Dr. Joe Henderson (Joe Stewardson) is a burnt-out medical examiner in South Africa. After his wife left with his children he fell into a depression. Joe’s job is made harder by the fact that there is a rash of murders happening in the city. Prostitutes are being murdered by having their skulls bashed in with what looks like a spiked club of some kind. Joe’s friend, Detective Max Wharton (Ian Yule), has been working the cases.
While signing death certificates, Joe notices one that is filled out except for the name of the deceased. The form says that the man died of heart attack, but Joe never did an autopsy on him. Joe is approached by two government men, Captain Stoltz (Gys de Villiers) and Sergeant Phillips (Greg Latter). They ask him to sign the certificate even though there was no name filled in. He refuses. Joe is then approached by a woman named Elizabeth Mekana (Dudu Mkhize). She tells him that the dead man was her husband, a political activist, and he died in jail due to extreme interrogation techniques. She asks him not to sign the death certificate.
Stoltz and Phillips return to, once again, encourage Joe to sign the death certificate. When Joe reveals that he knows it is Mekanna’s death certificate, the agents tell Joe that they are trying to stop a race war from happening and they need his support. He begins to receive pressure from above, including a visit to the Prime Minister (John Carson), to sign the certificate. Joe believes there is more to the story than just apartheid. Joe decides to investigate further himself.
Joe visits Professor Horner (Norman Coombes) from the Department of Anthropology at the college. A skull recently found is dated to a period of approximately 10,000 years ago. The skull shows marks exactly like those found on the skulls of the recent prostitute victims. Joe ends up down a rabbit hole of ancient, reincarnated witch doctors getting revenge.
“City of Blood” was released in 1987 and was directed by Darrell Roodt. It is a South African horror thriller. The movie was shot in 1983 but wasn’t released until 1987.
Sometimes it’s really hard to follow. It had some artistic influences but that made the movie feel a little disjointed. The movie was advertised as a slasher film, but it’s more like a political drama with a twist. There are very few slasher elements here. The film is hard to find and because of the incorrect genre attachment, is quite sought after among slasher fans. If you are a slasher fan, this may not be what you think it is. If you like ambiguous political thrillers, it may interest you to some degree.
The opening for the movie was actually interesting and drew you in. As soon as the scene changed to modern day, the film became sluggish, confusing and boring. Plot holes and subplots are scattered about. Everything is given to you in dribs and drabs, and the clues are cloaked in surrealistic images and dream sequences that don’t really reveal anything. There is no clear resolution to the film. You’re left thinking that something is missing.