YouHeart I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

bowmanblue The title conjures up images of some cheesy slasher flick, but Blood River is anything but. I've rented a few (well, more than a few) horror titles in my time with the word 'Blood' in the title. It seems to say a lot about the film, i.e. filled with gruesome deaths and maybe the odd rubbery monster thrown in for good measure.However, Blood River definitely doesn't fit into those categories. At the beginning, I didn't like it. It starts off with the obligatory couple driving through the deserted deserts, only to come across the one wandering lunatic hell bent on making your final hours a living hell. It all sounds pretty average, but it's worth sticking with. Its one down point is that it is a little longer than your average horror film and most of the first 1h 15 minutes is spent watching three people in one location, having various conversations about all sorts of supposed deep and meaningful issues.That was how it starts. It doesn't pan out quite so obviously though. Without going into too much detail, it has a few surprises along the way and Andrew Howard deserves a special mention as the 'stranger' Joseph who the unsuspecting couple meet.Give it a watch if you want a 'horror movie that contains plenty of talking points.' However, the 'talking points' may also serve to be a bit of a let down. Not everything is totally explained and wrapped up neatly, leaving some questions which will be up to your interpretation afterwards.Blood River is one of those movies where you could show it to four different people and be given four totally different opinions to its merits and meanings.

gottfrid When I see a low budget production(that shows) with clever directing and writing, excellent acting and a touch of "new", I feel like sharing my opinion, because certainly it was a nice surprise. I picked it up at local video rental thinking it to be a stinker, or an exploitation film of some kind. What a surprise. A supernatural thriller, and one that, budget considered, delivers.It works as a religious version of The Hitcher - actually, it seems like it was written by 80s icon Eric Red.Acting by the not so large cast is way above average, my compliments to all of them. The actor who played Joseph was quite effective, he surely deserves more chances in the big screen. The girl was beautiful, and could act as well. The guy who played the husband also delivers effectivelly.In a way, the direction has got a touch of Katryn Bigalow in After Dark - the film is pure 80s and I will probably look for more films of this group.Alternative cinema is not totally lost. It seems to have found its way, when we see films like those. Guys, you did a good job.

Robert W. No one loves dark horror slasher flicks better than me especially if it follows a certain formula and to me Blood River had all the makings of that great horror genre. Isolation, ghost town, mysterious stranger, stranded in the desert, a distinct western feel how could it go wrong? Well it can go wrong by just being boring. Gore is at a bare minimum and while the dark stranger and isolation would seem to be an easy setting for some nice intensity and thriller like qualities but instead the film crawls at a snails pace and you just want it to be over, a true disappointment.Ian Duncan and Tess Panzer play the young married couple who find themselves in a terrible accident in the desert. Ian Duncan looks crazed and insane right from square one. I think he looks the scariest of everyone and if overacting was an award he could take it home easily. Tess Panzer is great eye candy and she does the scream queen thing decently but it is just absurd how quickly and easily she trusts the strange cowboy. Ian Duncan plays the strange cowboy and psycho. In a better written and directed and created film he and his character might have been solid because he has enough experience as an actor but then they all do but this drivel of a story doesn't help.I think the biggest issue with Blood River is the pacing of the story. It just seems to go on and on and doesn't have enough twists and turns to keep you riveted to the story. The cast has very very little chemistry with each other whether its the husband and wife or either of them to killer you just don't sense any chemistry. Director Adam Mason apparently loves straight to video horror flicks having directed a handful of other ones which I have not seen and I hope for his sake he gets a better script to work with. I read a lot of reviews both on IMDb and independently and some of them were reasonably good calling this a creepy western, and well thought out and a stimulating thriller and I just didn't see it. This one for me was a dud in every sense of the word. 3/10

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.