Dark Blood is a 2012 American-Dutch thriller film directed by George Sluizer, written by Jim Barton, and starring River Phoenix, Judy Davis, and Jonathan Pryce.

The film follows Boy (Phoenix), a young widower, who retreats to the desert after his wife dies of radiation following nuclear tests near their home.

[1] The movie begins with Harry, an actor who hasn't worked in over a year, and his wife Buffy, an ex-showgirl, traveling by car on their "second honeymoon".

After staying overnight at a motel, the owner informs Harry of previous nuclear testing taking place in the town.

While Harry sleeps in the back seat, Buffy notices a light in the distance and follows it, leading her to the front door of a cabin belonging to a widower named Boy.

After mentioning he is one-eighth Hopi Native American, Boy reveals a cave filled with candles and voodoo dolls that he believes have magical powers, which he spends his time making while waiting for the world to end.

A fight ensues and after hitting him with a crowbar, Harry is judged by means of a kangaroo court, and ordered to chop wood as punishment.

As he is cutting the wood, he sees Buffy removing her clothes and is forced to overhear as his wife is raped, turning his back, unable to watch.

However, unable to withstand Harry's strength, the axe hits Boy, splitting open his head and knocking him to the ground.

Production halted while insurers and financiers tried to determine if the movie could be completed, but with important scenes still needing to be shot, the film was abandoned on November 18 of that same year.

It was revealed in October 2011 that director George Sluizer had held onto the footage, fearing it would be destroyed, and that he had reedited the material and believed that with some adjustments a completed film could be released in 2012.

[5] In 1999 the insurance company that owned the negatives wanted to stop paying storage costs, so they considered having the film destroyed.

[10] A regioncode free DVD (in English with optional German subtitles) was released in Germany in January 2018 by Missing Films.

[11] Geoffrey Macnab from The Guardian gave the film three out of five stars, stating that "Dark Blood is fragmentary, uneven and downright odd in parts but it also has huge curiosity value.