River Phoenix’s Final Film ‘Dark Blood’ To Debut This Fall

Can you believe it’s been almost twenty years since actor River Phoenix passed away?

At just 23-years-old, the actor, who had been in town working on what would be his final film Dark Blood, died of a drug-induced heart attack in the early hours of Halloween 1993, outside of West Hollywood nightclub The Viper Room.

Dark Blood’s Dutch director, George Sluizer, had originally abandoned the project following Phoenix’s death, but as of last year, those plans changed. The film will now have its world premiere in early September at the Netherlands Film Festival in Utrecht, before being seen by a special guest audience on September 27 at the Sundance Film Festival.

Here’s how the Hollywood Reporter describes the movie: “In the film, River Phoenix plays Boy, a young widower living on a nuclear testing site in the desert. While he waits for the end of the world, Boy carves Katchina dolls that supposedly contain magical powers. His life is disrupted when a Hollywood jet-set couple traveling across the desert become stranded after their car breaks down. Boy rescues the couple and then takes them prisoner. Dark Blood also stars Judy Davis, Jonathan Pryce and Karen Black.”

Wow, this is something I never thought would come to fruition, but I’m glad it finally did. I was thirteen when Phoenix died, but even at my young age, I had a real respect for him and the movies I saw him in.

You can watch a trailer for Dark Blood below.