Solomon Kane
Directed by MJ Bassett
- adventure
- fantasy
- action
The story
A nomadic 16th century warrior, condemned to hell for his brutal past, seeks redemption by renouncing violence, but finds some things are worth burning for as he fights to free a young Puritan woman from the grip of evil.
What it’s like
Dim, mud-brown and rain-soaked, with candlelit monastery interiors, smoky firelight and a steady grey-green palette broken by sickly sorcerous glows, Solomon Kane (2009) looks like a dark-age woodcut come to life: low-key, textured and heavy with weather. The camera leans toward wide, muddy landscapes and shadowy European villages, with stark slow compositions that let dread accumulate, while the score is brooding strings and low drones punctuated by sudden percussive bursts during fights. Violence is frequent and bloody, with swordplay, impalements and gunfire shown fairly directly and some gore, along with supernatural menace and grim deaths; it is not gentle. The mood is gothic, sombre and bleakly atmospheric, with a steady, deliberate pace that gives way to brief, hard-hitting action. The arc follows a hardened wanderer slowly confronting his guilt and finding a reason to fight for something beyond himself. It suits a rainy evening for fans of dark fantasy, swashbuckling gothic horror and grim, weather-beaten period atmosphere.
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