Black Death

[Chainsaw]

Speaking of disease in game, I watched Black Death last night. Sean Bean plays a witchfinder during an outbreak of the bubonic plague in England (1348). He's charged with taking a crew to a remote village rumored to be spared from the plague. Once there, he's to investigate a supposed necromancer and find out if there's any connection. Overall, it was very dark, but fun, with some gnarly fight scenes and a decent D&D adventure vibe. It kept my interest - I liked it.

Black Death reminded me of a little of Nicholas' Cage's Season of the Witch, but with better acting, script, story and less cheesy. To be clear, I liked SotW too, because it also had a D&D adventure vibe, but it probably should have gone straight to video.

[TRP]

I fell asleep during SoTW, but Black Death kept my interest.

Something like Black Death would be a good hook intro for something like CoT or any other swamp-located adventure.

[Fridgeghiz]

I think I just found a hook for a one off i have been thinking about designing

[Chainsaw]

I fell asleep during SoTW

Agreed, it was not great. I can't recall why I had patience with it that evening. Maybe I'd had a few beers or was desperate for something to watch or both.

@Fridge: More of the "set up" is that another group had already been sent to the town and had not returned...

[AxeMental]

I've been toying with watching this. Is it similar to Iron Clad in action, violence level, filming, music, etc.?

[Chainsaw]

I have not seen Iron Clad, so I cannot say.

[Stonegiant]

Black Death IMO far outshined SotW. It was dirtier, grayer, grittier, etc. I have never seen Ironclad so I can't compare it.

[ThirstyStirge]

I had never even seen this advertised. Based on the box office receipts it must have seriously bombed. Additionally, on the IMDb boards there are repeated threads addressing anachronisms -- very annoying for any history buff as many of us gamers are.

On a similar witch-hunting note, I watched Blood on Satan's Claw -- set, IIRC, in the 17th century in England. Nice use of location shoots, and the farmhouses and costuming were very plausibly authentic. The ending was oddly done and poorly handled, though. The ending was very D&Dish (I won't give it away. ).

[Chainsaw]

Additionally, on the IMDb boards there are repeated threads addressing anachronisms -- very annoying for any history buff as many of us gamers are.

Maybe so. Nothing stood out to me, but I am no history buff by any stretch. If it's possible for you to approach it from the perspective of a D&D fan or fantasy film fan and check your historian license at the door, you might like it. Otherwise, yeah, maybe stay away.

[AxeMental]

Havent seen that (is it Hammer?) another good one is Devil Rides Out (devil worshipping).

[TRP]

I'd rate the 3 movies as

Black Death: good (not real good)
Ironclad: barely fair
SoTW: poor

[ThirstyStirge]

Every time I see Lee in yet another Hammer pic, there's a voice in the back of my skull that wonders 'how many times has he wished upon a star that he could have a comedy career instead?'

[francisca]

Watched Ironclad tonight. It was...OK.

Will be watching Black Death next weekend.

[Philotomy Jurament]

I'd rate the 3 movies as

Black Death: good (not real good)
Ironclad: barely fair
SoTW: poor

I haven't seen Ironclad, but those ratings for Black Death and SoTW sound right on, to me. I didn't even make it through SoTW.

[jgbrowning]

I really enjoyed Season of the Witch. Thought it was fun.

I've been holding out on Black Death because I don't want to watch a "more historical" treatment of witch hunting. That's at least the perception I got of the movie, but I don't know if that's true.

joe b.