a village keeps a grievous evil as a secret, and thirty years later retribution comes in the form of a man who is meant to be their salvation. it all starts with greed. this village is as corrupt as can be. they are willing to whore out their queen for money from the bishop, and the irony is that the black plague that comes upon the village is payback for a terrible thing that occurred to a previous queen who had another lover. there is a lot of Christian symbolism. it's hard to tell if the stranger in town is the Antichrist, a demon, pure evil; meant to be hated, or just another unloved and mistreated bastard. you feel sorry for the poor guy until he kills someone. the upside down cross he was branded with marks him to be evil, but he is actually quite charming and seductive. this man uses talisman sorcery to send out demons to do his work; both to kill and seduce. its ironic that this man causes forces of lust and obsession when it is those forces exactly that he is come to gain revenge from. he bonds with Matilda who is a kind and gentle soul. she is the only non- grotesque character in the film. Matilda burns these sexual paintings and the only one not burnt is wadded up. It's of two women and one has a phallus. I don't really understand what that means. Maybe it's the only one that doesn't make Matilda think of her suitor. Basically, this grotesque, corrupt, and evil town is brought down by their own creation which is slightly poetic. I won't tell you how, but they are. Lena Headey is brilliant as Matilda. She is kind and compassionate and as I said the only non-grotesque character in the film. She did a brilliant job in this role.

This is a spoiler alert - as I refer to something occurring at the end of the story: I have only one thing to add to the already submitted reviews. Who is "William" at the end? He's never mentioned before. The prisoner Jacques character seems to morph into this other William at the very end as he is being welcomed in a field by a waving woman, referred to as "Lady". I re-played the scene three times on Amazon Prime and still don't get it. Is the idea that Jacques was an apparition or ghost all along and reverts at the end to an idealized version of the man he could have been, and is now being welcomed into a sylvan paradise (i.e. heaven) by his mother? That would be in sync with the contention of the returning lord and husband of Mathilda that he (the lord) personally murdered Jacques as a baby and (literally?) ate his heart. Either this is a lie or Jacques made an amazing recovery. Oh well I won't let it keep me up too many nights trying to figure it out. Maybe someone else reading this has a better idea of the significance of that last scene.

A small English village in 1348, at the beginning of the Hundred Years' War. Lady Matilda Mellerby (p/b Lena Heady)'s husband is taken prisoner by the French, but her nephew comes home with an important French prisoner who Matilda tries to exchange for her husband through the local bishop. The bishop, however, is a greedy perverted charlatan who wants favors from Matilda, and the Frenchman turns out to be someone more than they bargained for. Meanwhile, the Black Death is breaking out. . .This British Indie really tries: The props and costume design are pretty realistic, and there is a very solid storyline. Though it's not exactly Middle English, the script is also decent. ANAZAPTA ("Black Plague") is nowhere near as cheesy as its cover suggests. The problem is that it's laughable as an historical drama because the characters are mostly fictitious, the plot is entirely so, and the horrific/ supernatural elements kill any attempt at realism. On the other hand, most modern horror fans are likely to find it quite dull. There is some violence, gore, (male) nudity, and ucky plague stuff; however, most of ANAZAPTA consists of bickerings and finaglings between Matilda, the bishop, the mysterious Frenchman, and various others. The true extent of the plague is not actually shown here, nor is the war in France. Finally, it just isn't particularly scary.NOTE: ANAZAPTA (aka BLACK PLAGUE) should not be confused with the similarly titled and covered BLACK DEATH, which, though also set in 1348, is a completely different (and much better) story.

It's always great to see a film that, even when it's not a masterpiece of the genre, breaks the mold and stands high in the middle of the sea of mediocrity that average films create. Anazapta is one of those films.Set in the middle age, it's very realistic in it's portrayal of how dirty, physically and emotionally that age was. The amorality and violence of the dark ages set the tone for a film about revenge and mystery in the time of the Black Plague.A man is taken as prisoner by the inhabitants of a town. The village is suffering and needs money, and before the church takes the land, the widow of the lord of the land decides to trade the prisoner, who claims to be the son of a french nobleman in exchange of money. But the prisoner may not be who they think is, and to complicate the things, a mysterious disease similar to the plague is killing people who may be part of the mystery surrounding the prisoner.A very interesting mix of suspense, horror and mystery set in the middle-ages is what makes this film to shine. The script, although a little bit underdeveloped, still makes justice to the premise and what we have is a chilling tale that keeps the interest of the audience who is led through the horrors of the ages.Certainly, It's one of the most realistic portrayals of the middle age, it moves away from the nobility of knights and princes and shows us the harsh reality of corrupt institutions, dirty and poor villagers, and tired knights whose only ambition is to live the next day.The cast is good, and while it may not be the best acting, it's better than expected in a low-budget film. In fact, the entire film looks as if it's budget were big but in fact it's low.Maybe it's biggest flaw lays in the fact that it leaves many things unexplained, the script ends in a way that maybe will leave many people unsatisfied. I have read comments of people who could not understand the ending. I'm not sure if I understood it, but I enjoyed the film.It's a good movie about the middle ages, and it definitely deserves a look.Solid 7/10