BLACK PLAGUE is one of those old straight-to-video medieval films that today has found a new lease of life as a GAME OF THRONES cash-in complete with a bethroned Lena Headey staring out of the video cover. However, it couldn't be less like THRONES if it tried. This is instead a small-scale melodrama involving various unpleasant characters doing their very best to get the upper hand on their rivals. The plague plays a part in the proceedings but otherwise this is very much a morality tale that reminded me of a Bergman film a little. The cast is well-chosen, with Headey excelling alongside Ian McNeice, Christopher Fairbank and Jason Flemyng, but the real star is the great and underrated Jon Finch who has never put in a bad performance. Sadly, BLACK PLAGUE as a whole is dreary and uninteresting, overlong and bogged down by its own self-importance.
Review of Black Plague
Black Plague
(2002 Video)
Bogged down by its own self-importance
20 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers