Well, it is October again, which means I am returning to the wonderful world of horror films for a few weeks! First on the list is the recent Black Death, a low budget horror film that came out of England last year. The film never really found an audience here in the United States, though I am willing to bet that a wide theatrical release with a real marketing campaign would have helped. It is a pity no studio got behind Black Death, but it is actually really quite good.
In the 1340s, the plague has descended over England, sweeping across the countryside and eventually killing 1/3 to 1/2 of the total population. But there is one village out in the marshes that is unaffected by the plague. No one knows why the village has been spared, but there are rumors of witchcraft and devil worship. A group of religious warriors led by Ulric (Sean Bean, Lord of the Rings) is sent by the local bishop to investigate, guided by a young monk named Osmond (Eddie Redmayne, The Other Boleyn Girl).
First, let's talk about what's good. I love the look of this movie. I don't think I have seen the Middles Ages look quite so bleak and real. Black Death does a fantastic job of depicting the bubonic plague, really showing how desperate and horrifying it was, and how it drove much of the country into paranoia and savagery. I was impressed with this bleak setting, and would have liked to have seen even more of it. I also really like the cast, which is uniformly great, and also includes Carice van Houten (Black Book) as Langiva, the leader of the village (and possibly a witch), Tim McInnerny (Black Adder), and a nice cameo from David Warner (Tron).
What I also like about the film is that while it is simple in story structure, there is actually a lot happening under the surface. Now in the 21st Century, I don't think we can comprehend something as devastating as the Black Death. Think about this - literally half the people you know dead all within the last year. How would you react? What would you think? How paranoid would you be? What if you're next? Would such devastation drive you to religion or away from it? These are questions that this movie asks by showing us how the warriors and the villagers react to the trying times. Sometimes we feel like the villagers are right, sometimes we find ourselves agreeing with the warriors. And this is probably the film's greatest strength, how it is adeptly shifts our sympathies from one side to the other, leaving us unsure of who to trust and who to root for. It is a cleverly conceived by director Christopher Jones and writer Dario Poloni.
And I will be honest, I always preferred this style of horror film, which is more about atmosphere and the slow build, to the hack and slasher genres that most people watch today. I would take a good Hammer Film over a Friday 13th movie any day of the week. Black Death isn't even really scary at all, but it is eerie and unsettling, and probably has more of an impact as a result.
There are a few problems with the film, the biggest of which is an over-reliance on shaky cam. I am tired of directors thinking that handheld cameras means the film will be more artsy. Just hold the camera steady so I can see what's happening!!! The shaky cam (or what I call earthquake cam) gets annoying in the first third and then all but ruins the one major battle scene in the movie. Thankfully, once Ulric and company arrive at the village, the camera work settles down a bit.
I also have some problems with the ending. The climax bounces from some brilliant moments (most involving the kickass Sean Bean) and some highly questionable moments. Then we are left with a coda, which while thematically is related, just seems tacked on for no other reason than to depress us.
But overall, this is a rock solid film with some great performances and atmosphere. You should check it out!
BEST LINE:
It's all in his delivery, but I like it when Wulfstan explains to the naive Osmond that: "A necromancer...is one who plucks the dead from the cold earth...and breaths new life into them."
MVP:
As much as I like Sean Bean, (and he does deliver the single coolest moment of the movie), I have to give the MVP to John Lynch, who plays the warrior Wulfstan. Wulfstan was easily my favorite character. Everyone else in the motley crew of warriors are either greedy, bloodthirsty, way too fanatical or full of wimpy angst. Wulfstan is a fighter, but he is a good man, probably the best man in the movie. And as the crew traveled through the plague ravaged countryside and the bandit riddled forest, it was his fate that I was most concerned about. Maybe that is a failing of the movie since I should have been more worried about Osmond and Ulric, but I prefer to view it as a testament to John Lynch's accessible performance. Plus, he looks a bit like Scott Bakula in battle armor. And that's kinda cool.
TRIVIA:
Lena Headey (who also played Sean Bean's nemesis on Game of Thrones) was set to play Langiva, but was replaced by van Houten.
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