An interesting film this, with a good cast and an intriguing story but its obviously low low budget and messy construction holds it back. Difficult to judge how much of this was down to Baldanello as the version I watched was full of random jumps and looks like it has had about 15 minutes hacked out of it. But what was there had some really promising elements and I imagine looked good on the page to Ireland and Neri at the time. Certainly seems like a film which could have been much better than it appears at first glance.
Interesting in that it has a strong Indian presence in the story (unusual in Spaghettis) but also that the obvious thread of vengeance in the storyline is actually intertwined with more compelling issues of incest. On the down side it features one of the worst fake moustaches ever appearing on film (how did an actor as experienced as Ireland agree to this?) and is shot in and around Tirrenia Studios in northern Italy which never looks right for a western in my opinion and adds to the cheap look and feel of the whole thing. However, I actually quite enjoyed this one, not least because it gives a proper role for Rosalba Neri which I always think is a plus. It has its faults for sure but I really felt like their was a good film in here trying to get out.
One final point. On checking our database entry for this film I found that it lists Julie Newmar as appearing as Isidra. This is clearly not true. On a hunch I checked Weisser and sure enough there was the same error. I can only assume that whoever added the cast list for us took Tommy Boy at face value. A lesson we have all learned to avoid in the past. I will change it now.
Oh yes, another thing. Jose Manuel Martin is listed also in our database as appearing in this and I honestly never saw him. However, he is not listed by Weisser but is by Giusti so I’m not sure whether he perhaps was in the original release but was lost in the cuts to the version I saw. Or maybe I just missed him or he was as much an imaginary player as Julie Newmar. (I’ve left him in the cast list for now in case someone can confirm his participation)
Interesting story like you say, and no sign of slapstick comedy in this one for such a late entry in the Spaghetti cycle. Thought Fabio looked a little on the thin side, as though he could with a few servings of pie and chips. Spot on Phil re the moustache.
Don’t read this if you don’t want to know the ending!
The child’s father was Ringo not Ben Webster but the mother turned out to be Old man Webster’s bastard half breed offspring sired when he raped the Indian woman at the film’s beginning. That’s why the baby looks Indian. (That is unless I missed something.)
Don’t read this if you don’t want to know the ending!
The child’s father was Ringo not Ben Webster but the mother turned out to be Old man Webster’s bastard half breed offspring sired when he raped the Indian woman at the film’s beginning. That’s why the baby looks Indian. (That is unless I missed something.)[/quote]
This is so complicated that it’s not a real spoiler
“The girl’s father was actually the mother who married the sister of the girl’s uncle’s wife”
I enjoyed this one a lot. The Indians are a peculiar bunch. I think they’re meant to be Apaches but they refer to Manitou, a deity among eastern Algonquin tribes. I can forgive its silliness since it’s an Italian western. I thought the story was pretty good. Quite an unusual spaghetti.
A harrowing motion picture about Greed! Lust! Carnage! Revenge! Incest! Murder! Rape! Bad Hair Indians! – Features Rosalba Neri’s final appearance in a Western movie (of seventeen in total).
No, not with Ringo Hammond (Fabio Testi), whose father, Tom Hammond, adopted Katherine (Neri). But she marries her half-brother, Ben Webster (Michael Rivers), whose father, Abel Webster (John Ireland), is also Katherine’s father and, after the marriage, her father-in-law as well.
Of course! I’m going to have to watch this one again. Honestly, I didn’t expect to like it that much since I had read some negative reviews. Hopefully I like it as much the second time.
Comparison between the YouTube version (presumably from VHS source) and the Italian TV VM14 rated version: unfortunately in the latter the two most important scenes, at the beginning and towards the end, are cut…
For those who are specializing in watching mostly SWs and still looking for the remaining little “semi-gems” one might have missed, Blood River appears to be a candidate after my first watching this evening.
I was about to reject it early on since it appeared not to be much of a western (except for the initial scene with the massacre) until it soon evolved into a rather entertaining combination of drama/love story/search for power/tragedy that in the end produced a more satisfied viewer especially after some final twists in the plot. The comedy free SW is a plus for me.
Fabio Testo was better overall in Dead Men Ride, but still OK and Rosalba Neri appearantly always is an attraction. I didn’t mind the unusual design of John Ireland’s face, i.e his moustache.
The music by Piero Umiliani was very good and supported the mood more or less the whole film.
For once it turned out to be relatively easy to form an opinion on Blood River, since the story was quite unusual but engaging and without boring fist fights and random shooting. It bears some ressemblance with to The Forgotten Pistolero but Blood River is more focused on the family drama, looks much cheaper and without the nice landscape scenes.
(If you are looking for SWs where people are getting shot and falling of roofs or where a bunch of barroom visitors are going berserk on each other, then you can stop watching Blood River after a few minutes )
I already rate Blood River as a solid 6/10, good for rank 56 on my SW Top 69, just before two other recent entries Challenge Of The Mckennas/A Dollar and a Grave and Cjamango.
After my 2nd watching I raise the Blood River rating to 7/10 for a “sensational” huge leap of 33 places up to rank 23 on my SW Top 73
I guess nearly noone else on this forum rates it that high…(?)
Even if my DVD is of dubious VHS quality it is is difficult not to be engaged by this obscure SW with its unusual story and intense drama atmosphere.
I am also a “sucker” for musical themes that emphasize the mood and there are two here that especially do that, the main theme and a solemn slightly sad little melody that also is included in the main theme in the end.
Maybe the low image quality (and abrupt editing) is part of the charm here ? But still it would be nice to have nice DVD/Bluray release which I think Blood River really deserves.
First I didn’t realise that Baldanello who directed BackJack (7/10) was responsible for Blood River as well 6 years later, but this one is a completely different story.
I have to agree, in the sense that I have no idea whether a decent movie is lurking behind this strange mess. The opening scene with the Indian village being trashed is uncannily close to the Batley Townswomen’s Guild (Monty Python) reenacting the Battle of Pearl Harbor
and - sorry - Umiliani’s score reminded me of mall music, with a nod to Benny Hill whenever Condor started knocking people off.
That’s how I feel right now. But I am still sincere in saying that a better presentation could make for an 180º turn in my view of this film. I hate to sound superficial, but in digging away at less well-known SWs I’ve been astonished at the difference a little TLC can make.
.
)
