Review of Black Death (2010) by Phil H — 18 Apr 2014

Totally bleak and very realistic, this historical story set in the time of the bubonic plague which really is quite depressing. The plot is of course religious based and see's a group of warriors and a young monk off to a small village untouched by plague. The reason? because they think a witch is there and keeping the plague out, which would seem beneficial really, but that's not Christian damn it!.

Sean Bean heads a good character driven cast (including Tim McInnerny of 'Blackadder' fame) despite still looking like 'Boromir' of 'LOTR'. His mates are a dirty ugly bunch all set on pushing the Christian faith through England and that's it. The plot is basically just a gang of warriors on a mission getting taken down one by one, usual affair, but its niche is it being set in the time of the bubonic plague and rather grotty. Last man standing film ritual really, nothing new.

It looks great, you can almost smell the rotting filth in the air and taste the mud the group slowly wades through, all accompanied by that typical eerie chanting you tend to hear in old fashioned Abbeys by monks. The musical score is very spiritual, deep and haunting with an ethereal essence about it, it works very well for the era. Its just a shame the ending gets a little bit silly and kinda 'Wicker Man-ish'. Still its a good film that has gone under the radar probably because its a British/German production, I don't think the Yanks know what the bubonic plague was.