This marvelous indie Gothic fantasy really stretches the limits of what can be done on a small budget, with an exceptional screenplay and good performers. Taking place in an undefined country, in an undefined time, the film depicts a primal battle between the forces of good and evil, centering on a young man and his beloved. An early blood ritual between the two lovers invokes the insatiable demons of antiquity, dooming the couple and their community to the regressive terrors of entrenched conservatism. Evil soon enters, in the form of a dark charismatic stranger, a landowner with decidedly malevolent intentions. An old witch sees the evil stranger for what he is, and is summarily dispatched for this dangerous knowledge. The village parson is on to the dark stranger, and he and the young man must make a terrifying journey to confront and conquer this evil which threatens to decimate their community. Amongst many other treats, there are some rousing blood sacrifices, with some effective gore, plus an amazing "magic mirror" montage sequence. The monster's harem of the undead are a joy to behold, and the devil has an impressive chamber of horrors. The film excels in effective sketches of various period archetypes, each overdrawn almost to the point of caricature - very much in the spirit of the Andy Milligan horror films of the same time period. In addition, there are several surreal characters which seem straight out of a Russian folk tale. This magical film effortlessly takes us to another world, where life is cheap, dumb and brutal, and evil sucks the life from the innocent with impunity. A groovy period organ score, featuring familiar ditties by Bach and others, nicely accentuates the antediluvian nature of this insular fairy tale world. Adorable little indie films such as this put the bloated corporate product of Hamer Films to shame.
