Main Cast: Jay Mohr, Diana Stevan, Stephen Tobolowsky, Ann Cusack, Lisa Edelstein
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 87 minutes
Plot
Sci-fi novelist Bo Aikens (Jay Mohr) is fed up with life in Los Angeles. He heads out of the hustle and bustle of the big city to the small, idyllic town of Black River, where everyone is happy, contented and welcoming of strangers -- except for a burly redneck, but he'll be put straight soon enough. Not by Bo, but by an invisible force that rules the town. Troubled by various, peculiar Twilight Zone-ish twists of fate, Bo tries to leave Black River but finds he cannot -- at first because his car has been smashed into a cube, and later by deadly beams that rain from the sky. What's the sinister secret of Black River? Why is Bo being kept prisoner? And why is everyone so dang happy? ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
Review
One of horror author Dean Koontz's more restrained -- and most successful stories -- Black River is a somewhat lighthearted, oddly funny take on the Orwellian dystopia genre of cinema that includes The Stepford Wives, but more importantly here, the fascinating TV series The Prisoner. Like The Prisoner's No. 6, played by Patrick McGoohan, Jay Mohr's Bo Aikens rebels against a system he can't fathom and resists everything that's laid out for him -- even when it's all good, such as the woman of his dreams (Lisa Edelstein), an impossibly gorgeous house, and a job to die for. He believes individual liberty is more important than robotically controlled creature comforts, but he's helpless to escape. Koontz's "what if" McGuffin -- the punch line that explains everything -- is clever without being cheap, convincing without being too far-fetched, particularly for fans of fantasy. Mohr's trademark smirk indicates that none of this should be taken too very seriously, but there's enough suspense to convey danger when needed to create tension. As speculative fiction goes, Black River flows very well. Just hope your car doesn't break down there. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
Jeff Bleckner - Director, Geoffrey Rowland - Editor, Kenneth Kaufman - Executive Producer, Dean Koontz - Executive Producer, Robert Lee - Executive Producer, J. Peter Robinson - Composer (Music Score), Chester Kaczenski - Production Designer, John S. Bartley - Cinematographer, J. Boyce Harman, Jr. - Producer, Daniel Taplitz - Screenwriter, Keith Rogers - Re-Recording Mixer, Dean Koontz - Book Author
