Filmed in the late 1980s when militant white supremacists were on the rise, this documentary lets them talk without comment during a rally in Michigan. It soon becomes clear what wackos and crackpots they are. For example the title of the film comes from their definition of a white person: a person who can blush, you know, where there’s blood in the face. It’s all downhill from there, with conspiracy theories, looney facts, secret information, unabashed ignorance, and of course, tons of blind hate. The more sincere and harder the racists try to explain, as they become more intimate in the film, the more ridiculous they seem. Rather than conjuring up fear (as say the film State of Mind, about the cult of North Korea, does), this one summons up pity for the deranged. Still, it’s a fantastic window into a political force larger than its marginal numbers, and now with immigration back in the headlines, well worth looking into. They are nuts, but influential nuts. Their looniness is documented here with a fine touch.

— KK

Blood in the Face
Directed by Kevin Rafferty and James Ridgeway
1990, 78 min.
$15, DVD

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