River Of Blood

If there is one very controversial subject it is the very disturbing name known as cannibalism. Eating another life form as food is something that happens every day in the animal kingdom worldwide. In most cases it´s about survival and the need to feed of fresh meat. But then we also have human cannibalism that is also well documented through history, both in ancient and recent times. The idea of another human being eating another human may sound impossible, but in some cases that have been the only way to survive. Some of you might remember the horrific case of the 1972 accident Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, the plane that crashed up in the Andes mountains in Argentina on October 13. The remaining survivors were all dealing with very serious weather conditions and health problems, and no big food supplies on the crashed plane which meant they had to find a solution to find other food sources. They had no other options but to eat dead people, just to be able to survive. A very disturbing story but what were they supposed to do to be able to go on? I especially digged into this case when in the year 1993 they made a Hollywood film version of this story called Alive. I prefer the Spanish Netflix film version of the same story known as Society Of The Snow which i feel capture the story even more powerful than the 1993 version. But if you really want to see more disturbing footage of cannibalism we have classics such as the 1980 horror film Cannibal Holocaust from director Ruggero Deodata. A true Italian horror cult film that´s well known for very brutal cannibal scenes and almost have a documentary film style in certain scenes. Lots of nudity, sexual rape scenes and body parts being ripped apart so this is definetely nothing for you if you are sensitive. I own a blu ray copy of this film with some very interesting special features, i believe i should have an older DVD copy as well lying somewhere in my movie collection. Cannibal horror films is something we don´t see often in the horror community. Not because people don´t want to watch these kinds of films, i think the director´s who dare to do films in this category know that this will be a challenge. Since there are many fans of films such as Cannibal Holocaust they know the fan base have certain expectations. So here we are with a cannibal horror film known as River Of Blood who i discovered thanks to movie review YouTube channel Geek Legion Of Doom. Being a fan of this genre of course i had to give this one a try. Is this horror film a must watch before Christmas arrives or is River Of Blood unfortunately a disappointment?

Four kayakers take a river adventure on vacation in Thailand with their own personal tour guide Nick ( Joseph Millson ) showing them the way. While they travel through the jungle they are warned about a local tribe that feed on human flesh, who have lived in this jungle for centuries.

If you for some reason were expecting something similar to Cannibal Holocaust i can tell you right away this is nothing like that film. I would probably call River Of Blood more like a traditional slasher film with 90´s vibes with cannibal influences included. It´s a very simple plot like the slasher horror films of the 90´s used to have, the biggest difference is that we do get to see some very gory scenes compared to ordinary slasher movies. There is especially one negative detail i kept thinking while watching River Of Blood but let´s get into the positive first. The cannibal tribe when we finally get to see them, it is actually fun seeing them attack visitors knowing they want to injure their prey to make them vulnerable and easier to kill. The practical effects regarding the flesh wounds looks alright for the most part and there are some brutal gory scenes. I have to say this film is shot beautiful on location in Thailand and you really get a feeling they used the jungle in a way that matches the story. When it comes to the characters we do have a little bit of a mixed bag here, but the most interesting character ( who we find out most details about ) is the jealous, selfish character Ajay, played by actor Louis James ( who i recognized from the vampire horror film Bogieville, worth checking out ). He is not really the kind of character you like because of his personality, but it becomes clear he have a survivor instinct and that is definetely needed in a jungle like this. I also like the performance of tour guide character Nick, played by actor Joseph Millson ( who fans of the Gerard Butler action film Angel Has Fallen might recognize ). Now, there is one detail i feel could have been done much better with this film. Considering this is supposed to be a cannibal horror film i feel that they should have been much more brutal in certain scenes. I don´t mean they have to show all details such as in Cannibal Holocaust, but if you are promoting this film to be a part of the human cannibal genre you probably should have used even more gory scenes. I think that could have helped this film to stand out from other jungle horror movies. Overall i will say though i did enjoy this film as a slasher horror film, just don´t have too high expectations regarding the cannibal scenes. Director Howard J. Ford directed the 2010 zombie film The Dead that i am a big fan of. I wouldn´t say River Of Blood is as good as that film but still entertaining enough if you feel like a throwback film to the 90´. Fresh meat anyone? Don´t mind if i do, let´s just hope it´s not someone i know boiling on the fire.

Rating: DDD