Black Death

Directed by: Christopher Smith

Starring: Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Carice Van Houten, Kimberly Nixon, Andy Nyman, Tim McInnery, John Lynch, David Warner

Synopsis:

Osmund (Redmayne), a young novice monk, resides within the relatively safe walls of an abbey while the townsfolk are dying from the Plague. He is torn between his duty to God and to his lover, Averill (Nixon), who wants him to escape to the countryside with her. Into the abbey strides Ulric, special envoy of the Bishop. Word has reached His Grace of a village untouched by plague, and Ulric is being sent to investigate, and needs a guide. Taking this as a sign from God to catch up with Averill, Osmund volunteers to guide Ulric, in the hope of meeting up with his secret lover.

Their journey is a treacherous one, as the group of hardened soldiers encounter angry mobs, witch-hunters, swamps and bandits – and the plague itself. Finally reaching the village, they are welcomed by it’s benevolent leader, Hob (McInnery). But what terrible secrets lie within?

Review:

Director Christopher Smith has made a career of bringing to the screen off-kilter stories which have a habit of zigging when you expect them to zag, keeping the audience constantly on their toes. Black Plague follows the excellent Triangle and proves to be a very entertaining, if a bit grim, occult thriller.

The first half of the film feels similar to Apocalypse Now (or, if you will, Heart of Darkness). Young Osmund is brought along on this “mission of God”, leading a band of hardened soldiers who’ve been in the thick of battle many, many times. Some of the soldiers are sympathetic towards him – especially Wolfstan (John Lynch) – others see him as more of a liability, or worse. They could have a point, as Osmund has an ulterior motive for volunteering to be their guide.

Along the way, the group encounter many strange and eerie sights. Osmund tries to stop a woman accused of being a witch from being burned alive, only for Ulric to deliver his own form of mercy. The pass a group of penitents, carrying a huge cross and whipping their own bare backs as they walk. And then there are the funeral pyres, stacked with infected dead bodies.

When they reach the village in question, they are faced with what seems an even stranger sight – a village full of healthy, happy and serene people. The group are welcomed and shown great hospitality by their generous hosts, the village leader Hob (Tim McInnery) and Langiva (Carice Van Houten from Dorothy Mills).

The audience is left in a quandary at this juncture. Do we take the villager’s healthy innocence at face value, and question the prejudiced, violent perspective of Ulric and his men? Or, like Ulric, do we assume that the villagers are hiding something? The film lets the audience dwell on this before certain clues come to light…

The events that take place in the village take up most of the second half of the film, beginning with mystery, revelation and devastating retribution. Imagine a cross between The Wicker Man and Cannibal Ferox, and you’re in the right ball-park. The atmosphere is tinged with the occult and supernatural, but this is eventually clarified by a sombre, rational explanation. Then there is the epilogue. Fans of Christopher Smith’s previous films will know that there is always a final twist of the knife in his films, and Black Death is no different, showing how damaging the events of the film were to one of the survivors.

The acting is excellent, with the always reliable Sean Bean leading the way. Ulric is a devout and passionate man, who firmly believes he is doing “God’s work”. Eddie Remayne has the biggest story-arc. He believes he has been given a sign from God to chase after his lover, Averill, and has his eyes opened wide by the journey to the village and from the stories the envoy’s tell him round the campfire. The events in the village test his faith to the maximum, to the point that not all of his mind and soul survive the experience. Tim McInnery,usually renowned for his comic abilities, is great as the larger-than-life Hob, and Carice Van Houten is wonderful as the enigmatic and magical Langiva.

Verdict

A disturbing trip into the darkness, Black Death delivers grand guignol style thrills and the kind of horror that lingers in your brain long after you’ve finished watching. The film’s epilogue is a terrifically nasty piece of work – if what went before is like a stab in the gut, the finale is a cruel twist of the knife.

8 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

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