Dark Blood (2012)

Dealing with nuclear testing and its long-lasting deadly effects, the story portrays Boy, a young widower living in the desert on a nuclear testing site. Living as a hermit, he waits for ... See full summary »

Director:

George Sluizer

Writer:

Jim Barton

Stars:

River Phoenix, Judy Davis, Jonathan Pryce

Cast

Credited cast:
River Phoenix	...	Boy
Judy Davis	...	Buffy Fletcher
Jonathan Pryce	...	Harry Fletcher
Karen Black	...	Motel Woman
T. Dan Hopkins	...	Joe Tapesi
Lorne Miller	...	Mechanic / Motel Woman's Son
Julius Drum	...	Indian #1 (as Julius 'Josh' Drum)
John Trudell	...	Indian #2 (as John Trudell Jr.)
Rodney A. Grant	...	Indian #3
George Aguilar	...	Indian #4
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stephen Silberkraus	...	The Fletcher's Son

Storyline

Dealing with nuclear testing and its long-lasting deadly effects, the story portrays Boy, a young widower living in the desert on a nuclear testing site. Living as a hermit, he waits for the end of the world, carving Kachina dolls that he believes have magical powers. While travelling on a "second" honeymoon across the Arizona desert, the car of a Hollywood jet-set couple breaks down. They are rescued by Boy, who holds them prisoner, because he desires the woman, and wants to create a better world with her.

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Plot Keywords:

two word title | star died before release | nuclear testing | neo western | 

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Genres:

Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA UK Netherlands

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 April 2014 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Дурная кровь

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fine Line Features, Scala Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In May 2012 Director George Sluizer decided to crowd-fund his post-production to finish 'Dark Blood' through www.cinecrowd.nl.

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Quotes

Boy: Magic's just a question of focusing the will. You don't get what you want because you're lucky. You get it because you will it.

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Connections

Referenced in Autopsy: The Last Hours of: River Phoenix (2014)

User Reviews

Glad To Have Been Able To See It

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.