All Critics (56)
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Top Critics (8)
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Fresh (38)
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DVD (1)
"Going medieval" on your enemies isn't just a figure of speech in Christopher Smith's stylish spatter-horror exercise, which uses desperation-fueled religious fervor to interrogate the intersection of fear and faith.
There's something here for just about everyone, or at least for everyone who looks back fondly on the similarly themed Wicker Man from 1973.
Slams Christians against pagans with little love for either.
Though deadly serious, Christopher Smith's European-made bubonic- plague melodrama provides good value with lots of blood and guts, as well as a solid cast.
Early on "Black Death" falls victim to its own sluggish sickness, its narrative drive proving no match for the aggressively rotted pallor, dour acting and tiresomely handheld you-are-there aesthetics.
Smith keeps the fog, mist and rain machines working overtime, but to such little purpose that Black Death often looks like outtakes from Fiddler on the Roof.
It shows the worst things that people do to each other in the name of religion. This could have been more of a thought-provoking film, but it turns into a gore porn display.
An entertaining, if by-the-numbers, entry to the sword-and-shield genre, Black Death features lots of blood, disease, and the seemingly requisite Sean Bean.
A film without the ideas or guts to bring hell to life onscreen.
What could be more cheerful than a graphic bubonic plague picture?
Smith's excellent, tension-building style is complemented by powerful performances from broadsword specialist Bean and Redmayne
Black Death is the feel bad movie of the year, a film with an unrelentingly bleak view of humankind's barbaric nature and the notion that, no matter what your creed, violence only ever begets more violence.
This movie had a lot of potential, but missed the mark for me, which is almost worse than a film being a complete waste of time.
This film bathes in bloody, brutal ambiguity, intelligently casting both Christians and pagans as murderous creeps in a way that looks back objectively at 14th century ignorance while shining an ugly, knowing light on contemporary religious arrogance, too.
There are bright spots in this dark-ages movie
There's no glory for Black Death's mercenaries at the end of their journey, but for the audience there's a fascinating take on religion and morality that also features some pretty decent swordplay-and really, how much more can a movie offer?
Sean Bean completists and fans of neck-beards will no doubt enjoy, but overall Black Death an atmospheric but ultimately unaffecting exercise in medieval misery.
Built on the fascinating premise that God is actually kind of an asshole
A tedious road trip movie early on turns into a more interesting battle of wills in the second half. Worth a viewing.
Atmospheric and initially intriguing, but often meandering and ultimately forgettable. It's deficient in enough scares, thrills and palpable tension to keep you thoroughly captivated.
It derives horrified fascination from its audience without ever smirking or looking down on us.
Commendable in not going overboard in facile plague SFX for its first half. However, the end is rushed and mortally deadened by badly written dialogue.
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