Paul Andrews Blood River is set in the Nevada desert as loving couple Summer (Tess Panzer) & her husband Clark (Ian Duncan) drive across the lonely open expanses on route to Summer's parents house, while driving along one of the tyres on the car blows out & with no spare Summer & Clark are stranded miles from anywhere in the baking heat of the Nevada desert. Checking a map the only form of civilisation within walking distance is a town called Blood River, the couple walk there but discover Blood River is an abandoned ghost town. Then unexpectedly a stranger turns up, Joseph (Andrew Howard) claims that he ran out of gas & he too seeks help, the three decide to stick together but Joseph has some very strange ideas but it's Summer & Clark who are forced to face up to their sins & pay the price...Edited, co-written & directed Adam Mason this psychological thriller with a touch of the supernatural about it is well made & has a few nice moments but overall it's pretty forgettable & a bit too ambiguous for my liking. The script explains nothing, there are various ideas & themes thrown in but largely Blood River is a bit of a mystery. I suppose if four separate people watched Blood River it's entirely possible you would get four different interpretations of it but that's more because it's narrative is so bare rather than the fact it's amazingly deep or meaningful. Just what is it all about? The obvious answer is the idea of our sins catching up with us & the idea of what is worse, is committing a sin worse than knowing someone else has & not saying anything? The majority of Blood River features just three character's talking to each other in a single location exchanging thought's, ideas & exploring each others psychology in what has to be said is a fairly dull way. At an hour & three quarters long Blood River takes ages to ask various vague questions & then offer up no answers or explanations. Some of the dialogue is quite sharp, it's well written & has a certain fascination to it but the lack of any answers or explanation becomes very frustrating & Blood River ends up feeling rather pointless. I can't say I hated Blood River but I can't say I particularly liked it either & it is a somewhat frustrating film to watch.One thing going for Blood River is that it's extremely well made with the scorching Nevada desert playing it's part & almost becoming a character in itself. Don't expect much blood or gore, a guy is shot in the head, someone has two fingers cut off & a woman is seen in a bath with some cuts but nothing else.Filmed at Gold Point in Nevada the production values are really good, I am pretty sure Blood River had a fairly low budget but you wouldn't tell by looking at it. The acting is very good from the whole cast of three, a wide range of emotions & plenty of screen time give the character's a chance to develop, unfortunately the story does nothing with them.Blood River is a film that is very well made & looks nice, it has a psychological based story that steers between thriller & horror to decent effect. It's just that there are so many unanswered questions, so many scenes & dialogue exchanges that go nowhere or are left in the balance, I just found it a bit frustrating & not as rewarding as it should have been.

Coventry I have a lot of sympathy and respect for the duo Simon Boyes and Adam Mason, because they write and direct – at a relatively high tempo, I may add – horror films that are at least somewhat "wayward" without necessarily obeying to the public's mainstream demands of remakes, teen slashers and lousy sequels. Their movies certainly aren't groundbreaking or profound ("Broken" is a survival thriller and "The Devil's Chair" is a sort of throwback to asylum horror), but they do appeal to die-hard and experienced fans of the genre because they're brutal, grim and thoroughly sinister. I had particularly high hopes for "Blood River", as it is described as the duo's most ambitious and thematic screenplay. Unfortunately, however, and in spite of a very powerful first half and an overall exact right atmosphere & setting, this actually turned out to be a slight disappointment instead. "Blood River" introduces too many plot elements that feel familiar and derivative. Young newlyweds driving across the Nevada desert, car trouble on a godforsaken road, a mysterious loner who may or may not be an apostle directly sent down by God himself, ghost towns and macabre discoveries in the trunk of a car … We've all seen too many horror films featuring these key elements so this one doesn't exactly feel very refreshing. Also, Mason and Boyes persist in upholding and even enlarging the mysterious atmosphere up until the last minutes for no apparent reason. The script doesn't reveal certain vital denouements, not even long after you already figured them out. Clark and Summer, a happily married young couple with a baby on the way, drive across the desert to visit the parents in law. Their car has a blow out and naturally there isn't a spare tire, so they have to walk several miles to the nearest town on the map – called Blood River – only to discover it's an abandoned place. Then arrives the enigmatic chain- smoking and whiskey-sipping cowboy Joseph. The couple will have to work together with this discretely obtrusive and uncanny individual, but we already know for a fact there's something weird about him because we witnessed how he convinced the sex-hungry motel owner to slit her own wrists. Is Joseph a deranged serial killer obeying the voices in his head or is he really a disciple of God, put on the earth to punish the sinners? And, if he is, what sins could this cute young couple possibly have committed to deserve such a painful ordeal? The first half of "Blood River" is quite tense and compelling, simply because the plot and character drawings are still unfolding. As soon as it's time for answers and clarifications, the script becomes implausible and unoriginal. The desolate filming locations are great (especially the "cemetary" at the end) and the acting performances are above average, but this just isn't a memorable film. Nice try, Mr. Mason and Mr. Boyes, but I would prefer for your next movie to be more straightforward and violent again.

beverlypress This movie kept me in my seat !! I wanted to screen a few movies at this years Newport Beach Film Festival Thinking I had enough time to eat before the screening, I hit traffic on the 405 freeway from San Diego, needless to say, I got there as the movie started. Thinking that I would just grab a bite from the snack bar, I was waiting for a slow point in the film where I wouldn't miss much or lose my seat (placed was packed)Let me start by saying "I never had a chance !" This small movie with a cast of three kept me riveted in my chair until the end credits. I though I had it all figured out and then something happens in the middle of the movie that made me realize I don't know what the heck is about to happen. (I wont spoil it for you) I will finish with saying the lead girl "Tess Panzer" makes you feel you must jump up into the screen and save her !Job well done !!!

dkreds12 WOW!!!!!!! Blood River is amazing, It freaks you out, opens your mind, makes you think and really sticks to you. It's a truly unforgettable classic film. The cast was small but the acting was brilliant, intense, captivating and believable. The writers did a magnificent job of developing the characters, scene and entire storyline. I would love to see how each of them actors/ writers/ producers, follow this up. This is how films should be made. I'm going to tell everyone I know that they have to see it.........I will definitely see it again many times. I'm glad I went to the Newport Beach Film Festival. To all involved..........GREAT JOB!!!!!!