VIKINGS: THE DARKEST DAY is another cheap-as-chips Viking movie hoping to cash in on the modern trend for all things gritty and historical. The budget quickly becomes apparent in the limited outdoor locations and small cast, while the script is nothing to write home about. A monk called Hereward (couldn't they think of a more original name?) saves a priceless holy book from a Viking attack and is thereafter pursued by bloodthirsty pagans, until he finds a skilled protector to look after him. There's a fair bit of action and movement in the story, but the cast members are limited and the small-scale story is simply nothing to get excited about.

This film is really a hidden gem. The writer and director drive home their point that Christianity reigns supreme over all the old gods (demons) once worshiped in Angleland (England). 'Become my wrath' says Jesus in a vision to the monk protagonist, and here we see God infusing his authority in those who have been specifically called to maintain peace through the use of force. A beautiful, subtle scene is when a Pictish girl from Northumbria reveals to the monk that she and her people had accepted Christ before the heathen Vikings came and wiped out her village, she alone remaining and taken as a sex slave. The themes in this film are as relevant for our own day as they were for some of our ancestors then. I deeply recommend this film to all Christians, and then to any person who may want to know about our desire to uphold the power of the Gospels as the Light for our dark world. Christ has risen from the dead; and through death he trampled upon death, then granting life to we who lived in the tombs. This film is a glimmering beacon of hope in a great sea of terrible story lines which come at us all the time like bloodthirsty Vikings.

**Warning spoilers ahead**I was totally going to give it nine stars up until the last 25min, then it just got a little to cheesy. As far as production and action goes I give it an A but the acting at times could be a little corny. And as far as the ending goes they really could have done something to make it a little more believable. I mean come on, he just picks up a sword and starts swinging it around like he has been doing this his whole life. I would have like to had seen something a little more original when it came time for the "saving the day" part. And am I the only person that noticed the angle of the arrow that went through his neck?? Didn't know arrows could fly at 33degree angles. Well at the end of the day did it keep me entertained and would I suggest it to friends and the answer to both of those is a solid yes. For a lazy Wed afternoon it definitely kept me interested.

It may have been a low budget film but it would have cost nothing to get a few people around a table with the script before filming. Come on, how many film clichés do you have to put into one film. I nearly stopped watching at one point because it was getting so bad. After each scene (and there weren't that many) I found myself asking 'would this have actually happened?'. I answered each time, 'highly unlikely'. The ending was just too funny for words. The acting was OK but I would have preferred some attempt at a Norse/Danish accent from the Vikings. I was just grateful in the end that there weren't any Americans involved (nothing personal, but American actors should never be allowed near historical productions). Finally, Vikings wearing chain mail at that time period? I doubt it.