Black Death Review by Samantha Mauney

Searching through a list of horror movies coming out this year (specifically this summer) to ward off studying for the LSAT, I came across this film listed as a 2010 favorite. So you can imagine how happy I was to find that Netflix offers to stream instantly for all of its customers.

Black Death is a supernatural, story-driven, period-piece horror flick about the effects of the bubonic plague in fourteenth century England. A local bishop's envoy and his entourage arrive at a monastery with tales of a place that the plague cannot reach. When they leave they take with them a young monk from the monastery as a guide, as he was raised in the marsh they are headed to. What the soldiers do not know is that the monk has a hidden agenda. He has sent his young lover to the marshes for her safety, with the promise to meet her there. However, it is revealed that the other men have a few secrets of their own. While they are looking for a village where there is no pestilence, that same village is a godless one that is said to be lead by a necromancer. The men seek to find it and "turn it's people back to God." With that goal in place, the story begins to move and breathe at a very comfortable pace as the search for the young monk's true love, as well as this mysterious village and its pagan sorcerer starts.

Most true horror fans will think that the film starts off WAY slow, with virtually nothing in the way of scare or suspence for the first thirty minutes. In fact, despite the fact that I was completely engrossed in the story, for a while I was wondering why both movie-moron.com and Netflix classified Black Death as a horror film to begin with. Roughly an hour into the movie, however, you'll think you're watching torture porn. While that aspect of the film doesn't last very long at all, from that point on the film is remarkably fast-paced, and amazingly compelling.

I cannot begin to state how remarkable the acting was in this movie. Eddie Redmayne (Pillars of the Earth, Elizabeth I, Glorious 39), one of my favorite young British actors, shines as a young man of the cloth who's having a hard time keeping to his vows. By far the character with the most growth, you see both innocence and cold-hearted malice in his performance, two qualities that Eddie Redmayne is a master at conveying, garnering him praise in Pillars of the Earth and Glorious 39.

However, most of you will probably recognize the great Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, GoldenEye) more easily. It's no argument that Bean is a wonderful and highly-seasoned actor, and his performance here does not dissapoint. Unfortunately, his character, while it certainly has depth, has no real arc to it, so we see Bean once again playing the unchanging, honorable soldier. It would have been nice to see him in a role with more development. Other characters in the film are just as honorable, but are not given enough screen time to be as likable.

The cinematography in this film is fairly one-note, though quite captivating. The bleak color present throughout the movie helps to convey the atmosphere in England int he 1300's. The harshness of the landscape will never let you forget that there is death all around, as inescapable and as fast as the fog hovering above the marsh. Exactly what you'd expect from a Medieval action movie, but presented in a nice way nonetheless.

I try to be a fiercely anti-spoiler reviewer, but I don't think that I'm giving away too much by saying that religion is a huge theme in this film (but that doesn't by any means mean that it's preachy or any other negative connotation you associate with religion). With that come love, temptation, betrayl, lust, vengeance, and duty: all of which make a for great story, and that's truly what this film is. I disagree with Netflix calling it primarily a supernatural horror, but there are definitely parts of the story that are horrific. Unfortunately, the true scares only account for about 10% of the movie. I will say that the lack of jump-off-the-couch-scares and on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense is due to the complete devotion to realism of Christopher Smith and Dario Poloni, the director and screenwriter. I really like and respect that there is no suspension of disbelief necessary for any part of the story, and that fact, more than any torturous scene, is the most horrific aspect of this film. Watch Black Death if you like original, extremely well-written, action films in addition to horror. Don't watch if you're looking for something to keep you awake when things go bump in the night.