Dark Blood

Plot

The movie begins with Harry (Pryce), an actor who hasn't worked in over a year, and his wife Buffy (Davis), an ex-showgirl, traveling by car on their "second honeymoon". After staying overnight at a motel, the owner (Black) informs Harry of previous nuclear testing taking place in the town. The following day, their Bentley eventually breaks down, leading them to run out of water in the middle of the desert. Harry insists on staying with the car rather than to look for help. While Harry sleeps in the back seat, Buffy notices a light in the distance and follows it, leading her to the front door of a cabin belonging to a widower named Boy (Phoenix). He drives with her to rescue Harry. After mentioning he is 1/8 Hopi Native American, Boy reveals a cave filled with candles and voodoo dolls that he believes have magical powers, which he spends his time making waiting for the world to end.

During their stay, Boy promises to drive them to the nearest town, but keeps delaying this offer by dismantling the entire engine of his truck after telling the couple there's a problem with it, and later telling them he is waiting for friends to arrive before he can take them to town. His friends, meanwhile have been told by Boy where to find their Bentley and they tow it away. Buffy and Boy become attracted to each other, angering Harry. Harry tells Boy to leave her alone while on a shooting hunt. The two have an argument and Boy retreats, leaving Harry to find his way back from the desert. Boy later fires a shot at Harry, but tells him he was shooting a snake in a passive-aggressive gesture. Eventually, the couple become aware that Boy will not let them leave. Exasperated, Harry announces he is walking to the town and marches off alone. After an argument with Buffy, Boy drives off frustrated, finds Harry dehydrated, gives him water and brings him back to the cabin where Boy locks Harry in a barn, telling Buffy he's gone mad from the heat.

Later on, as they are all sleeping, Harry wakes silently, rouses Buffy and steals the keys to Boy's truck in an escape attempt that is quickly thwarted by Boy who catches them as they are leaving his cabin. A fight ensues and after hitting him with a crowbar, Harry is judged by means of a kangaroo court; and ordered to chop wood as punishment. As he is cutting the wood he sees Buffy removing her clothes and is forced to overhear their lovemaking, turning his back unable to watch. Buffy later comes outside to tell Harry that Boy is finally taking them to the town. Boy's friends approach bringing the repaired Bentley and Boy announces only Harry can leave in his car. Outraged, Harry attacks Boy with the axe only for Boy to block the axe's blow with his rifle above his head. However, unable to withstand Harry's strength, the axe hits Boy, splitting open his head and knocking him to the ground. In act of self-defense Harry is forced to fatally wound Boy's dog when it tries to attack him. Boy gets to his feet, telling Harry that he has never wanted to kill a man before, his finger on the trigger of the rifle. Harry begs for his life, but Boy then collapses from the bleeding head wound.

At that moment the couple's car is delivered by Boy's native friends who take Boy inside the cabin where he requests to see Buffy. As his last physical effort, he raises himself up to embrace her, dying in her arms as Harry is held at gunpoint outside. Buffy exits and the couple's fate is up to Boy's friends, one of which is a sheriff - but despite the crime, the couple are told to leave immediately in their car. Boy's friends set the cabin ablaze as a funeral pyre.

Harry and Buffy drive along out of the desert disoriented, exhausted and silent. They hold hands and Harry asks Buffy, "Are you O.K.?", Buffy replies, "No." as she glaces back at the fire's glow. The couple falls silent again.

Cast

Production

Dark Blood consisted of roughly five weeks of on location shooting in Torrey, Utah and was scheduled to complete three weeks of filming interior scenes in Los Angeles, California on a sound stage. Filming was only 80% finished before Phoenix's death on October 31, 1993. Production halted while insurers and financiers tried to determine if the movie could be completed, but with important scenes still needing to be shot the film was abandoned on November 18, 1993. For the 2012 release, roughly four to six missing scenes were replaced with Sluizer providing narration.

It was revealed in October 2011 that director George Sluizer had held onto the footage, fearing it would be destroyed, and that he had reedited the material and believed that with some adjustments a completed film could be released in 2012. It was speculated that Sluizer would ask Phoenix's younger brother Joaquin Phoenix to dub River's voice. The Phoenix family made it clear that they would not participate in the project, saying in a statement, "In regard to releasing River's last film, Joaquin Phoenix and his family have not been in communication with the director nor will they participate in any way.”

On May 18, 2012, a trailer for the film and an interview with Sluizer were released on YouTube. The film premiered to an invited audience on September 27, 2012, at the Netherlands Film Festival in Utrecht, Netherlands. It had its international premiere out of competition at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received four positive reviews and one negative one, for a score of 80%, with an average rating of 6/10.

Geoffrey Macnab from The Guardian gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, stating that "Dark Blood is fragmentary, uneven and downright odd in parts but it also has huge curiosity value. The director's solution for bridging the considerable gaps is to read out descriptions of what is missing. It's a simple but surprisingly effective tactic. His narration ensures that the film is just about coherent." Ard Vijn from Twitch says the movie is "almost polished enough to be regarded as a finished film. Almost. The images, music and actors definitely make watching it a worthwhile exercise."