Directed by Dominic Sena, the supernatural action-thriller Season of the Witch (2011) arrived in theaters in January. Though I had originally not planned on seeing it, my brother managed to pull me to the theater with him.

The film follows the journey of crusader Behmen (Nicolas Cage) and his friend, Felson (Ron Perlman), as they break their pledge to the church and leave with plans to resume common lives.

In the midst of a search for food and other supplies at the Palace at Marburg, the pair is taken into custody and brought before the Cardinal (Christopher Lee), who is dying of the terrible plague that had crossed the land while the soldiers were away.

He offers to pardon their desertion from the army on one condition: that they transport a suspected witch (Claire Foy) to the Abbey of Sevarac, where her sorcery would be deemed truth or false accusation.

The monks there own the last known copy of the Book of Solomon, which contains the words to be said for insurance that a witch’s powers would not return after her death.

After the agreement is made, a group sets off, consisting of Behmen, Felson and a man named Eckhart (Ulrich Thompsen), already pledged to the cause, accompanied by Father Debelzaq (Stephen Campbell Moore) and Hagamar (Stephen Graham), a con man guide plucked from the stocks. They are followed by Kay (Robert Sheehan), an altar boy who longs for knighthood.

The journey brings them close to a town, where the witch steals from Debelzaq’s neck the key to her barred cage, and subsequently escapes. She leads the men into a series of trenches that form a mass grave for victims of the plague. There, convinced he hears the voice of his deceased daughter, Eckhart accidentally impales himself on Kay’s sword while chasing after her. The witch is recaptured, and they continue.

The second leg sends the group through Wormwood Forest, a dark and forbidding wood swirling with thick fog. As they settle down to rest and wait for visibility to increase, wolves begin to bay nearby. Hagamar is killed in the second wave of the imminent attack, as he had failed to flee swiftly enough to escape.

Upon arrival at the abbey, Behmen and Debelzaq discover that their true enemy is far more sinister than anyone had imagined.

Overall, I disliked the film and found it far too gruesome. It is not something I would recommend to any of my friends or family, because of both the dark themes and the disturbing visuals. Viewers are spared the use of their imagination in portraying the details of the plague victims. Growths bulge across their discolored bodies, oozing pus or clear liquid.

However, the landscape of the film, shot in Austria, Hungary and Croatia, was stunning. The pristine mountains and seas came as a welcome respite from gore and violence. Another visual aspect that I found quite impressive was the creation of the demon’s form, long and lean with wide wings and a vicious, angular face. The creature’s skin appeared like a combination of worn leather and the wrappings of a long-buried mummy, dry and rough.

The relationship between Behmen and Felson made few appearances and would have helped to lighten the grim mood of the film, if only for a moment. A few small scenes between the two attempted humor, but did little in the way of adding an element of fun. Behmen expressed little emotion other than regret for his past misdeeds. Though at times it seemed repetitive, this helped viewers to sympathize and understand his willingness to ensure that the girl receive a fair trial.

Foy was able to well represent the different personalities entailed by her role as the girl, from a sadistic witch preying on the weaknesses of those around her to a scared young woman, abused and misunderstood. Her cunning and vicious manipulation of those transporting her led the audience to hate the witch, while the vulnerability that drew in Behmen also manifests itself in viewers.

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, violence and disturbing content, this film is not something I would ever recommend for young children or those with no stomach for gore.

For more movie reviews, read the Jan. 21 article, ‘The Tourist’ tells mediocre spy tale.

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