Path of Blood a documentary shot by Al Qaeda

☆☆☆☆

By: Laia Pascual Espinet

Path of Blood gives a frightening authentic insight into Al Qaeda from the perspective of the terrorists themselves. It makes for unbearable viewing at times. The doc, made up from jihadi home-movie footage captured by Saudi security services, investigates the impact the multiple attacks on Saudi Arabia have had, and what it means confronting fearless and clashing jihadists. Jonathan Hacker the director and producer, has done a tremendous job allowing the audience to get an insight into this world of which we know very little, executive producer Mark Boal is used to controversial themes as the writer of the acclaimed film The Hurt Locker. The narrative is captivating and the visuals stunning. Path of Blood gives an invaluable understanding of how terrorist organizations operate and how challenging and perilous it is to fight extremist Islamists.

Path of Blood is available on DVD from Amazon CLICK HERE from the 10th of December!

The movie has comic episodes of terrorists joking and laughing around for the camera, juxtaposing the horrific nature of their acts with everyday situations, makes uncomfortable viewing. In the beginning of the film Abdulaziz al-Mudayhish (one of the key characters) argues with the other jihadists, in a funny way trying to decide which cup is the best for coffee while one of his brothers is asking him questions about how it feels to put yourself in a car bomb or how it feels to kill people. Another darkly humorous moment occurs in the middle of one of their horrific acts, at the end of the film, when they are going to the Ministry of Interior to detonate a car bomb there. On their way, they realize they haven’t got enough petrol to reach their destination, so they are forced to stop to refuel and they spend a few minutes arguing about who is going to pay for the petrol. We get an uncomfortable insider look at their daily life and the film shows you both their insanity and incompetence. It shows them in many ways as ordinary gungho guys who are very trigger happy, away from the stereotypical image of the monstrous Al Qaeda terrorist.

Some scenes were really hard to watch as they were very explicit, but at the same time, they were necessary to understand that this is the daily life of what these terrorist organizations as Al Qaeda or ISIS. The documentary shows how they are becoming one of the most fearsome threat worldwide.

Path of Blood makes you question the nature of good and evil. In one of the final scenes, a terrorist puts a bomb inside his body all by himself, making him a live human bomb and detonates it in a room. It’s shocking to see how they experiment with bombs, guns, and sacrifice their own bodies to test how far they can go for the cause. As Al Qaeda remains an active player in the world the documentary gives you a glimpse into the suicide terrorist world, and by understanding what drives them we have a greater chance to stop them from gaining more influence and followers.

Watch the trailer below if you want to know more about this shocking documentary!