress Tess Panzer has a bright future ahead of her since I haven't been captured by such solid acting for a while.The first half of the movie unfolds a little like Kalifornia with the mysterious psycho unmasking his character piece by tiny piece and the dread rising slowly. The tension is thick like in Wolf Creek but there's plenty of hints thrown in that Jo is not the psycho killer you expect at first. All the pieces come together in the end when the constant bible preaching in the radio, the re-appearing crosses and Jos strange philosophical and religious monologues start to make sense."Blood River" after all is a movie about sin and repentance ... the basic idea has been the a hundred times before, but the movie manages to leave enough room for the viewer to reflect the impressions on himself. I wonder if I was the only one having the credits roll to the end while listening to the dark title song in the end and thinking of my own wrongdoings. If a movie manages to capture you that deep in its atmosphere that is quite an achievement. I know some of the directors previous movies like "Broken" but none remotely comes close to this one. "Blood River" is one of those rare underground gems I found on the sidelines of the horror genre which I am surely going to recommend to every movie fanatic I meet. So be sure to put it on your list too!