Watch Dark Blood For Free

Purely Joyful Movie!

Nice effects though.

Fresh and Exciting

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

How could River Phoenix been in this movie when he died in 1993?? How could River Phoenix been in this movie when he died in 1993?? How could River Phoenix been in this movie when he died in 1993?? How could River Phoenix been in this movie when he died in 1993?? How could River Phoenix been in this movie when he died in 1993?? How could River Phoenix been in this movie when he died in 1993?? How could River Phoenix been in this movie when he died in 1993?? How could River Phoenix been in this movie when he died in 1993?? How could River Phoenix been in this movie when he died in 1993?? How could River Phoenix been in this movie when he died in 1993?? How could River Phoenix been in this movie when he died in 1993??

George Sluizer's salvaged 1993 desert thriller Dark Blood is an uneasy but captivating watch. More than anything its a tantalising final glimpse into the talent of star River Phoenix, surly one of the most promising actors the world has ever seen. Rivers tragic and sudden death in the winter of 93 halted production and left the film missing many of its most crucial and inmate scenes. To overcome this director Sluizer can be heard reading the script amongst a mixture of stills and short clips. This method, whilst effective, is quite jarring and ultimately strange mainly due to Sluizers heavily accented, matter of fact voice which clash with the very intimate words and actions he is trying to get across. However we do get long periods where the film plays uninterrupted, its in these moments we get a sense of what a great movie this may have been. At times a classic Hollywood thriller and others a disturbing art house flick.Pryce and Judy Davis are pretty much note perfect as the bickering Hollywood couple. Pryce plays his character so well I would not be surprised if the role was written with him in mind.Its no secret that Judy Davis was a very difficult actress to work with not only for the director but also the actors. River in particular was targeted with many friends reporting he would call them in tears due to her hostile treatment towards him. Such was his misery that he personally asked Sluizer to delay the most intimate scenes between them till the last days of shooting (they were never completed). It is to both actors immense credit that this difficult working relationship never comes across on screen, the scenes between them burn with desire and feeling.Its impossible to talk about this film without really talking about River, even as you are watching the film, the tragedy that was to come is always there, playing on your mind. At only 23 River Phoenix was an Oscar nominated actor of incredible talent, grace and beauty. With the character of "Boy" he was able to display a side of him we had never seen before. He is terrifying, disturbing and dangerous but even in the throes of this madness that trademark sensitivity of Rivers shines through. He was a very special and incredibly gifted actor, and this film like all his prior performances have done before it, bear tribute to that.

"Doesn't it get lonely?", Harry asks Boy, looking out over the wide, barren desert. "Everywhere is lonely. America is full of loud mouths always shouting and trying to get themselves heard", Boy replies.I had mixed feelings after watching Dark Blood. Finally being able to see it after all these years, it was almost as if if was just one of those films I never got around to seeing. I was only 13 at the time of River Phoenix's death, which greatly affected me. I was always intrigued as to when or even if Phoenix's final film would ever see the light of day. (The film was nearly finished shooting at the time of his death.) So when I heard that director George Sluizer was going to finish the film, I was excited but also a bit hesitant.The film opens with Boy (River Phoenix) and his dog howling at the moon. We are then introduced to Buffy and Harry (Judy Davis and Jonathan Pryce) a troubled married couple from Hollywood, who are travelling through the Utah desert. Their car breaks down not once, but twice. The second time it breaks down, they are left stranded in the middle of nowhere. When night comes, after seeing a light in the distance, Buffy goes looking for help, and stumbles upon Boy's shack. We find out that he is living in an area that was once a nuclear testing site. Besides his shack, he has also created a secret mystical cave full of survival items and the 'magical' Kachina dolls he makes.Buffy's attraction to Boy is obvious from the start. She is intrigued by and attracted to him, meanwhile Harry is becoming more and more annoyed with the situation as time goes by. When the time comes for Buffy and Harry to leave, Boy won't let them. I won't give anything else away, but it is quietly captivating and tense.Of course the big question is what happens when you are missing pieces of the puzzle, so to speak? The scenes that were never to be filmed, are now just still shots, (except for maybe one or two), with a voice-over narration by the director. It is done nicely, but I feel it would've been more effective to have moving footage of the desert instead. With these few key scenes missing, most notably between Buffy and Boy, it does slightly take away from the overall feel of the film. Still, what George Sluizer has done is impressive and ultimately special.The acting from the three leads is excellent. River Phoenix is superb. He plays Boy with a fine balance between complicated and strange. You don't know what he is going to do next. Judy Davis is terrific as the laid back and trusting Buffy. Jonathan Pryce is wonderful as the wary and uptight Harry. The chemistry between Davis and Pryce is lovely. The tension between Harry and Boy is fascinating, as seen when Boy leaves Harry alone in the middle of a canyon.The cinematography by Edward Lachman is simply gorgeous. The desolate landscape is both stunning and eerie. A fitting backdrop for the heated relationships and circumstances. The hypnotic score by Florencia Di Concilio is beautiful.It won't be a film for everyone, but if you're a fan of Sluizer's work or any of the cast, then I hope you get the chance to see it. River Phoenix was in a class of his own. He had such a strong screen presence, it was a pleasure to finally see his final film. I want to commend George Sluizer for finishing the film.

I've been crazy about movies ever since i was eleven (this was in 1985) and at the time of his death really liked Phoenix as an actor in The Mosquito Coast, Running on Empty and (especially) Stand by me. I remember thinking it such a loss when i heard he had died and being really curious about this film. Not only his last film but also made by a fellow Dutchman. A director responsible for making one of the only classics in Dutch cinema (Spoorloos a.k.a The vanishing). So, cut to the present, i was extremely curious to see this unfinished film and very happy to get the chance to attend the premiere. The fact that there were (crucial) scene's missing didn't bother me. I can still love a film for it's great parts (like a lot of Brian DePalma's movies). So i was hoping for a few memorable moments either in acting, writing, plot or in the use of visuals. But, unfortunately, those moments never came! I was bored from the first frame to the last. It never is a badly made film but it also never becomes anything special or interesting. If this film had been finished to completion before River's death, it would (i my estimation) have been forgotten about by now. I never cared about River's last films ("even cowgirls get the blues, the thing called love, silent tongue") and this film, sadly, doesn't change that...