Blood River

Blood River (2009)

This movie as been on my watch list for so long.

This movie is about Clark and Summer, a married couple and Summer is newly-pregnant, and Clark is worried that her father will be critical of him.

Along the way, their car has a blowout and Clark is sure that he put spare in the boot of the car.

It's start of really intruding but the next 45 of minutes, were very slow burner, with nothing much happens and talking to one and other,

When it getting really boring, I was thinking to turn it off ,after that but I am clad I didn't!

The last half hour, were it's really pick up again and more things start to happen, You think this movie is going one way but they really clever with as total throw you off what really happening.

Really good turn in the story, as I didn't not see it coming at all, it kind of makes sense it ending.

The acting was really good from the whole cast in this movie.

5.9 out of 10

Blood River is one of the better Indy films I've seen in a long time. The lead actor is exceptional and the rest of the small cast deliver fine and engrossing performances, the look of this film is top draw and the location was right on the money, a spooky ghost town. The story had me memorized and on the edge of my seat. The transformation of the victims were totally engrossing and the climax was horrifying. The style was straight forward and simple, which adds to it's classy film making. All the tension built just fine to a climatic ending. After leaving the the theater, I found myself thinking about some of the bad things I've done in my life and even called a friend to apologize about the thing I did, which he wasn't aware of. It made me search my soul and think a lot about being a better man. Rod Serling would be proud.

When I see a low budget production(that shows) with clever directing and writing, excellent acting and a touch of "new", I feel like sharing my opinion, because certainly it was a nice surprise. I picked it up at local video rental thinking it to be a stinker, or an exploitation film of some kind. What a surprise. A supernatural thriller, and one that, budget considered, delivers.

It works as a religious version of The Hitcher - actually, it seems like it was written by 80s icon Eric Red.

Acting by the not so large cast is way above average, my compliments to all of them. The actor who played Joseph was quite effective, he surely deserves more chances in the big screen. The girl was beautiful, and could act as well. The guy who played the husband also delivers effectivelly.

In a way, the direction has got a touch of Katryn Bigalow in After Dark - the film is pure 80s and I will probably look for more films of this group.

Alternative cinema is not totally lost. It seems to have found its way, when we see films like those. Guys, you did a good job.

A couple driving through the desert crashes their car due to a blowout and are left stranded. They decide to head for a nearby town called Blood Creek to search for help and meet a mysterious stranger who calls himself Joseph.

The film is directed by Adam Mason, a man whose greatest skill is creating great looking films for very little money, and the film does indeed look great. Unfortunately, it lacks the creative touch that was very apparent in his previous work The Devil's Chair (which I gave a very high score). Indeed, the film feels uninspired and watching it is a bit like going through the motions.

This is a shame, because there is a glimpse of something great hiding within the religious angle that the film takes. I wish that this had been explored in more depth, but instead this is covered by clichés that border on parody.

By far, the worst part of Blood Creek is the characterization of the two leads; the man is aggressive and loud, the woman is passive and dripping with tears. This is the case from the get-go and only gets worse as the film goes on. I assume that this is somewhat intentional, but it crosses the line between believable human flaws and annoying caricature.

The best part is the performance of Andrew Howard as the mysterious traveler Joseph. While he does have the best material to work with, it is pretty clear that he is the one with the acting chops and he pretty much carries the film single-handedly.

Despite the good craftsmanship (cinematography and sound is great), I would recommend watching something else. While Blood Creek is not offensively bad, it presents a handful of moments of annoyance and leaves no lasting impression.

The title conjures up images of some cheesy slasher flick, but Blood River is anything but. I've rented a few (well, more than a few) horror titles in my time with the word 'Blood' in the title. It seems to say a lot about the film, i.e. filled with gruesome deaths and maybe the odd rubbery monster thrown in for good measure.

However, Blood River definitely doesn't fit into those categories. At the beginning, I didn't like it. It starts off with the obligatory couple driving through the deserted deserts, only to come across the one wandering lunatic hell bent on making your final hours a living hell. It all sounds pretty average, but it's worth sticking with. Its one down point is that it is a little longer than your average horror film and most of the first 1h 15 minutes is spent watching three people in one location, having various conversations about all sorts of supposed deep and meaningful issues.

That was how it starts. It doesn't pan out quite so obviously though. Without going into too much detail, it has a few surprises along the way and Andrew Howard deserves a special mention as the 'stranger' Joseph who the unsuspecting couple meet.

Give it a watch if you want a 'horror movie that contains plenty of talking points.' However, the 'talking points' may also serve to be a bit of a let down. Not everything is totally explained and wrapped up neatly, leaving some questions which will be up to your interpretation afterwards.

Blood River is one of those movies where you could show it to four different people and be given four totally different opinions to its merits and meanings.