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Jon Voight, Terrence Stamp, Taylor Handley, Lolita Davidovich, Tamara Hope. Period drama. Written by Christopher Cain, Carole Whang Schutter. Directed by Christopher Cain.

FILM SYNOPSIS: Supposedly based on actual events, the film tells of a wagon train bent on settling in Utah during the 19th century. A romance begins, but the group is attacked and slaughtered by…Mormons.

PREVIEW REVIEW: Except for the graphic massacre at the end, September Dawn felt like a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie. A kind of Romeo and Juliet /Hatfields and McCoys love story, with the Mormons not wanting their young men soiled by the female Missouri pioneers. The actors, with the exception of Jon Voight and Terrence Stamp, were less than electrifying, probably destined to star in TNT sit-coms. And Voight and Stamp were trapped by one-dimensional roles and limited production values. Veteran writer/director Christopher Cain (The Stone Boy, Where the River Runs Black, Young Guns) – and the adoptive father of actor Dean Cain – seemed constrained by an insufficient budget and his own stodgy screenplay and rhythmless pacing. (Ouch. For the record, I’ve seen very capable work from this filmmaker.)

What’s more, I wasn’t sure of the film’s intent. In these politically correct times, it seemed confusing that a Hollywood production would point a negative finger at anyone’s faith (other than mainstream Christianity, of course). Here, they have made a very deliberate statement concerning the Church of Latter Day Saints. The world in general sees the Mormon church as a family-orientated group, one that dominates the goings-on in Salt Lake City, but this film wants us to know that there is much sinister activity in its history, and perhaps its leadership of today.

Then I thought for a moment that the filmmakers were using this episode in history (one denied by the church’s hierarchy, by the way) as a metaphor, stating that there are indeed religions to be feared. Perhaps it’s even meant as an indictment against the zealots who have declared war on Judaism and Christianity. But that doesn’t sound like anything that would come out of Hollywood, does it?

By film’s end, we are left with a bunch of dead people, an unrepentant Brigham Young and probably a very frustrated Mitt Romney.

Distributor: Slow Hand Releasing, Black Diamond Pictures