Despite its all-star cast (Christopher Lambert, Brian Blessed, James Faulkner) this film falls flat. And it happens right from the opening scene. Thereafter, it's caught in a never ending free fall. Last glimpse, this trash production spiraled straight into the abyss.
This should have been an interesting tale. After all, at its core theme is the Spanish Inquisition. How can you muck that up? Well, the Mexican director did. As an excuse he proffered.
"We in Mexico knew about the Inquisition. Europe on the other hand much rather chose to hide it."
Uh, sure you did. And if he had such esoteric knowledge which he wanted to share, it didn't appear on film. Instead he offered us the usual: porn, bloody gore and much stilted acting even dreadful humor.
The script was fine. The problem was that the actors/director failed to 'execute' (scuza the pun). This failure of epic proportions is most noticeable in the dialog. Unfortunately the speeches were well, oh so wooden.
Here's a prime example. Ruy (Lambert) a main character the town's honest but too much of a wine-imbibing servant addresses his mother.
"There you go again. You speak in a mystery language. I'm confused."
Want another one? The new Governor (Brian Blessed) tries to act contrite in the confessional with the Inquisitor's much prying (real) priest.
"Bless me father for I have sinned. Blah, blah, blah...(he does say these banal words). In the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit."
Holy Cow! Even at that early 'flash' point, I wanted to puke.Too late. The Inquisition was in session. It had to get better, but I was wrong. Make that, the director took another tangent. It seems he sailed back to Mexico, where he belongs.
The film though did have a few redeeming qualities. One came in the form of a Hungarian mercenary (played by a real Magyar). Blessed hired him. So, how could he not be good/bad?
The second was in the costume and set designs. Both were masterpieces. And its no small wonder. Again, real Magyars worked behind the scenes. Like me, they would not settle for anything less than all world perfection. At least the Magyars got their act together.
You may already have guessed: the author too is a real Hun, by the way of Sicily though.
This should have been an interesting tale. After all, at its core theme is the Spanish Inquisition. How can you muck that up? Well, the Mexican director did. As an excuse he proffered.
"We in Mexico knew about the Inquisition. Europe on the other hand much rather chose to hide it."
Uh, sure you did. And if he had such esoteric knowledge which he wanted to share, it didn't appear on film. Instead he offered us the usual: porn, bloody gore and much stilted acting even dreadful humor.
The script was fine. The problem was that the actors/director failed to 'execute' (scuza the pun). This failure of epic proportions is most noticeable in the dialog. Unfortunately the speeches were well, oh so wooden.
Here's a prime example. Ruy (Lambert) a main character the town's honest but too much of a wine-imbibing servant addresses his mother.
"There you go again. You speak in a mystery language. I'm confused."
Want another one? The new Governor (Brian Blessed) tries to act contrite in the confessional with the Inquisitor's much prying (real) priest.
"Bless me father for I have sinned. Blah, blah, blah...(he does say these banal words). In the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit."
Holy Cow! Even at that early 'flash' point, I wanted to puke.Too late. The Inquisition was in session. It had to get better, but I was wrong. Make that, the director took another tangent. It seems he sailed back to Mexico, where he belongs.
The film though did have a few redeeming qualities. One came in the form of a Hungarian mercenary (played by a real Magyar). Blessed hired him. So, how could he not be good/bad?
The second was in the costume and set designs. Both were masterpieces. And its no small wonder. Again, real Magyars worked behind the scenes. Like me, they would not settle for anything less than all world perfection. At least the Magyars got their act together.
You may already have guessed: the author too is a real Hun, by the way of Sicily though.