Tage der Finsternis

What makes a B movie? Historically they filled the second half of the bill, were shorter, cheaper and generally inferior to A movies. Today the defining characteristic of a B movie, is budget. Those things which lend prestige to a film simply can't be afforded.

From scripts to costuming, todays B movies are all about improvising and simply making do. Day of Wrath is clearly a B movie but it did seem to have had a reasonable budget to work with. Costuming is impressive. Sets are credible. The script is OK. However when we get to aspects like the plot, well, things start to fall apart.

The plot is clumsy and disjointed. A hotchpotch of Catholic, Jewish, Spanish aristocratic interests mixed in with secret compartments, hidden identities, secret lists and buried family 'shame'. There is not much from the swashbuckler genre that hasn't been throw in to the pot.

There are other flaws. We are well over the half way mark when we discover the inn keeper is Lambert's oldest and dearest friend. He then promptly disappears from the narrative altogether! Phylida Law makes a much better fist of being Lambeth's mother than he does her son. (And this despite Law having but one costume for nearly the entire movie!) Brian Blessed has played one too many riotous and ribald monarchs and has fallen into shallow caricature. And on it goes.

Adrian Rudomin is a journeyman director and a writer unafraid of cliches or tired tropes. His depiction of the Catholic Church is particularly disappointing. All that James Faulkner, as Friar Anselmo, needed to complete his character was a black moustache to twirl and a floor length cap to swirl. He has played similar roles in the past but to much greater effect.

Rudomin sets several scenes in a scriptorium (transcribing room), the medieval workshops which saw rows of anonymous monks copy and decorate texts that were culturally invaluable but does nothing with such a rich setting, nothing at all. The events in the scriptorium could taken place anywhere!

Still, and despite being able to do much more than he did, Rudomin has drawn a tolerable and moderately entertaining movie together.

A final and sad observation concerns Christopher Lambert himself. He was 49 when he made this film and seems tired. He is leagues away as an actor from his 1984 Tarzan or even his 1986 Highlander franchise. This tiredness, along with Rudomin's limitations, confirms the movies' B grade.

After all the terrible movies Lambert has been in over the last 5 years or so, I had stopped watching his films. However, after a recommendation I sought out "Day of Wrath" and I was very glad I did.

This may only be a B grade movie but the story was great and was well supported by good acting and a mood inducing score.

I was kept involved right to the end and I liked the mystery with a historical base. A good action thriller with an undercurrent of conspiracy.

It was better than many big budget films I have seen lately and I hope it is an indication that Christopher Lambert is back to making good movies.

A 16th century Spanish town is plagued by some mysterious murders involving important town figures and when the sheriff Ruy de Mendoza starts his investigation on the mutilated bodies, he learns that no one else seems to want to help him out, as there's a cover up, which leaves him all in the dark. As the deaths grow, Ruy goes on to learns more. The web of deceit grows larger and secrets are being revealed. In his path is a mercenary group, which Ruy is trying to figure out who's the man behind it all and his intrusion could cost the lives of those his loves. Christopher Lambert as an actor hasn't done anything that has really grabbed my attention, other then the sci-fi flick "Fortress". His most well-known involvement in "The Highlander" series, did nothing for me. Anyhow I decided to take a chance on this medieval B-film and was pleasantly surprised with the overall effort, even though some frustrating strokes cropped up. Enchantingly sharp-etched period back-sets, props and costumes have a rich awe to them, despite the cheap origins. The premise holds up remarkably well with a broodingly elaborate mystery within a well thought up concept of effective twists and sustained involvement of the story's progression. This is because there's so much more going on behind the scenes in this conspiracy laced-script, which keeps things really tight and nebulous. The brisk location photography is genuinely polished and covered the beautifully picturesque Hungry backdrop with vivid scope. A blazingly elastic musical score paints the period and moody precisely. A solidly low-key Christopher Lambert plays in a husky and rundown portrayal of his character Ruy de Mendoza. He sounded like he needed a cough drop. Blanca Marsillach charms in her glassy part and James Faulkner weasels in. The acting while not great, is workably stable and watchable. Now what brought it down was that in patches the limp direction couldn't come to terms with the promising material, and was weakly conjured up and lacked real gusto in its delivery. Some unorthodox set-pieces flourished with atmospheric flashes of intrigue and foreboding terror, but more often it came across as frosty, repetitive and stiff. Some nasty and mutilated violence livens up the show, but the bustling action feels torpid, even though the pacing is always busy. The idea behind it is a stimulating pot-boiler, but for most part the execution is rather muddled and dry. While the material and production design is up to par, it's basically undone by feeble direction. Anyhow, it's not-too-bad and keeps you highly involved.

Passable and mysterious thriller with medieval set, in 16th century, Spain, after banishing Jewish people by the Catholic Kings : Isabel de Castilla and Fernando de Aragon . A governor : Brian Blessed assigns the local sheriff Ruy de Mendoza : Christopher Lambert to investigate a series of killings committed by a sinister murderer. While a ruthless Inquisitor, Friar Anselmo: James Faulkner, carries out his own inquisitive justice until the unexpected and twisted final conclusion. Some secrets are better left untouched!. In the darkest days of the Spanish Inquisition one man stood for justice !. No one is safe from his fury !.

This is an intriguing movie with suspense, thrills, intrigue, twists and turns. This is a so-so Hungary/Great Britain/Spain co-production in budget enough. It results to be a whodunit in which there are various suspicious people : the inquisitor, the governor, a powerful Jewish , the Duchess...Who's the killer? Main and support cast give acceptable interpretations. Christopher Lambert is fine as a tough sheriff who has to choose between protecting his family from dark forces and his own conscience when he's related with the killings . Blanca Marsillach =Cristina Marsillach's sister and Adolfo Marsillach's daughter- is nice as the beautiful aristocrat, she produced as well. While veterans actors as James Faulker, Brian Blessed and Phyllda Law give the best performances.

It packs an evocative cinematography shot in Fot studios, Budapest, Hungary. As well as adequate and atmospheric musical score accompanying appropriately the action. The motion picture was regularly but professionally directed by Adrian Rudomin at his film debut, he also wrote and produced, though the film got little success. Rating : 5.5/10, average but acceptable and passable. Only for Christopher Lambert fans.

I agree with the previous commenter about the script and the fast pace of the editing. It does the movie disservice. What would have made it better would have been to let the characters shine through a little more. I do think that for a low budget film it had an interesting, well thought out story. I was surprised by this, and despite the poorly choreographed fight scenes (why were all fighters, even henchmen, better than Lambert), I was still interested because of the historical engagement of the plot. I also agree with the previous commenter that the Hungarian actors were good. I think it is clearly a B movie, but not a bad one.