97 min - Historical Adventure | Drama | Real Horror ... bought my DVD from Costco: $15
While Black Death is NOT about Vampires per se - I felt anyone who loves old-time witch-hunt stories with all the historic hysteria that led to demonizing the innocent would really appreciate this film, which is now on DVD. Don't get me wrong, what's presented here is pretty hard to stomach ... but the movie will stick with you long after you've engaged yourself in it.
Filmed in England, Black Death presents the Christian-dominated medieval era, 1348 specifically, when the bubonic plague first broke in every community save one - a remote Pagan village. The film begins with a young monk named Osmund whose torn about the suffering he sees in Christianized England and he also observes that his fellow monks are not immune to such agonizing contagious death, as they too are being buried.
What's more, Osmund also questions his love for his beautiful childhood companion and seeks a sign from God to leave the monastery in search for her. That's when violent men appear before the monks and they're seeking a guide for their quest to find the supposed "evil" that caused this plague so they can destroy it. They've heard stories of necromancy and bring a heavy torture device with them on wooden carriage. They must find that scape-goat to quench their thirst for revenge. After all - surely a single human being is responsible for bringing so much destruction to the hordes of plague sufferers.
As the young monk leads the crusade, the Christians encounter remote witch burnings and murdering raiders along the way. The acting, action and suspense in this film are all top notch. (See the trailer.)
One of my favorite comments under the above posted trailer follows: posted by chunkylover5311: "This is hard to masturbate to."
LOL! With all the violence and hatred? That's a gross understatement. This movie will NOT leave you feeling warm and fuzzy AT ALL.
FIRST IMPRESSION WAS NOT MY LASTING RESOLVE:
I often buy dvds to resell on eBay. Immediately after watching Black Death, I decided (because the lasting message was rather uncomfortable to absorb) that I would toss this flick on my "to sell" pile. Yet days later ... I'm still thinking about this film and all the hatred that religions of all kinds have perpetuated throughout history. Because it's still making me think and because this movie conveys that hatred and killing is despicable in ANY religion - I'm now deciding to add my copy of "Black Death" to my alphabetized collection of dvds.
Black Death
Screenplay: Dario Poloni
Directed: Christopher Smith
Stars: Eddie Redmayne (Osmund), Sean Bean (Cruisader) and Carice van Houten (Pagan Necromancer)
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