The battle against the Black Plague wasn’t fought by a ragtag crew of American-accented knights, priests and criminals led by Nicolas Cage. But such an alternate history, the one posited in this absurd period thriller, would probably have been way more fun than the real thing. After a dozen or so years of slaughtering infidels, crusaders Cage and Ron Perlman suddenly develop a conscience and abandon their holy war. They’re soon arrested as deserters and sentenced to deliver a young girl who’s either innocent, a witch responsible for the plague—or something even worse—to another town for trial. The voyage is marked by strange happenings, spilled blood and awful dialogue. Though its ridiculousness is intermittently enjoyable, the movie lacks the self-awareness to qualify as full-blown camp.
This article appears in Jan 6-12, 2011.
