The Necromancer (2022) Review
Spoiler-free so you can read before you watch
Horrorific content by Jack Campion on April 04th, 2022 | Movie Review | Survival, Cursed, Supernatural, Madness, Thriller
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It's about death that lurks in the Black Forest….
The Necromancer was directed by Stuart Brennan and stars Marcus Macleod, Stuart Brennan and Mark Paul Wake.
There is evil inside all of us.
The Necromancer gets off to a promising start. After opening with an aphorism about the nature of truth, we are treated to an explosive and bloody battle between British and Napoleonic forces deep in the heart of Germany. The action portrayed is frenetic and feels nicely brutal. This is also where we meet our main cast of characters - the camera closes in on those concerned, and we see the men's acts of bloody-minded heroism as they look out for their fellow soldiers.
After the dust settles the encamped men, victorious yet scarred, remark on their new orders - a counterattack at Waterloo. Considering this to be suicide, the men, led by their grizzled sergeant Bernard, decide to desert their position in favour of finding safe passage back to England. For them, the war is over. But the true battle is just beginning.
The dynamic between the characters as they trek back home is what we have to pin the rest of the story off. Though the characters aren't all that memorable, they are turned in by good performances. Logan is the mainstay of our attention for the first part of the journey. Played by the director and writer Stuart Brennan, he turns in a good performance as a man whose viciousness in battle is matched only by the secrets he holds, secrets that are then exploited by The Necromancer.
The film follows the company as each one of them succumb to madness, induced by the sorcery of the Necromancer. Eventually it becomes clear that the hallucinations they experience are the reels to the Necromancer's machinations.
The eponymous sorcerer bookends the film in a mystical and creepy climax. However, by the time the viewer gets to this point, their attention may have waned. The film does have intrigue and good performances but suffers from the lack of variety in its setting. Watching people walk around the woods hasn't really been good since The Blair Witch Project.
The Necromancer can make for an enjoyable watch if you’re prepared to tolerate its foibles, but ultimately this meal won't make you want seconds.
Worth Watching?
There is some fun to be had with The Necromancer but ultimately it winds up being a fairly generic affair that lacks the tension necessary to keep an audience engaged.
