BLOOD RIVER

Directed by Adam Mason

"Your penance awaits you…"

A bloody modern religious allegory with some interesting twists, Blood River (2009) is a welcome return to form for director Adam Mason after its predecessor, the somewhat disjointed Devil's Chair (2006).

The film opens with a young married couple, Summer (Tess Panzer) and Clark (Ian Duncan) crossing the Nevada Desert to visit her parents and tell them about her pregnancy. Along the way they pass a drifter, on foot - but, suspicious of him, they decide not to pick him up. When they stop at a roadside motel later, the mysterious drifter (Andrew Howard) is there too. We the audience see that Summer and Clark were right to be doubtful of him, when his flirtations with the barmaid turn into the ministrations of a maniac; he 'cleanses' her of her sins by prompting her to commit a rather gruesome suicide…

Summer and Clark continue their journey but a spectacular blowout - and a missing spare wheel - strands them in the desert. They're now a good fifty miles from the motel but Clark spies a town on his map which is walking distance: it's not as if they have any choice, and Summer is concerned about her pregnancy, so they head for the charmingly-named Blood River. Well, if they were concerned about the inhabitants of a town called Blood River, what they find is even worse: it's a ghost town. It now seems that they're hopelessly stranded.

So when the drifter - Joseph - appears on the horizon claiming vehicle trouble of his own, Summer is relieved. His presence is not so welcome to Clark, who soon feels piqued by Joseph's evident interest in the well-being of his wife, but at least Joseph helps them come up with some sort of a plan. On the following day, Joseph and Clark will head back to their car, siphon the petrol, and then head to Joseph's stranded vehicle. It's a long shot, but it's their only shot. They settle for the night in Blood River and talk: it transpires that Summer already has a son, Ben, by a previous relationship, and the more Joseph talks about this and other subjects in an increasingly religious way, the more Clark's 'good guy' mask begins to slip. Clark is rattled, and Joseph knows it…

Perhaps Clark's edginess is justified, though. Who is Joseph? And what is the 'great sin' to which he keeps alluding? It seems there's a great deal more to talk about at Blood River…

This film has a great deal to its credit, at least partly because it plays to director Mason's great strengths. One of these is his talent for filming landscape in such a way that it is invested with a character of its own (I'm thinking particularly about the forest in Broken (2005) here). The sweeping, long aerial shots and carefully placed close-ups - as well as the almost palpable heat and dust in the film - creates a very strong sense of atmosphere. Mason is also very good indeed at writing for and directing very small casts: we only have three characters here, but the film never feels like it needs any more to maintain interest.

Andrew Howard is impressive as Joseph, and it's a well-developed role: there's something of Otis Firefly in the way he balances rough-and-ready quips with a building sense of threat. He carries the supernatural 'twist' which comes later so well because he maintains the suggestion that there is a lot more to Joseph than meets the eye. I found it more difficult to get absorbed in the plight of Summer and Clark however, at least initially. I understand why they start out so saccharin (and when that veneer disappears, they're far more interesting) but I suppose I always feel exasperated with the 'pregnancy-to-invest-female-lead-with-emotional-interest' motif, as well as feeling that Clark didn't quite match up to the intensity of Joseph, and so it took a while to see these two as developed characters.

One other criticism would be that the film has to grapple with a lot of ground at its close, visiting some complex concepts such as sin, redemption, and holy vengeance. This is a great deal for the film to support in a short space of time, and some of these plot elements feel slightly unwieldy: these are difficult topics to expound after all.

Largely speaking though, I was impressed with Blood River. It has many strengths and it plays to Mason's directorial strengths, and some cumbersome thematics don't detract from its oppressively atmospheric feel. It's a dark film despite being flooded with sunlight, and it carries its tension nicely. It differs from Broken and The Devil's Chair in that it partly justifies the brutality which occurs (with its idea of punishing sin) - but by no means is everything explained, and the ending is characteristically grim, despite having something of a moral overlay!

The Revolver Entertainment screener I watched did not contain any extras - but the transfer quality is good, with good sound levels, easily audible dialogue and sharp, clear visuals.

Review by Keri O'Shea