Black Death

Evil spreads evil. Christopher Smith took a script with bigger balls than you’ll find in any anatomy book and delivered it to a director who has a reputation for not messing around. How do you rate a film whose only negatives can be chalked up to a budget apparently so low that half of it was swallowed up by poster-making? It is true that if the scenes had been split up among more locations (nearly twenty minutes of the second half take place in the same setting) one would not have that "meandering" feeling of a puzzle. Anyway, it's not Smith's fault, the directing is all an honor. He expertly fights against established principles, has ideas and timing (in particular, he knows exactly when to end dialogue and with it the scene for emphasis), and occasionally surprises with a distinctive directorial contribution – for example, the steadycam worn on the body of a character leading to an execution. Speaking of executions, the film certainly relishes violence, but it doesn't revel in it. Rather, it forms a backdrop for the poignancy of the entire period and holds the viewer's attention. There was a pleasantly surprising action scene (I kind of regretted that there weren't more of them) that finally explains what it means to be smacked in the face with a morning star, and I kind of regretted how long it's been since I've seen a proper swordfight in a movie (a LoTR marathon is probably around the corner). Definitely not to be missed. Make movies like this under the threshold of dependency so I don't have time to crave them. (10/31/2011)

The atmosphere of those hard and uncompromising times is brilliantly captured and there are moments when the tension can be cut. Sean Bean, as always, is excellent and very convincing in his role, as are the other actors, although most of them have the unquestionable advantage of a completely unusual character who happens to be brandishing a sword. The plot is good, the execution is very rough and raw, relying heavily on the terrifying landscape. Films with a religious premise like this are often a dud, but here the filmmakers handled the story strongly and engagingly enough, so I forgive the few mistakes in the script and stick to praise. (09/01/2011)

Creatively distinctive, atypical and exceptionally dark, with its grey tones and unflagging mysterious mood, it strongly evokes Annaud's classic The Name of the Rose. Except Sean Bean and co. swing their swords a bit more and now and then someone loses an arm, a leg or a head. It’s not a wild bestial ride, or horror, it oscillates interestingly in its (anti)religious themes, because each of the main characters expresses a point of view and at the same time all of them are essentially negative. This is a purely individualistic and thematically quite proficient film about Christianity and paganism, where it is impossible to clearly define the winner and the right path. With a more renowned director it might have been even bigger and more impressive, but those ambitions were clearly absent , this was supposed to be a small, intimate film. And it's pretty clear where the casting directors drew inspiration for GoT, Carice van Houten is amazing and Bean, well, he’s as good as always. (07/10/2017)

Solomon Kane meets The Wicker Man. The film is a thoughtful look at militant faith, fanatical atheism, and man's ability to believe without limits in everything he cannot explain. Sometimes you can't do anything else, but everything has its limits. It’s all set in the dirty Middle Ages where fights with the fist and sword are commonplace, so we see plenty of limbs rolling around in the mud. It's not a horror film in the slightest, but it is thought-provokingly rich. 4 ½. (08/19/2010)

I kept waiting for the sweet tremor between faith and disbelief, between dogma and heresy, to fade away into some stupid horror cliché, and I'm pleasantly shocked that it didn't. The script does the most sensible thing with all the key characters - it lets them stray into the mists of their delusions and obsessions (i.e., from a narrative point of view, common sense prevails). Smith already amazed me because he doesn't want to get the viewer drunk on the designs, but by modern means he pushes him right into the middle of the world crawling with sores - very reminiscent of HBO's historical production. The very solid acting performances are underlined by adequately dramatic music. It has to be said that I am still processing the whole thing, but if I take away a few of the wooden moments, the film is a well thought-out and well-realized variation on all other variations of Conrad's book “Heart of Darkness". Even the stuffing of the Middle Ages with very modern thought content didn't bother me very much. A strong ****. (02/10/2011)