Dark Blood

George Sluizer's Dark Blood is one of the many oddities in the film world. Shot about eighty percent of the way in 1993, but put in an abandonment because of the death of its lead actor River Phoenix at age twenty-three, Dark Blood managed to be edited, reworked, and released at several film festivals in 2012, marking an end in the saga to one of the curious wonders of cinema. In 1999, the film was almost burned by the insurance company, who was sick of storing it in a vault without a plan for years on end, and would've been gone for good had Sluizer not taken action and stolen the film back in a period of forty-eight hours.

River Phoenix died as a result of mixed drugs entering his system at Johnny Depp's club The Viper Room in 1993, closing the book on a young, ambitious life so early and abruptly after doing a handful of acclaimed picture. Watching Dark Blood in 2014, when Phoenix has sadly escaped the minds of many, one could see that the talent he possessed and the emotions he managed to convey were natural and believable. It's too bad that even with Dark Blood managing to get some sort of release, it will still be desperately short of attracting an audience it deserves.

The film focuses on an older couple named Harry (Jonathan Pryce) and Buffy (Judy Davis), who are traveling through the desert on a second honeymoon, hoping to pick up the pieces to their crumbling marriage. When their car breaks down in the middle of the desert, they meet a young widower who calls himself "Boy" (River Phoenix), who lives on his own, with his loyal mutt, following his wife's death from radiation. The radiation was caused by nuclear tests conducted close in proximity to Boy's ramshackle home in the middle of the desert. Now, the only thing he anticipates is the apocalypse (and the occasional passersby).

Initially, Boy seems gentle and grateful for the company, but Harry discovers long before Buffy does that he wants some sort of a romantic relationship with his wife. Boy longs for female companionship due to the loneliness and isolation that exists in the desert, and throughout the film, we see Boy's anger and hostility escalate, which eventually leads to him kidnapping Harry and Buffy and keeping them in his confines.

Being that only about four-fifths of the film is complete, director George Sluizer tacks on narration during the scenes that were never completed (some of which being very significant chunks of the film), describing the scene and reciting the dialog. Even before the film is a minute-long narration about how after Phoenix died, it left everyone shell-shocked to the point where no one really wanted to complete the film without his participation. Sluizer states that upon become very ill he wanted to edit and compile the clips of the film into something before it was too late.

Being that Sluizer managed to complete a project that many felt would never see the light of day, and that he has done such a great job on many different aspects, it seems harsh to critique it any way. Saying the film is fragmentary, and sometimes a bit choppy, is a pretty demeaning and stupid point of criticism seeing there was little Sluizer could do to prevent that in post-production. Rather than nitpicking elements that probably unsatisfied Sluizer in addition, let's focus on what the film really excels at, which is giving its lead actor a sendoff and bearing some great scenes of tension and excitement.

Consider the scene where Harry manages to momentarily break free from Boy's clutches, or when both head for the hills in their pickup truck. Scenes like this are given unexpected leverage thanks not only do the performances, but Sluizer's editing work, which still works to give old footage fresh vibes of suspense. Had Sluizer not taken the film seriously in terms of continuity and story, all seriousness and respect for the project would've dwindled to nothing, but thanks to the competent work orchestrated, Dark Blood manages to easily win more than just cinephiles over.

Starring: River Phoenix, Jonathan Pryce, and Judy Davis. Directed by: George Sluizer.

A tragic ending to a brilliant career: That's the first thing you probably heard when you hear the name River Phoenix. Dark Blood is a film as most of you know, and have heard by now, the last film River Phoenix was filming at the time of his death.

Dark Blood is a rare gem, you will not see too many films made like this in this day and age. The great George Sluizer has done a fabulous job in finishing a film that to most people never looked like it was going to get finished, Utah was a great place to shoot this film the scenery is one of a kind, thanks very much to the wonderful Edward Lachman who has captured the essence of the Utah desert. It's a bit hard to give the film Dark Blood a specific genre, because of the rewrites and the re-editing of the story. It has slightly made it a different film because of those touch ups.

If you did not know much about the circumstances behind Dark Blood and you saw the film for the first time you could very well think it was a complete picture. The only scenes missing are about half a dozen interior scenes, after watching the film back and paying close attention to the directors narration of the missing scenes, besides 1 or 2 of the interior scenes that are missing that really have some real importance to the film more so than the other interior scenes the film seems to flow by quite fine. All the major scenes looked to have being filmed here, but like i mentioned maybe 1 or 2 of the interior scenes that play a real importance to the films story line are incomplete or missing. But the great George Sluizer really makes sure you have a very clear understanding of the films missing scenes, which are might i add, are scattered throughout the film.

Is this River Phoenix's best role? probably not, but it is definitely in River's top 5 films, there are glimpses in this film of greatness and what could have being, and what the film community is surely going to miss out on. River has such unique charisma and a lot of maturity for a young 23 year old in a role that could have being played different in so many ways. Jonathan Pryce (Harry) and Judy Davis (Buffy) both fantastic actors in their own right, just show how good they are and both bring plenty of experience and great energy to their roles.

I give the film Dark Blood 8/10. The film has a running time of 86 minutes. Which is pretty much the length of a normal movie these days. Also Karen Black plays a great little cameo at the start of the film which needs to be applauded also.

On a final note if your a fan of River Phoenix or the director George Suizer or a fan of any of the cast and crew of the film Dark Blood, i strongly recommend you look out for festival appearances that Dark Blood maybe showing at, it has played at 3 major film festivals so far and with many more to come.

Thankyou for Reading my Review, i hoped you enjoyed it and i look forward to reading some feedback.

THOMAS PURCELL

What a movie I just saw!! Seriously, it's just an amazing and hypnotic experience! This movie was shot in 1993, mind you! All you see on screen was shot in that year. You can notice that Jonathan Pryce's hair is less gray than it really is today. Also, you got in the movie the strong and mesmerizing presence of the late River Phoenix, coming in a time capsule directly to the future to give us his mesmerizing swan song. Wow... freakin' wow!

Great acting, a script that shines and beautiful backgrounds are the main attractions here. The story is told in the form of a road movie and the characters all goes through changes in their lives. The most powerful thing in the movie is its heart and soul. This is the engine that moves the narrative. As for it's body, it's unfortunately broken, for the lack of a better comparison. As the director George Sluizer states before the movie starts, this movie will always be like a three feet chair. It's slightly unbalanced, it misses something but with care, still stands on it's feet.

With River Phoenix's death before the shooting process finishes, the director summarizes the missing fragments of the movie to us in order to complete the narrative. It works fine that way. In spirit, in heart and soul, this movie deserves a straight 10/10. With its broken, unfinished body, it takes a 8/10. If only they could finish it in time... but that from now on, until the end of times will only belong to our imagination, trying to figure out what it could have been.

For what it is, it perfectly stands on it's feet. Must watch! Once again, thanks to the "37º Festival International de Cinema de São Paulo" in my city by the SESC institution of culture and development, I could enjoy another amazing flick!

This is the last film with River Phoenix. Meaning: as Phoenix died in 1993 and Dark Blood was only 80% shot, it took almost 19 years to get the material edited into the final cut. All scenes that haven't been shot are read as a voice-over by director George Sluizer over paused images. While that creates a distinct kind of movie experience, it doesn't seem to be something I'm very fond of. Of course, Dark Blood is a film that's all about Phoenix. Just like James Dean in 1955, Phoenix generated a cult following because of his untimely death. Mostly remembered for his roles in Stand by Me, Running on Empty, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and My Own Private Idaho, Phoenix never really had the chance to become the actor he could've been. That doesn't mean everything he did was pure genius though... In Dark Blood I'm just not feeling the Phoenix-vibe. Above all, it's quite a dull movie. Only recommended for those who want to see Phoenix shine one last time.

I was really excited when in late 2011 George Sluizer announced that he was going to try to finish 'Dark Blood', some years after Sluizer had an aneurysm and learned that his remaining time was limited. I've heard of the difficulties surrounding the film, the legal complications and so on. So when it was announced that Mr Sluizer was going to raise money in order to be able to pay for the finishing of the film (the post-production: sound editing, editing, musical score, etc.) through Crowdfunding, I almost instantly donated some money through the CineCrowd website. In gratitude I received a very rare limited edition DVD, and some positive lit negatives inside the DVD-box. I was a bit surprised by the high quality of the footage, since it has not been used for 19 years or so. I know about the difficulties off set between River Phoenix and Judy Davis, and between Davis and the director. But it definitely doesn't show in the actual film. The acting is quite natural, and in my opinion the performances by River, Judy and Jonathan Pryce are pretty good. As I said before, the images are very clear, and the added sound effects and musical score are also in place here. The music at some points reminded me a bit of Pieter Bourke ans Lisa Gerrard's score for 'The Insider'. I'm not going to spoil anything or tell how it ends, but for me it was a rare chance to finally see this interesting project, and also River Phoenix' last film.