I looked and looked, but still couldn’t find Waldo.
It is ye old 1348 and things are a little rudimentary. A lil depressing. A lil squalorly.
Quite a bit plaguey actually…
Yes a plague of the darkest hue is sweeping one and all. Bodies are scattered about the towns and cities, with fresh dead appearing every day, and every sniff and cough reason for suspicion.
The disease strikes randomly, affecting both man and beast, rich and poor, nice and not so nice. The huddled survivors wonder openly if this might be the work of a Higher Power – and if so which one and why?
The Church of course claims that it is all His work. Humanity is being punished for some reason. When a robust warrior named Ulric (Sean Bean) appears to tell of a small village that is apparently unaffected their curiosity is piqued and they permit young monk Osmund to accompany the party on their reconnaissance. Osmund rapidly learns that Ulric and his small band of men aren’t limiting their mission to ‘information only’.
The trek to the village is long and arduous. Every man in Ulric’s party – including Osmund – has a tale to tell. And ample time to tell it.
The land is gripped with hysteria borne from fear and confusion. Formerly sensible people have turned to labelling women witches and men heretics. Sacrifices and random killings are commonplace and rituals are rumoured to occur in remote areas.
Some rituals are non-satanic in nature. Some are, other…
The party do not reach the village without incident, and not all that embark on the journey arrive. However at the gates of the small sleepy village one and all are welcomed with open arms and broad smiles. The community of mostly women immediately takes a shine to the weary travellers, they listen intently to the tales of woe that effect the ‘outside world’, and a celebration is planned for that very evening.
Until this point the film is a little bit LotR (Fellowship) crossed with Valhalla Rising, a bit of a road movie with some violent moments, but linear enough to follow. There is a twist that I wont divulge, not that it would matter though, as it is immediately followed by another 6 or 7 twists in reasonable quick succession.
For all that it has no standout scenes that, but also no low points or dull bits. I must warn the faint of heart that there are more than a few moments where they quite literally ‘get medieval on they asses’, and there is an especially gory battle scene which sees the air filled with screams, bloodspatters and formerly attached body parts.
The film takes no favourites and gives no concession, it is quite violent (with a couple of moments edging toward torture porn), often confusing and depending on your point of view possibly polarising.
I discovered that the director Christopher Smith was also responsible for the excellent horror/thriller Triangle and the better-than-you-think horror flick Severance. (To my memory the battle sequence in this film is his first, and I would appreciate it if he could give shaky-cam the flick for his next effort.) With an excellent, an under-appreciated and now a solid historical action / horror film under his belt he has already proven that he is worth tracking.
Final Rating – 7 / 10. Black Death started as Valhalla Rising crossed with LotR, then the second half eschewed the Tolkein-like quest in favour of a Wicker Man tone. Regardless of the elements in the combo it manages to stay both interesting and watchable.
