Wracked with the death, violence and misery of plague, the remaining authority is incensed by the report of survivors, and goes out to kill them all. Well, what else do you expect when you get the christians involved.
In this song of doom set in medieval times, a fanatic leads a band of killers to reach a mysterious village where all have seem to have suspiciously avoided the tidal wave of disease which has destroyed most of the country. Unimpressed to hear of such withcraft and fearing unrest, they soon dispatch to remedy this source of evil, clear in their minds that not all are worthy of forgiveness.
Scenes of burning human pyres should be a dead giveaway on this one. Wasting barely any time on romance or theatrics, Black Death leaps into a grim world of torture and survival, delighting in the reality of disease, relishing its grief, misery, and senseless devastation. Characters, settings and developments and are stressed to be represented as genuine and authentic rather than mythical or strange, and there’s sense of atmosphere, especially when you hear the gentle carass of a glove over a rack of bloody torture equipment.
Performances are fantastic, but it’s the fascinating accuracy of the costumes, rituals and props which really sell the show. Moreover, Black Death deftly navigates religion, avoiding to make great judgements, instead mostly satisfied with trying to make itself a slowly developing tale. This is its main flaw: for the characters soon drift into the distance against a slow and plodding story which fails to grip you or demand attention, nor effectively balance the mythology and realism that it so well portrays.
While the lack of structure or tension sadly descends into banality, the ending is fantastic, with the creation of this amazing antagonist built on denial and self-deceit. The subversion of an innocent adolescent into heartless persecutor in the final moment is brilliant and shows an understanding of psychology way beyond most of the feckless meandering and wandering that makes up the body of the flick. What a waste. Still worth a watch though.
5/10
Possession Media 