'BLACK DEATH': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
Medieval religious horror film set in 1348 England during the bubonic plague outbreak. Sean Bean stars as a knight on a mission to find and capture a necromancer, a person with the ability to breath life into the dead. Eddie Redmayne co-stars as a young monk who agrees to be his guide. The film is directed by Christopher Smith (an experienced British horror filmmaker with movies like 'TRIANGLE', 'SEVERANCE' and 'CREEP' under his belt) and written by Dario Poloni. I was pretty pleased with the film and found it to be a great deal better than other recent medieval action/horror films ('CENTURION', 'THE EAGLE', etc.).
Redmayne plays Osmand, a monk who has fallen for a young woman, Averill (Kimberley Nixon), staying at his monastery. As the plague spreads through the monastery Osmand sends her to what he believes is safety in the marshes which she came. She asks him to meet her there within a week and Osmand, not sure whether he should give up his vows for this woman, asks God for a sign telling him what to do. He thinks he gets this sign when a team of knights pass through looking for a guide to the very area Osmand sent his love. They're led by Ulric (Bean) a hardened faith driven soldier on a quest to vanquish Satin's evildoers and believes one such abomination lives in a village in the marshes and is bringing the dead back to life. Osmand joins the men on their quest and for the first time truly puts his faith to the test, as do the soldiers.
I find religion themed movies interesting as well as entertaining, especially ones that explore faith and it's impact on people to this depth. I also very much enjoy horror films and medieval action movies so this movie was of course right up my alley. It had the perfect balance of all three elements. The movie is very involving as well as thought provoking and thrilling. It's very gloomy and leaves a disturbing impression, especially the darkly twisted ending. The directing is more than fitting to the material and the screenplay is smart and well thought out. Bean and Redmayne are exceptional as the two leads and the supporting cast is all impressive as well. There's plenty of gory and gruesome bloody violence for the splatter fans also. The movie really works at what it sets out to do, it's a shame movies like this don't get more publicity and mainstream play.
Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF5zRynRifs
Medieval religious horror film set in 1348 England during the bubonic plague outbreak. Sean Bean stars as a knight on a mission to find and capture a necromancer, a person with the ability to breath life into the dead. Eddie Redmayne co-stars as a young monk who agrees to be his guide. The film is directed by Christopher Smith (an experienced British horror filmmaker with movies like 'TRIANGLE', 'SEVERANCE' and 'CREEP' under his belt) and written by Dario Poloni. I was pretty pleased with the film and found it to be a great deal better than other recent medieval action/horror films ('CENTURION', 'THE EAGLE', etc.).
Redmayne plays Osmand, a monk who has fallen for a young woman, Averill (Kimberley Nixon), staying at his monastery. As the plague spreads through the monastery Osmand sends her to what he believes is safety in the marshes which she came. She asks him to meet her there within a week and Osmand, not sure whether he should give up his vows for this woman, asks God for a sign telling him what to do. He thinks he gets this sign when a team of knights pass through looking for a guide to the very area Osmand sent his love. They're led by Ulric (Bean) a hardened faith driven soldier on a quest to vanquish Satin's evildoers and believes one such abomination lives in a village in the marshes and is bringing the dead back to life. Osmand joins the men on their quest and for the first time truly puts his faith to the test, as do the soldiers.
I find religion themed movies interesting as well as entertaining, especially ones that explore faith and it's impact on people to this depth. I also very much enjoy horror films and medieval action movies so this movie was of course right up my alley. It had the perfect balance of all three elements. The movie is very involving as well as thought provoking and thrilling. It's very gloomy and leaves a disturbing impression, especially the darkly twisted ending. The directing is more than fitting to the material and the screenplay is smart and well thought out. Bean and Redmayne are exceptional as the two leads and the supporting cast is all impressive as well. There's plenty of gory and gruesome bloody violence for the splatter fans also. The movie really works at what it sets out to do, it's a shame movies like this don't get more publicity and mainstream play.
Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF5zRynRifs