Watch “Black Death” Movie
The year is 1348. Europe has fallen under the shadow of the Black Death. As the plague decimates all in its path, fear and superstition are rife. In this apocalyptic environment, the church is losing its grip on the people. There are rumors of a village, hidden in marshland that the plague cannot reach. There is even talk of a necromancer who leads the village and is able to bring the dead back to life. Ulric (Sean Bean), a fearsome knight, is charged by the church to investigate these rumors. He enlists the guidance of a novice monk, Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) to lead him and his band of mercenary soldiers to the marshland, but Osmund has other motives for leaving his monastery. Their journey to the village and events that unfold take them into the heart of darkness and to horrors that will put Osmund’s faith in himself and his love for God to the ultimate test.
British cinema has enjoyed an outbreak of grittier, realistic filmmaking in the past decade. Beginning with the visceral terror of Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, and continuing with Neil Marshall (The Descent), British horror has combined a gritty independent style with an intelligence that has made it marketable to an international audience. Now another leading light of this sub-genre, Christopher Smith (Creep), gets mediaeval with his new film Black Death. With the majority of Britain gripped by plague, young monk Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) seeks out a group of mercenaries, led by the warrior knight Ulric (Sean Bean), who visit a village that has somehow escaped the outbreak. Things become further complicated when they learn the village is controlled by a mysterious witch (Carice Van Houten). Shot in a grim, grainy style, what could have been a rather cheap low-budget thriller manages to be more than a standard genre piece. Whereas a big studio production might have drowned out the dirt and violence of the action with over-polished computer effects, Black Death is brutally physical.