Blood on the Mountain (1974)

          After the successful release of A Thief in the Night (1972), the Rapture-themed drama that launched his evangelical production company Mark IV Pictures, producer/director Donald W. Thompson continued his cinematic proselytizing with Blood on the Mountain, a mild-mannered thriller during which a prison break compels several characters to wrestle with faith. Shot in and around scenic Canon City, Colorado, the movie has competent production values and, at least during scenes featuring escaped convicts, acceptable pacing. Yet the usual problems associated with low-budget faith films manifest here. Narrative momentum takes a backseat to sermonizing, the plot sacrifices believability on the altar of heavy-handed religious symbolism, and the acting is weak. That said, appraising Thompson’s evangelical movies by normal standards misses the point—inasmuch as these pictures sometimes circumvented traditional exhibition by playing the church-and-mission circuit, generating conventional entertainment was never the primary goal. And since I can’t speak to whether Blood on the Mountain effectively spreads the gospel, I can only appraise whether it holds interest for those outside the target audience. The short answer is “probably not.”
          I say “probably” because Blood on the Mountain scratches a few ’70s-cinema itches thanks to location photography, period costuming, and so forth—the movie offers plentiful views of the Me Decade aesthetic in its raw form. Combined with the inherent zest of any story featuring an extended chase as its primary narrative engine, the ’70s-ness of the picture ensures a measure of watchability. Moreover, several scenes were filmed at Royal Gorge, a tourist-trap canyon, and one sequence takes place at an Old West re-enactment, so watching the movie is a bit like hopping in the family station wagon for a road trip to the Centennial State. As for the plot, set expectations low. After a killer strongarms an innocent convict into helping him escape, the killer tracks down a recently paroled accomplice in order to get revenge. (The accomplice’s wife found religion while her husband was incarcerated, so she spends the movie persuading him to embrace Jesus.) Meanwhile, the innocent convict finds God after the killer drags him into several dangerous situations. There’s also some business involving a cop with a vendetta chasing the killer, and everything resolves in a moderately violent climax at Royal Gorge.

Blood on the Mountain: FUNKY