Found it!
So I saw this movie when I was very young, probably about four or five. Scenes from it have vaguely haunted me for years, to the point I wondered if I actually remembered the movie or just made it up.
Flipping through channels tonight I saw the briefest glimpse of a scene - with the dead men on the shore of the blood river - and instantly knew it was this movie. I flipped back, and unfortunately it was the Spanish channel, and I am anything but bilingual. I had to watch for the title, translate it, and then find a movie with something of an english equivalent online.
Finally I found it. It's strangely exciting to finally see it again, though like most things, I doubt it'll live up to memory. Still, this makes me happy.