The Reckoning

Neil Marshall is a director who has contributed many times to the horror genre (The Descent, Dog Soldiers, Tales of Halloween, the post-apocalyptic Doomsday and the comic book adaptation Hellboy). His latest film may not push genre envelopes – and it is receiving quite a bashing from critics – but I enjoyed it. First and foremost, I appreciate the historical setting, the era of plagues and witch hunts, which is a not too common theme. The story is simple, the characters are also written in a simple way, but the film flows at a solid pace. It manages to surprise with a decent jump-scare, especially through a terrifying vision that even includes a well-made devil, and it also has some gore, although not as much as I would have liked, but there are a few standout scenes (like the horse-drawn carriage). The torture scenes could have been more intense, but the main thing is that they are there. I enjoyed it, I have a weakness for historical horror, so for me, it's fine. Story***, Action>No, Humor>No, Violence****, Entertainment****, Music***, Visual****, Atmosphere****, Tension***. 7/10. (05.02.2021)

I would love to know if Marshall will ever pull himself together again and make something that qualitatively will at least get close to The Descent. The Reckoning is like a funny game at the Middle Ages where, instead of actors, the stars are people who Marshall must have found on the way playing LARP. And the female lead must have jumped right from the catwalk, she looks good that girl. The characters don’t look or speak like in the Middle Ages; that’s something I could take, but it’s a shame that most of the already excessive runtime is stuck on the torturing and interrogations of women accused of witchcraft. Without any relationship with the characters being tortured, it’s just boring. I think the creators should have either taken this seriously or, on the contrary, let their hair loose a bit and have the heroine mate with the Devil and kick some real ass. In this way, you can’t take it seriously and you won’t have much fun with it, either. (05.02.2021)