What do you get when you cross a couple of veteran knights, a thief and a novice cleric with the Wicker-man? You get one heck of a great D&D flavored flick called Black Death (2010)!Directed by Christopher Smith and staring Sean Bean (Game of Thrones & Boromir from LOTR) it's a story set in 14th century England during the era of the Plague (Black Death). It's a gritty, dirty, and brutally violent film about a party of veteran knights sent by the bishop to investigate a village that appeared to be unaffected by the plague. The Church believes that the village is run by a necromancer and that they are raising the dead. Bean as Ulric, the leader of the group, enlists a novice Christian monk to accompany them.
Now if that doesn't sound like a D&D hook, I don't know what does.Great atmosphere and enjoyable characters carry the story through some unexpected turns. And when the swords (along with maces and axes) start to swing, body parts go flying! I don't want to give anything away but it is a grim tale indeed, though at times, you may think back to Monty Python and the Holy Grail with the plague and the dead and all that (but really, it's not funny at all).
You can pick it up via NetFlix instant so add it to you cue right now! A great movie to get you in the mood for some inspired dice throwing!
Update: Read Stefan Poag's review of this movie also over at Aldeboran if you really need a second opinion ; )
I watched this just the other week and reviewed it on my own blog... great minds and all that. I admired how spare the images and story telling were (it was clearly of modest budget compared to most Hollywood blockbusters, but didn't look "cheap").
ReplyDeleteThe use of what looked like historical locations for the monastery was a nice touch.
Damn! How did I miss your post! I agree with you on the bleak to bleaker vibe of the movie (which I liked) and the monastery was great.
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