Season of the Witch Movie Blurb by Shale January 7, 2011 This movie was not pre-released to critics for review, which usually means they don't expect anything good to be written about it. Good choice - only 2% of the aggregate critics at Rottentomatoes liked this movie. Fortunately 67% of audiences liked it as did I. This is a Medieval Fantasy movie with references real events of the time such as the church torturing and hanging witches, Crusades pitting fanatical Christians against fanatical Moslems in brutal hand-to-hand combat and The Plague. But, it is fantasy. Our main protagonists are two crusaders, Behman (Nicolas Cage) and Felson (Ron Perlman) who are shown in a series of battles hacking up Moslems while being goaded on by the clergy to do God's work. They finally see the fallacy of the church and the evil in the carnage they are doing and leave. Questioning the Church They come across a city being plagued by The Plague and are discovered as deserters to the Crusade. The Cardinal gives them a quest to regain their freedom. They are to help transport a witch that is blamed for the plague to a monastery where she will be tried by the monks who have an incantation to remove her powers and end the plague. Reluctantly the Knights start this arduous journey with the priest Debelzaq (Stephen Campbell Moore), another Knight and a swindler merchant who knows the way. Transporting the Witch They are followed by a young man, Kay (Robert Sheehan) who was an altar boy but wishes to join them in their quest in hopes of becoming a Knight. Altar Boy Knight Along the way the girl in the cage gives Behman (and us) doubt of her innocence. Witch or Innocent Girl? This movie does have its flaws as pointed out by the critics but the costuming and European scenery were excellent. If not trying to dissect the movie it was overall enjoyable for those who like a period piece that goes into the supernatural.
