Horror director take on the Sword and Sandals genre.
The plot: Tiring of the rebellion in the Northern most parts of Britain, The Roman Army despatches a 3000 strong legion to rid them of the Pict menace once and for all, by any means necessary. Led by a Pict woman, a tracker called Etain whose tongue was ripped out by her own people, they are led to a place they believe they can ambush the Picts but, it turns out, Etain has fooled them all, leading them instead to be ambushed.
After a devastating encounter, of the original 3000, only 7 remain, and we follow these 7 as they struggle to survive Pict territory and return to the safety of the garrison.
Plot wise, this is a little on the lean side, but the writer/director does a decent job of evoking some sympathy for the characters.
With Marshall at the helm, there are certain things that are guaranteed, and they are present and correct: Beautiful Scottish landscapes, broad humour, coarse language and plenty of blood and guts. Whilst not as blood thirsty as I had expected, there are one or two standout moments when he lets his horror credentials shine through, my personal favourite being the three minute battle montage where every single shot is of a sword jabbing into someone's guts or an arm being severed, a head being lopped or a throat being slit.
I was laughing out loud by the end of the sequence, though no one else in the cinema was.
Weirdo's.
If you are looking for the gravitas of, say, Braveheart, you may be disappointed, but if a bit of testosterone fuelled slicing and dicing by muscular men in battle armour is the stuff that swells your tubes, you may well enjoy it.
3 out of 5.
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