10/24: Black Death

10/24: For today's horror film I decided to go a wee bit of a different horror direction with Black Death, an action horror film taking place during the black plague in medieval Europe. I teach the Middle Ages to my seventh graders so I was actually pretty stoked to see a horror movie set during one of the most horrifying points of Western history. The movie stars Eddie Redmayne as a monk who wishes to do God's work in the world and Sean Bean, a warrior for god trying to cleanse the land. He of course dies an incredibly graphic death in typical Sean Bean fashion. 

The group travels to a village that has been untouched by the plague only to find a dead-raising (or so it seems) godless cult. This was really a stellar set up for a medieval horror action film; the tone and fear of godlessness are real. The black death too and it's carelessness for any human life stands as a perfect horror backdrop. 

The movie does really well up until the end when it kind of falls apart and can't seem to decide on it's message. The movie too seems to be a critique on Christianity but never fully commits to it which makes the movie flounder a bit. These are pretty minor flaws though, and really the movie stands as a unique horror film in a medieval setting. 

8/10