The Black Angel- Cult Film Review
I first heard of The Black Angel short film whilst flicking through my monthly issue of Infinity, a wonderful cult and geeky pop culture magazine. What drew me in was the fact that it was based off of Arthurian myth, was created as a short film project with just a £25,000 budget and the director, Roger Christian, made it as a dream project with no oversight and the backing of George Lucas during the release of The Empire Strikes Back.
What emerges is a passion project with an economy of design that leans into the dreamlike work of Andrei Tarkovsky and the stunning panorama of Akira Kurosawa, both influences accredited by Christian. However, it starts like Werner Herzog's masterpiece Aguirre: Wrath of God in the way that it feels like a hypnotic dream as the first 5 minutes are silent as we see a lone traveller, Sir Maddox, slowly trotting on his white horse across gorgeous dreamlike rocky landscapes covered in morning dew and fog. He arrives at his castle and family home to find it in ruins and the only people inhabiting it are young children with 'the sickness'.
When he nearly drowns but is saved by a young maiden in white, Sir Maddox is determined to save her from The Black Angel, a mysterious figure who seems to have a hold in her.
The film itself is a strange and entrancing journey and reminds me of a film I saw recently, The Green Knight starring Dev Patel. That film also reminded me of the Bravo Channel in the mid to late 90s when they'd show strange culty films late at night. It really was a hodgepodge of content and this film would have fit in that slot before channel drift set in.
The film is available to view on YouTube on the official Famous First Films page and I look forward to the upcoming full length movie.