A couple, Ian Duncan and Tess Panzer, are traveling across the barren landscapes of Nevada when they find themselves stranded in an abandoned town alongside a peculiar man who resembles a cowboy (Andrew Howard). The question becomes whether they will survive their journey back to safety. “Blood River” (2009) is a psychological survival film taking place within the expansive and desolate Southwest. Despite being an independent production, it’s well-crafted in every aspect, from the visuals and music to the writing and performances. Andrew Howard delivers a particularly memorable performance as this enigmatic “free spirit,” evoking comparisons to actors like Michael Rooker or a younger Robert Duvall and Jon Voight. Like Harvey Keitel's unusual wanderer in "Finding Graceland," his true nature remains mysterious, though the overall tone of this film is considerably darker. The conclusion shares similarities with the ending of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” but without any humor and with a much more serious atmosphere. I suspect that later films such as “3 Nights in the Desert” and “Frank and Penelope” drew inspiration from this independent production. The narrative explores how appearances can be deceiving; what seems pleasant on the surface may conceal something sinister, leading to ugliness or even death, along with an impending sense of reckoning—if a person doesn’t acknowledge their wrongdoing. Writer/director Adam Mason trusts the audience's ability to piece together the clues without being explicitly told everything. The solutions are available for those who seek them out, but viewers uninterested in psychological and spiritual themes might consider it tedious or frustrating. The film has a runtime of 1 hour and 44 minutes and was filmed in Gold Point, Nevada, located about three hours northwest of Las Vegas and forty minutes from the California border; additional filming took place in Los Angeles. GRADE: B

Source on TMDB