10 Best Horror Movies Set In Medieval Times

A movie that took audiences by surprise, Black Death is a brutal mission across the wasteland that is Plague-stricken 14th Century England. Far colder and darker than anyone who went to see it could have thought, this film is steeped in atmospheric realism and chilling questions about the nature of faith itself.

Young monk Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) volunteers to lead an envoy of a powerful Bishop into a nearby forest, to investigate rumours of a village that has not yet been subject to the Black Death. The Bishop's envoy, a cold man called Ulric (Sean Bean), has with him a small band of warriors and they take Osmund as their guide.

Osmund has a secret objective, however, a local girl who he has fallen in love with is hiding in the forest and he seeks to be reunited with her. His love for her outweighs his vows as a monk, but the journey into the forest and to this secluded village will test his faith, his love, and his resolve over and over again.

Set against the global disaster that was the outbreak of the bubonic plague, this film manages to capture the feeling of grim isolation that everyone must have felt, when no stranger could be trusted and no mercy was to be had by anyone. Cold and caustic, the entire world around young Osmund feels like a prison of punishment for his sin of love.

When this film was first released, many dismissed it as a would-be action vehicle for a recognisable actor in Sean Bean, but they couldn't have been more wrong. Surprising and disturbing in equal measure, Black Death perfectly surmises the horror of living in medieval England. The monsters are real, but they look like you and me.