I'm not sure if this was one of those Indie thing because usually I like to watch them because in spite of budgets and new actors you can find a pretty good, unique story about all sorts of things. However, a war period piece about the French and English wars, being near Germany (which in a way I'm not sure if factual) and entering the Black Forest, well it seemed as if the writers, etc missed a golden opportunity about tales, legends and the early reputation of the Black Forest was such a wasted opportunity for some "blow you mind" type of stuff and those things can more often than not lead to some good story telling.
The beginning battle scene was not very realistic but that can be forgiven as some projects do not have the budget for great battle scenes and I can get that weary soldiers being tired of the horrors of war and wanting to leave and somehow come to the Black Forest. Okay, that could be interesting given how isolated that area is and still is to some degree. I thought maybe a "ritual" type of movie about creatures that inhabit that area in a story book fashion and the effect it could have on this group of men as they travel through it, being confronted with their past, with things they feel guilty about or bad things they have done and having to face those things and either resolving them or falling victim to them in the way of the punishment fitting the crime/sin/bad thing they did where some live and some die by their own behavior. That sounds interesting and the beginning of their travel into it seemed rather good. It would be interesting to have a horror/war drama/mystery type of film with mythological creatures that were rumored (usually from outsiders) to allegedly be there. If anyone has seen them tv series "Grimm" would understand a bit.
But then it fell flat. Sure, there were those who were confronted with the things they did and the people they hurt and were punished in ways that for most didn't make to much sense.
Then we meet the Necromancer and it is anti climatic mostly because the backstory flopped for the most part and it could have been something rather interesting and wasn't. There was mention of the Brother's Grimm but that was practically a side note and nothing came of it.
The characters and movie fell short of something that could have been unique and satisfying for the audience because one thing I think people like in horror films is a little bit of mystery as to WHY things are happening and to have some sort of decent explanation.
Instead there were these elves, half elves, demons, whatever running around and appearing for some people and not for others. That seemed like something they would have expanded on a bit.
As far as the acting and actors, I only criticize them if there was absolutely no effort or if they sound as if this is the first time they've read their lines. There was a descent enough attempt by the actors to tell the story and some were quite good and that is why I am giving this a 4 out of 10.
I really wish the writer and director would have put more thought behind this story. Sometimes having the audience come to their own conclusion works very well but it didn't in this one. The audience has to have something to work with for this to happen. It had a lot of potential and fell very short and that's sad because this could have been a very good story or a descent one.
