Black Death Reviews
November 6, 2019
Black Death's Europe is one of dirt, blood, violence and mist.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
May 7, 2019
A savage, genuine reflection of the Middle Ages, allowing for maximum nastiness and a few excitingly bloody moments.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4.5/5
February 16, 2019
Black Death has all the makings of a cult film -- if it gets an enduring following, it will be well-earned.
Full Review
| Original Score: B+
November 27, 2017
I'll wager grown-ups will be duly horrified by it. Not because of the gore -- although it does have a fair amount of that -- but because it takes you on a real journey into the heart of darkness, and you might not like what you find there.
June 24, 2017
Black Death definitely isn't a rollicking, bloody good time, but it is a haunting study in the capacity for cruelty in people when they're scared, and the lingering effects that cruelty can have.
July 24, 2013
In Black Death, Christopher Smith effectively creates a creepy and unsettling atmosphere with great production values. He shows lots of potential as a director and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next.
Full Review
| Original Score: 8/10
January 27, 2012
Bean owns this movie.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/4
January 2, 2012
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.
Full Review
| Original Score: 60/100
October 25, 2011
Smith isn't presenting a peace offering so much as a reminder of the ease with which we slip into violence.
August 30, 2011
Smith's excellent, tension-building style is complemented by powerful performances from broadsword specialist Bean and Redmayne
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
June 21, 2011
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.
Full Review
| Original Score: 6.5/10
April 4, 2011
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.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
March 29, 2011
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?
Full Review
| Original Score: 7.8/10
March 25, 2011
By not rushing things, by keeping things moving at their own measured pace, Smith gives Poloni's screenplay a chance to breathe and evolve in a way it might not have been able to otherwise.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
March 15, 2011
Built on the fascinating premise that God is actually kind of an asshole
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/4
March 15, 2011
A tedious road trip movie early on turns into a more interesting battle of wills in the second half. Worth a viewing.
March 12, 2011
"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.
Full Review
| Original Score: 7/10
March 11, 2011
It derives horrified fascination from its audience without ever smirking or looking down on us.
Full Review
| Original Score: B+
March 11, 2011
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.
Full Review
| Original Score: B
March 11, 2011
Slams Christians against pagans with little love for either.
Original Score: 3/5