"On September 11, 1857, in an Unspoiled Valley of the Utah Territory - and in the Name of God - 120 Men, Women and Children Were Savagely Murdered. Who Ordered the Massacre, and Why, Has Been Hidden in a Cloak of Secrecy and Conspiracy. And the Reputation of One of This Nation's Mightiest Religious Figures Has Been Preserved and Protected. Until Now."
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Dolby Digital (5.1), English, Spanish, Subtitled, French, Dubbed & Subtitled
Academy Award winner Jon Voight, Terence Stamp and Trent Ford star in this film based on the true story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre - the brutal murder of 120 men, women and children on September 11, 1857 as their wagon train passed through Utah on its way to California. The question of whether the attack was carried out by local Paiute Indians or by a renegade sect of the Mormon church remains unresolved to this day.Set against the breathtaking beauty of the Utah mountains, September Dawn explores what might have happened when the ill-fated settlers stopped near Cedar City to rest before completing the last leg of their journey. Local Mormon Bishop Jacob Samuelson (Voight) is suspicious of the group, so he dispatches his oldest son Jonathan (Ford) to spy on them. Jonathan soon falls in love with an angelic member of the wagon train, the minister's daughter Emily (Tamara Hope), and is horrified when he discovers that his father thinks the settlers are enemies of the church and is planning an attack on them. While Jonathan makes plans to escape with Emily, his father sets in motion a chain of events, fueled by revenge and fanaticism, which culminates in a violent and tragic ambush.
"...very good and entertaining. Please go and see it, but do take the so-called facts presented with a grain of salt." Lena Putzer, Aced Magazine
"...[a] genuinely disturbing recreation of the massacre...[a] powerful, gut-wrenching depiction..." Tim Knight, Reel.com
Editor's Note
This independently produced drama is based on historical fact: In 1857, Mormon settlers, in an area near Cedar City, massacred 120 people bound for California. Jon Voight plays Jacob Samuelson, a paranoid religious zealot whose initial hostility to the settlers is inspired partly by women wearing pants, and the fact that some of them come from Missouri (a state that drove the Mormons out). From this snowballs a fury of religion-based intolerance that leads to the historic Mountain Meadows Massacre of, prophetically enough, September 11th. Director Christopher Cain (YOUNG GUNS) shows skill in creating period detail and a sense of inescapable dread, even amidst the wide open spaces of the beautiful mountainous locations. Deep shadows caused by the stark sunshine contrast with lots of tense, sweaty close-ups of fear-stricken and hateful faces. Terence Stamp shows up as the Church of Latter Day Saints leader Brigham Young, who gets involved in the decision to massacre the settlers (a controversial detail, debated to this day). Offsetting the unease is a Romeo-and-Juliet-style romance between one of Samuelson's handsome young sons (Trent Ford) and Emily (Tamara Hope), a beautiful red-headed maiden from the wagon train. A nice score of acoustic guitars and strings blends suspense and rustic breeziness.
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