Title: Morning Star Warrior (15)
Year: 2014
Running Time: 91 minutes
Director: Luca Boni and Marco Ristori
Cast: Adrian Bouchet (Man), Mike Mitchell (Priest, King and Old Man), Ivy Corbin (Woman, Witch)
Notes: Also known as Morning Star.
Rating: 4
Thoughts: Having survived a terrible battle a man must complete a promise, travel to the King and tell him his heir is dead.
Now I don't know about you, but I think there might be other ways the King will find this out.
It's immediately odd as a premise to stage this with a King - why not a lesser Lord? But here's the trick, he decides to take the decomposing body home instead.
It's what he would have wanted! To be honest, that's the least of our worries and the King part is largely irrelevant.
,The plot is a little random and there is almost no real delivery within the bulk of the film. Instead it tries to be clever, with eerie sounds and what are presumably some visions for the lead character, but they aren't executed well.
Some nice scenery is wasted. It perhaps wants to be a morality tale, such as when the lead saves a peasant from some cliched villains, or when an old hag takes the body, and the regular returns of the now dead fighter.
I'd be more convinced if the lines weren't so obvious, and if at least there was an attempt to deliver something convincing. Couldn't the friend at least rot a little?
I'm also a bit confused about the Morning Star thing. Yes, that is a name for a spirit watching over the warriors, but why doesn't the lead have one from the start? He's got one on the sleeve! He mainly uses a sword and kills one foe with a hand axe.
Then, when saving a witch, he inexplicably draws a morning star of the smallest proportions to fight a man with a sword. It's certainly not the one off the sleeve and seems an odd choice when you have loads of space and a four-foot-plus sword.
He seems to agree as it is soon back on his belt.
Aside from the silliness, it's pedestrian to say the least. That's a shame as the lead actor seems to be able to deliver his lines quite well. All the foes he meets moralise and pontificate, and I'm just pleased he finally gets round to killing them.
When we finally meet the King he appears to be a mildly toned-down version of the cursed Theoden (LOTR) and just adds to the mirth.
Part of the reason for such a long review is that this is totally bonkers. But another element is really intriguing.
Right at the end, as our medieval warrior, still dragging that body, continues on his stumbling allegorical way, he comes into view of a modern city.
Now that's the story I'd rather have seen. Instead it turns out he's been dragging himself all this time. And us.