Season of the Witch (2011)

 

A film about 14th century crusaders starring Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman? Throw in some witchery and fitting landscapes? Colour me interested. 

Cage and Perlman are introduced as two crusaders that are among the best at what they do, but after years and countless battles, they have come to the realisation that all this slaughtering in the name of Christ might not be all it's hyped up to be. Especially after they discover that during one siege, they are forced to slaughter mostly women and children. They have had enough and desert from the desert, in search for dessert.

Wait, that's not entirely correct. 

They head back in the direction of their homes, but when entering a town where the plague is running rampant, they are found out and brought before the cardinal, who wants them to bring a young woman to the monastery of Severac in order to be judged whether she is a witch or not. They balk at the idea, but soon realise they don't have a choice in the matter. Behmen (Cage) thinks all of this is a massive waste of time, as he can't believe this young girl truly is responsible for the plague and thus a witch, but several things happen along the way proving there is something not quite right with this girl. 

Upon reaching the monastery, all the monks are dead and it transpires that the girl is not a witch but something much more sinister that wanted to be brought to the monastery in order to destroy the one book that would bring it to an untimely end. Will our knights prevail? 

Do not expect a masterpiece with this one, because you will be disappointed. What you do get, is an entertaining romp that will keep your interest for the most part, even if the finale is a bit haphazard and perhaps even forced. The cinematography is okay, even if most of the landscapes and settings are shown in more or less monochromatic images. The forest is blueish, the desert yellowish and the monastery greyish. Lots of -ishes. 

The acting is good enough. Nicolas Cage is playing Behmen rather subdued and not nearly as insane and unhinged as the man can go, which is nice. Cage gets a lot of attention for his over-the-top performances, but if he wants to, he can do more controlled characters with ease. But let's not forget that Ron Perlman is always excellent and he is no different here. His Felson is by far the most endearing character of the bunch and it seems as though he is having a good time playing this character throughout. The rest of the cast is okay, but nothing special. They feel more like tropes than actual people. 

Right out of the gate, you will know that witches and monsters are real, as the film makes no qualms about setting this up. It would have benefitted from a more dubious approach concerning the young woman, because here you will quickly see that there is in fact something off about her. It would have been nice if they kept the suspense and doubt going a lot longer, but you can't win them all, I suppose. The final act is a bit of a letdown, though. Suddenly it's all insane action and the big bad doesn't look all that menacing, imposing or even scary. 

'Season of the Witch' is certainly not a must-see, but for some magic, horror and knights this is fairly entertaining. If you have some time to spare, you could give this a watch, as it is still time well spent. Just sit back and hopefully enjoy. But you won't miss out if you never see this one.