Dark Blood: The Last Testament of River Phoenix



River Phoenix in "Dark Blood"

It's interesting to me in that with the current media spotlight on "Doomsday Preppers" and other assorted individuals who chose to live off the grid, the 1993 movie "Dark Blood" is being finally released (albeit incomplete). River Phoenix's last film, "Dark Blood" is about a disaffected young man named "Boy" who lives by himself in a survivalist bunker in the desert, surrounded by weapons and assorted "voodoo"/occult items. A hapless couple lost in the area stumbles across Boy, and predictably all hell breaks loose.
Several points of interest, here.

1. This movie was made around the same time of a number of Federal sieges on "compounds" such as the Branch Davidians (1993) and Ruby Ridge (1992). So in a sense Phoenix's character Boy is the analogue for this sort of situation.

Twenty years later in 2012/2013, this has once again become a hot topic. Newtown shooter Adam Lanza's mother was deemed a "Doomsday Prepper" by the media -- and the boy (Boy) himself was autistic. James Holmes was another young, strange loner. The current bogeymen of the moment is this lone "crazy" alienated awkward young man with access to firearms, as well as survivalists/preppers in general.


a young River Phoenix and sister perform

  2. River Phoenix's own childhood was mired in what could be considered cult-like, his parents pressing the children into the hippie-like Children of God cult. The Children of God (Family International) were established in 1968 by David Berg, lived in isolated communes, and purported to be living out the "authentic" form of Christianity that Jesus had intended -- compare to David Koresh's Branch Davidians at Waco.

The cult allegedly advocated pedophilia

CoG was also involved in the controversial practice of "Flirty Fishing," in which women were instructed to seek out more converts by offering them sex. While Phoenix's parents later stated that they were opposed to this practice -- you have to wonder how all of this CoG stuff impacted the young boy mentally.

From an 1994 article on Phoenix from "Esquire":

"The family had had prophet problems before: They'd actually left the Children of God because its leader, David Brant Berg, began encouraging the women in his flock to seduce potential converts--a tactic known as "flirty fishing"--and proudly referred to them as hookers for Jesus. Berg also advocated incest and sex with toddlers, and mailed circulars with graphic pictures of molestation. The Phoenixes felt betrayed, and River rarely talked about the sect. "They're disgusting," he would say angrily. "They're ruining people's lives."

In his last role as Boy, was Phoenix basically "replaying" a version of his strange childhood? Is Boy the person he could have grown up to be, had Hollywood not entered the picture.

Phoenix: unable to take on "Interview With The vampire" role

There is also the significance of the name of his last movie: "Dark Blood." The actor was set to start filming "Interview With The Vampire" shortly before he died -- a role that later went to Christian Slater, who in turn donated his paycheck to two of Phoenix's favorite charities Compare Slater's actions to how Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law pitched in for Heath Ledger in "The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus." Both Ledger and Phoenix died of drug overdoses.

Depp's Viper Room

One more for you: Phoenix died in front of Depp's club The Viper Room -- on Halloween night, yet. Depp's connections with two other tragic "died too young actors," Brandon Lee (who died the same year as Phoenix) and Heath Ledger, are documented in this post. Depp is now, in a sense, resurrecting the spirit of The Crow and Lee by starring in the upcoming Lone Ranger movie -- like a Phoenix from the ashes, so to speak.

One interesting last bit about "Dark Blood," again from the Esquire article:

Last fall Phoenix filmed Dark Blood in an area in Utah reputed to be a magnet for alien visitations, which fascinated him (his latest karmic catchphrase was "Thanks be to UFO Godmother"). He told friends he'd been levitated over his bed, and he would sometimes lie on his patio and shout to the heavens, "Take me, I'm ready! What else is out there?"

What else, indeed?