I just re-read the script.
I think there may be some confusion between
location shooting and exterior/interior shots.

Here’s what is known…

All location shooting in Utah was completed
(and a brief scene in New Mexico as well).
All exterior scenes were completed.
River’s character was seen in basically three
locations: Utah Exteriors, the Shack (his home),
and the Shelter (underground bunker).

The Shack was an exterior/interior set.
They filmed the Shack interior shots on location.
There has been some video released supporting
this, with a quick clip of him carving the Kachina
doll at night, and another on his bed in the daytime.

Most of this film is exteriors. I’d say maybe 60%.
And there’s quite a bit of story going on in the
exterior scenes. Another 20% is probably Shack
interiors. The one location we know wasn’t filmed
in Utah was the Shelter interior, which was
created in a studio in Los Angeles.

River did complete at least part of one Shelter
scene in LA. There are a few scenes in the
Shelter and one of the unfilmed scenes is kind
of important – although wouldn’t be difficult to
recreate with stand-in actors lit by candlelight
(maybe it’s time for Mr. Sluizer to give James
Franco a call).

After reading the script and knowing that all Utah
filming was completed, it’s easy to see where the
90% number came from.

After River’s death the entire issue was a hot potato and a P.R. nightmare.
Hell, even Silent Tongue’s release got pushed back and then was only
released in THREE theaters. Nobody wanted to give the appearance of
‘cashing in’.

If Sluizer can figure out a way to get Dark Blood into a releasable state I
fully support that endeavor. You say it was half completed. The director
says it was 90% completed. Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle.
I doubt Sluizer would be pursuing this if he only had 50% in the can. Until
we know for certain, this is a he said/he said issue. If you can provide some
proof for your claim however, I would be more than happy to make a
re-evaluation.

Richard Donner shot about 70% of Superman II before being fired and was
able to release a modified version of his film after almost 29 years of that footage
wasting away in a vault. Granted, he had the crutch of relying on another directors
work to complete that project. Is it perfect? No. Far from it. But it is greatly
appreciated for what it is… an unfinished work that shows a great deal of potential.
It remains a valuable, interesting, and historic film artifact. As would Dark Blood.

Film fans are an intelligent lot. They can understand what is involved with
releasing an unfinished film. There are a number of options for bridging gaps.
Voice-overs, title cards, storyboards, and a host of other solutions that can
only be achieved through the art of filmmaking. The good in releasing Dark Blood
far outweighs any bad. There’s just not much to lose here and so much to gain.

Thankfully there are more people who want this film released than there are those
who would be content with the film elements degrading into dust. If I were a betting
man I’d say some time in the future, if not next year then soon after, Dark Blood will
be released in some form. And I’ll be quite happy that any effort to prevent that
would have failed.

It’s a part of history now.

Grayson
NYC