Season Of The Witch

Okay, so Season of the Witch starring Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman is a fantastic movie with religion, history, and of course superstition.

The film starts off in a town called Villach where three women who are bound in chains are being taken to a bridge, where there is a priest waiting for them. He states that they are accused of witchcraft and consorting with the Devil. The youngest girl is madly crying that she has done nothing wrong, but the priest says that if they repent they shall be saved. The woman in the middle says that she was mixing a medicine from simple earthly ingredients as was not witchcraft. The youngest then confesses (in order to save herself), and the eldest who is blind in one eye tells the priest that he is going to burn in hell. She is the first to be hung, then the middle woman, and then comes the youngest who reminds the priest that he said she would be saved, but he says that her soul will be saved, but the body must be destroyed, and she too is hung. The soldiers lower the bodies into the water, and begin to leave. The priest says that the bodies must be brought up and that he must read from The Book of Solomon to ensure they do not come back to life, but the soldiers leave anyway.

The priest brings up the first two bodies, the first without trouble, the second begins to seize and he hurriedly reads the inscription and as he finishes the body stops moving. Then the final body of the old woman is brought up, but he finds it difficult. He is pulled into the water and something tries to keep him there. The old woman comes out of the water and kills him.

The movie then goes forward a century to the Crusades where two knights named Behmen (Cage) and Felson (Perlman) are ready to fight. They have a short dialogue over who will be buying their drinks that night, concluding that whoever kills the least will buy. Felson says that he'll take the 300 on the left and Behman can take the 300 on the right, to which Behman asks who will buy the drinks if they kill an equal amount. Felson says that Behman is going to buy anyway.

The film shows the countless battles the two knights fight in during the crusades until they reach a city where Behmen accidentally kills a woman. After the battle, he announces that he made an oath to fight God's enemies, not to kill innocent people then with Felson, they leave the Order.

While traveling they come across a farm house, and when they enter they find an old couple lying in a bed stricken with Bubonic Plague. They burn the house and take two of the farm's horses and make their way to a city called Marburg where they are discovered as deserters of the Crusades, the punishment for which is death, and are arrested but before taken to the jail, a priest asks if they are the deserters and has them taken to the Cardinal (Sir Christopher Lee) who has been infected with the plague as well. He tells them that a witch has put a spell on the land, resulting in plague. He says that she must be taken to a group of monks who possess the last copy of The Book Of Solomon from which words must be spoken to destroy the witch. Behmen and Felson refuse, and are sent to the jail. Across from them they see the girl accused of witchcraft, but Behmen doesn't see a witch, just an ordinary girl. He decides that they will take her to the monks but only if she gets a fair trial, and all charges upon them are dropped.

One of the knights from the village, the priest, and a swindler go with them, but not long after they begin the journey, they find that one of the altar boys has been following him. Deciding to let him join, they continue. The journey to the monastery is long and trecherous, 2 members of the group die, but finally they reach the monastery. However, the monks too have died from the plague, and also have tied themselves to tables while they were copying the book of solomon. The priest begins to perform the ritual, but now a fight begins to vanquish a truly Hellish adversary.

Season of the Witch is a great film, I think. The parts that were CGI could have been done a bit better, but it wasn't so bad that it looked fake. Make-up was fantastic, the dead and plague stricken looked frightening, and I honestly was terrified in the theater. This time in history is one of my favorite topics to talk about, and it was a great take on the plague's causes. Naturally we know what truly caused the plague, but this movie was great for the imagination and the writing and dialogue were perfect. There was a character everyone can identify with, the friend you do NOT want to piss off but can't help messing with, that guy you just HATE but know you need them, and the kid we all were growing up~ always wanting to be the best and prove our worth.

The whole movie, you're wondering who the real villain is. Is it the priest? Is the girl REALLY a witch? Is Ron Perlman the witch?! no, you don't think that but it's a valid question. It's Ron Perlman, and he will be whatever he wants.

Back on topic, the backgrounds were fantastic. Although a decent amount was done with green screen, they did film in Austria, Croatia, and Hungary as well.

After watching the film a second time just yesterday, I didn't notice anything to really make fun of in the film. Cage is kinda funny in general. That stare he has was all over this movie, and the altar boy even called Perlman "Old Man" and you just knew that this would NOT end well.


Well, that's my review for Season Of The Witch. Yes it wasn't as entertaining to read, but trust me on this. Watch the film if you want to see something with great acting, a non-cliche ending, an ton of great action, and a well written script and plot. It's definitely worth your time and definitely worth stealing your friend's Netflix password and watching on your computer.