356) Blood River (2009) Dir: Adam Mason Not Yet Released Date Seen: October 22, 2009 Rating: 2/5
It'd be painfully easy to dismiss Blood Lake for its spineless tendency to preach at and judge its characters safe in the knowledge that its villain is a messenger of Gawd. Director Adam Mason and co-writer Simon Boyes's script is flagrantly obnoxious in the way that its killer, an Evangelist's wet dream of a vengeful God's messenger, has come down to Earth to punish the unrepentantly wicked. They may think that they're good people but they're not so they have to be struck down hard. Forgiveness, compassion, love...nah, fuck 'em.
What kept me watching in spite myself is the modicum of tension and the dingy atmosphere that clings to the film's main three protagonists like a film of sweat. The omnipresent crackle of the radio, which spurs on the voice of some evangelist preacher telling tales about sinners of all shapes and sizes, is especially mesmerizing as is the cemetery riddled with crosses that the film ends up at. Scuzzy is as scuzzy does but for such a modest, albeit idiotic, indie, it looks pretty good while doing it.
Caught a screening of this a little while back, and really wanted it to work out. But after a pretty solid opening, it just descends -- as you point out -- into preachy nonsense. On top of some nice visuals, I actually thought the acting was fine too. This movie just does not want to be liked. By anyone.
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