Friday, October 5, 2012

October Challenge: Solomon Kane (2009)

Solomon Kane (2009)

Pity poor Robert E. Howard.  Considered one of the best of the pulp writers of the age, the movies made from his works, Conan and Solomon Kane, have languished.  In the case of Conan, three movies across two franchises and not a one is considered true to the character.  Then there is Solomon Kane.  His movie is out in theaters now despite being filmed over three years ago.

Now I have just started reading some Solomon Kane, so I will say this.  The movie is brutal but it holds close to the books at least as far as I can tell.

While this could have descended into the pits of hell know only as "made for the SciFi channel" this is actually a very good movie.  James Purefoy is almost Hugh Jackman like in his portrayal of Kane.

The build up to the end is slow, but it starts with a very bloody fight, so it does pull you right in.

While it could be classified as horror, dark fantasy might be a better term for it.


Tally: Watched 5, New 4

What are you watching?


2 comments:

Kaiju said...

Still waiting to see this. It's not playing in any of our local theaters, and not on Netflix (yet).

Solomon Kane is one of my favorite Howard characters, so I'd be eager to read what you think of the stories when you are finished.

Anonymous said...

We caught this on Xfinity (Comcast cable) just a few weeks ago, and I've gotta say that opening scene is metal. At many points during the movie, I found myself thinking, "You know, I could put a scene like this into my game."

There are lots of billowing cloaks, and Kane himself has a very cool hat. If you do get a chance to see it, Kaiju, you might like it. The gamers in my group who've seen it enjoyed it.

(New commenter -- found my way here through RPGBloggers.com)