Review of September Dawn (2007) by Deb S — 01 Apr 2010

The dramatization of the events surrounding the Mountain Meadows Massacre of the ill-fated wagon train pulls no punches nor waters down the horror of the events that occurred on that other September 11th (of 1857). My only hope is that the film portrayed what happened as accurately as possible and does not provoke the very anger and fear and paranoia it seems to be aiming to depict, on both sides of the fence.

There is no defense for the men who committed the act for we can never know what it was like for either the victims or the perpetrators of such a heinous crime but to have this atrocity horribly blamed on the Pauite Indians is sad indeed. Jon Voight is darn scary in his role as an overzealous Mormon bishop and Terence Stamp gave a superb performance as well.

I felt repulsed by the movie as I watched it but I'll recommend it for those avid "History Buff" fans.