BLACK DEATH Review
Christopher Smith's fourth feature sees the director sticking broadly to the horror genre that made his name with 2004's Creep. A medieval Dirty Dozen (by Smith's own confession) set to the backdrop of the bubonic plague, Black Death moves into ground covered by The Wicker Man mid way through, making for an intriguing mix that never quite delivers on its juicy premise.
Sean Bean heads the cast as Ulric, an envoy to the Bishop, leading a ragtag band of Christian soldiers on a mission to explore a mysteriously disease-free village in an otherwise Plague-ravaged Britain. Enlisting the help of young monk Osmund (Eddie Redmayne)to lead them, these hardened and gruff troops head off in search of the village. Rumour has it a Godless 'necromancer' - someone able to bring the dead back to life - is responsible for the safety of its inhabitants. On arrival, some shocking discoveres are made and different breeds of fundamentalism collide with horrific results.
Despite a rather effectively realised vision of a rotting (and rotten) medieval England, Black Death ultimately falls between stools, neither action packed enough to be a thrilling romp, nor scary enough to send shivers down your spine. The cast, an impressive role call of highly capable British talent, promises much - Sean Bean, David Warner and Tim McInnerny amongst others. Special mention goes to Andy Nyman (Severance, Dead Set) for another great turn and the only comic relief. But even with this solid talent and generally lively performances, Smith's central conceit of two diversely fundamental factions clashing makes for a strangely distanced viewing experience. There's a palpable bond between the band of warriors, but it's short lived once their motivation and ideology become clear. Even Nyman's zinging one liners feel strangely misplaced in an otherwise grim and sombre setting, and more suited to a Severance sequel. Osmund's relationship with his girlfriend is apparently the emotional core, but its perfunctory development fails to move, and his tussle between love of God and love for her isn't the heart-rending tract it should be. Like much of the film it simply fails to take hold. We've no-one to really empathise with so, come the climax, it's just bodies.
There's a feeling of restraint from Smith throughout that's either admirable or disappointing, depending on how you look at it. On one hand it's great to see him largely moving away from the laddish humour of Severance and the fan-boy pastiche of Creep, but Black Death has also lost some of the sparkle that made his earlier films so endearing. More than once you'll be begging him to just unleash a flurry of old school gore rather than cut or pan away to another squelch or scream. Again, bar a severed limb or two and one full-on battle, things never quite kick off.
Neither as polished and meticulous as Triangle, nor as blatantly crowd-pleasing as Severance it feels oddly muted and lacking cinematic scope. In spite of all this, it's a hard film to dislike. Smith and his cast radiate a gameness and enthusiasm for the subject matter, and it's an entertaining if not remarkable genre piece.
Black Death is at UK cinemas from 28th May 2010 through Revolver Entertainment.
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