Day of Wrath

Plot synopsis:
In a Danish village in 1623, an old woman known as Herlof's Marte is accused of witchcraft. Anne, a young woman, is married to the aged local pastor, Absalon Pedersson, who is involved with the trials of witches, and they live in a house shared with his strict, domineering mother Meret. Meret does not approve of Anne, who is much younger than her husband, being about the same age as the son from his first marriage. Anne gives Herlof's Marte refuge, but Marte is soon discovered in the house, though she is presumed to have hidden herself there without assistance. Herlof's Marte knows that Anne's mother, already dead at the time of the events depicted, had been accused of witchcraft as well, and had been spared thanks to Absalon's intervention, who aimed at marrying young Anne. Anne is thus informed by Herlof's Marte of her mother's power over people's life and death and becomes intrigued in the matter.
Absalon's son from his first marriage, Martin, returns home from abroad and he and Anne are immediately attracted to each other. She does not love her husband and thinks he does not love her. Under torture, Herlof's Marte confesses to witchcraft, defined among other evidence as wishing for the death of other people. She threatens to expose Anne if Absalon does not rescue her from a guilty verdict, begging him to save her as he saved Anne's mother. Marte, after pleading with Absalon a second time, does not betray his secret and is executed by burning with the villagers looking on. Absalon feels his guilt over having saved Anne's mother, but leaving Marte to burn. Anne and Martin, clandestinely growing closer, are seen as having changed in recent days, fueling Meret's suspicion of Anne's character. Anne is heard laughing in Martin's company by her husband, something which has not occurred in their time together. Absalon regrets that he married Anne without regarding her feelings and true intentions, and tells her so, apologizing for stealing her youth and happiness.
A violent storm erupts while Absalon is away visiting a dying young parishioner, Laurentius. He had been cursed by Herlof's Marte during her interrogation and she foretold an imminent death. Meanwhile, Anne and Martin are discussing the future, and she is forced to admit wishing her husband dead, but only as an "if" rather than it actually happening. At that moment Absalon, on his way home, feels "like the touching of Death itself." On Absalon's return, Anne confesses her love for Martin to her husband and tells him she wishes him dead. He collapses and dies, calling Martin's name. Anne screams. The following morning Martin is overcome by his own doubts. Anne declares that she had nothing to do with his father's death, which she sees as providential help from above to release her from her present misery and unhappy marriage. At Absalon's funeral, Anne is denounced by Meret, her mother-in-law, as a witch. Anne initially denies the charge, but when Martin sides with his grandmother she is faced with the loss of his love and trust, and she confesses on her husband's open coffin that she murdered him and enchanted his son with the Devil's help. Her fate appears sealed.

Tags: cult, suspenseful, murder, violence

Review:
I was expecting a typical Christopher Lambert movie when I rented this, a pretty badly produced swashbuckling movie with some funny stuff.
Technically the movie is pretty low quality and the script and editing is choppy but if you can get past those aspects it is worth watching.
The international cast makes for a confusing variety of accents, but by the end of the movie you can see why various accents make some sense.
Not a Bad B Movie.
I do think that for a low budget film it had an interesting, well thought out story.
I was surprised by this, and despite the poorly choreographed fight scenes (why were all fighters, even henchmen, better than Lambert), I was still interested because of the historical engagement of the plot.
I also agree with the previous commenter that the Hungarian actors were good.
I think it is clearly a B movie, but not a bad one..
After all the terrible movies Lambert has been in over the last 5 years or so, I had stopped watching his films.
However, after a recommendation I sought out "Day of Wrath" and I was very glad I did.This may only be a B grade movie but the story was great and was well supported by good acting and a mood inducing score.I was kept involved right to the end and I liked the mystery with a historical base.
A good action thriller with an undercurrent of conspiracy.It was better than many big budget films I have seen lately and I hope it is an indication that Christopher Lambert is back to making good movies..
Before I watched this movie I assumed it was going to be a bad "B" type movie that would be heavy on the cheese and light on substance.
Imagine my surprise when halfway through the movie I was riveted to the plot line and actually enjoying the suspense.
I can't say much about the movie without giving away to much so I'll say somethings not concerning the plot.
Christopher Lambert portrays a 16th Century sheriff living in a town deep in the heart of Spain.
So rent/buy it on DVD and put the kids to bed and enjoy an amazing story similar to a "Rob Roy" or "The Name of the Rose" style of movie..
and Engaging movie w/a terrific plot and action!.
The quality of the actors in this film is staggering.
Additionally Christopher Lambert, really delivered, much to my surprise.
I can only imagine how striking this film would be in a movie theater!
A 16th century Spanish town is plagued by some mysterious murders  involving important town figures and when the sheriff Ruy de Mendoza  starts his investigation on the mutilated bodies, he learns that no one  else seems to want to help him out, as there's a cover up, which leaves  him all in the dark.
Christopher Lambert as an actor hasn't done anything that has really  grabbed my attention, other then the sci-fi flick "Fortress".
The premise holds up  remarkably well with a broodingly elaborate mystery within a well  thought up concept of effective twists and sustained involvement of the  story's progression.
A solidly low-key Christopher Lambert plays in a husky  and rundown portrayal of his character Ruy de Mendoza.
Christopher Lambert as a sheriff in the middle ages with a very interesting puzzle to solve.
I just came across this movie, it sounded interesting so i gave it a go, and i was pleasantly surprised.
but then i am a big Christopher Lambert, and of course Brian Blessed, but the plot is clever the acting is great and its got lots of medieval action.
The story rolled along slowish, well its only slowish after you compare it to the end of the film and as thats usually a good sign i have to say, go see this if you get the chance, i suspect even the ladies will find it enthralling, although women aren't portrayed quite as well as they would like this is the middle ages so its pretty accurate and quite frankly it rocked :).
An awful script and terrible direction saved only by some decent local and imported actors.
Blessed, Faulkner and Law do the character work that they do best and the director should be glad to have had them in.
Local Hungarian actors, including Szonja Oroszlany do solid work as well proving that the country has real talent available.
Uh Yeah, don't watch this movie.
We rented the movie as a joke, but it wasn't even funny enough to sit through.
I think the other review written about the movie was actually written by Christopher Lambert himself.
If you want to watch a good movie with Lambert in it watch "Highlander" not this POS.
This is just your basic bad B movie.
Maybe Lambert need to make a house payment or something, I hope he got paid for doing this, I wish I did for watching a quarter of it.
I wish Lambert would do good movies.
I am definitely not a Christopher Lambert fan ...
he doesn't appeal to me as an actor, and I know he was in some TV show that I never watched ...
I have yet to watch all of the Highlander movies (seems I've not watched the ones with Lambert in them).
Let's face it, he's definitely not Adrian Paul.Setting aside my dislike for this particular actor, I rented this movie and liked it more than the average.
I didn't know anything about the movie other than what it said on the DVD cover jacket, so I didn't have any grand expectation(s), but figured there would be tin-tan sounding sword fights.The one thing that disappointed me with the DVD was the limitations set forth regarding the special features.
I would have liked some commentary regarding the period that this movie was set around.
Considering the nature of the story/topic, I feel that more insight of the era/period in the special features to satisfy the cultural curiosity for viewers would have helped push up ratings a bit.
well, elementary schoolbooks back in the 50's and 60's most certainly didn't cover much and were a tad censored for kids being taught such "history." Even without a special feature giving more historical cultural aspects of the period, the movie was well done.
I just wish someone would give Lambert a good haircut/hairstyle and more acting lessons.
Even Nicolas Cage's hair is so bad in Valley Girl, it's a wonder how he got the girl and audience appeal, but he's got camera charm and knows how to act ...
Perhaps I just can't get past Lambert's appearance, dunno, but this movie would have gotten a higher rating if another actor had been cast.I found that the topic and storyline for this movie to be refreshingly and appealingly new (at least for me).
I haven't seen many movies done in this period and I am curious to know if this movie used historical data (again the missing link with a GOOD, SHORT special feature commentary).
So, my rating here is on the merit of the well put together story and theme and if some remake is done years down the road, hopefully a "better" actor is chosen for the main role.
Just so you understand here further is I really like Lance Henriksen as an actor, but the movie Pirates of Treasure Island was so bad I rooted for the bugs to eat everyone to end the movie fast!
To me, that movie is the WORST dog of the year thus far that I've rented.
So, just because I like or dislike an actor does not mean I place my merits in rating a movie ..
unless the entire cast, acting, costumes, story and so forth are so dreadfully intolerable to view an entire movie as was Pirates of Treasure Island.I recommend this movie for renting and intriguingly good viewing.
Separate it from Da Vinci Code (I've not seen it or know anything about it either, but read a comment that compared it), so to give this movie fairness, I've got to say that I've not been influenced by any other measurable movie at this time..
A good Lambert Movie.
What can I say about Christopher Lambert??
He Starred in good films like Highlander films (OK not the second one) mean guns, Fortress Mortal Kombat and my guilty pleasure Beowulf.
But there has been others like Point Men which was undoubtedly the worst film ever.
Just look at the Christopher Lambert list of films in a word RUBBISH.
It has a good Story, best part being all the twists and turns like disappearing bodies and conspiracies.
Good acting OK violence is set in 16th century and Brian Blessed is in it!!!!!.
But this movie is just terrible.
It is an anti-Hitchcock movie, meaning there is absolutely NO suspense.
The cuts are so quick and I do mean so quick that the movie just blows past.
And in this type of movie the suspense is everything.
The only medieval thing in the movie is the costumes and the scenery.
But i could have lived with bad acting.
I was expecting a suspense film about Spain, the inquisition and serial murders.
If you are interested on a mystery film about the inquisition I recommend "The name of the Rose" with Sean Connery based on the novel by Umberto Eco. If you are interested in Spain in those years see "Juana la Loca"..
OMG - This has to rank as one of the top ten worst movies I have ever seen.
First of all, the movie contains Brian Blessed of "I, Claudius" and "Blackadder" fame.
The description of the movie also held great promise.
As if that weren't bad enough, the acting was horrible.
16th century Spain is potentially a very rich background for a film (and is vital component of this film's plot), but the producers of Day of Wrath have made virtually no attempt to localise the film.
Just about the only thing discernibly Spanish about the film, apart from the actress Blanca Marsillach, was a leg of ham which appeared briefly in a single scene.
It didn't help that the film's producers were lumbered with a leading man who can't act and a director/script-writer who lacked imagination.
This was a vanity project for Christopher Lambert.
Some of the cast put in convincing performances (Brian Blessed, Phylidda Law) and others did their best with very one-dimensional characters (Blanca Marsillach, James Faulkner, Szonja Oroszlan).
But Christoper Lambert just failed to engage the audience with any sympathy for his character, and his voice - possibly an attempt at a Spanish accent - was just atrocious.
To be fair, the director did manage to input a certain degree of atmosphere and suspense into some of the scenes (despite the presence of Lambert).
But towards the end of the film the gratuitous use of blood and gore was completely over-the-top.
The only real credit goes to the Hungarian actors for doing their best in a foreign language - especially Lukács Bicskey who played the Hungarian mercenary.
Why he had to play a Hungarian beggars belief when his English was delivered perfectly (a pity he couldn't have taught Lambert a thing or two about delivering in English)..
who is the actor that was cast as the 'Hungarian mercenary'????
I loved the costumes, the actor ( Lambert) needs a haircut and a few more facial expressions.
I just want to know who the actor was that stole the movie from him....the Hungarian mercenary.
You know the one I mean , the Hungarian mercenary?The various animals that were used in the movie were well chosen and well saddled, bridled, and shod for the time period.Things like that really stick out in a period piece , like a new western saddle on a 16th century horse.
Lambert is still the highlander in all of his roles, I know he could expand them if he wanted to, or even tried.
Worst thing in the film is the cut, it's done really bad.
It's the director's second work and if the first one was as bad as this one, I wonder who let him do it.
Well, maybe the ten-year gap between the movies tells something.The most blame probably goes to the script.
The director has failed in creating any mood in the film.
Most actors seem to overact most of the time, or maybe its just the bad cut than makes it feel that way.
It's hard to get an idea of the settings of the movie, how big the city is, and so on; I got a picture that the population of the city consisted almost solely of aristocrats and guards.
The movie is also littered with anachronisms, such as mentioning separation of church and state and the overacted tenderness towards children, not to mention the stereotypical view of the time period.
And why use actors of mainly North-European descent, when the setting is in Spain?
Of the major actors, I think only Carmen Marsillach was Spanish, probably none were Jewish.Occasionally, especially towards the end, I could see a tiny hint of an actually good movie.
The basic plot is actually not that bad, if you think about it separately from the movie and imagine what kind of movie a decent writer and director could have done out of it.
I would almost think that this is a bad script based on a decent book.
Good Post-Jewish Spanish exile period piece during the Inquisition.
The Jester character was very talented, although his was a small bit part I felt he deserves an honorable mention for his performance and also the writer who created this unique character did something cool that I've never seen before; a new twist on the Jesters range, if you will (for lack of a better way to express it)...Christopher Lambert did a superb job for his character as it was written.
Having previously read the historical novel "By Fire, By Water" I was already familiar with the time period and true events that took place concerning the Jewish exile from Spain and so I understood this movie better than the person I watched it with (although you don't need to know this) The scenery and costumes were period pieces that added a lot to the flavor of the movie but the best part is the well conceived plot and the twists and secrets that aren't revealed so easily....
I'm not sure where people are coming from when critiquing this movie.
It's a costume/period piece about the Spanish inquisition!
This movie moves very slowly in parts, but it is simply telling its story.
You've got to be patient to watch a movie about the Spanish inquisition in the first place, so be forewarned.
Other than that, Lambert gives a good performance, the costumes are excellent.
I guess the bottom line is: What are your expectations of a movie before you watch it?
This movie doesn't fit a lot of people's expectations, but that doesn't make it a bad movie.
In fact, what I liked about it was that it doesn't fit into the normal American movie genres of: action, comedy, buddy movie etc.
I was actually pleasantly surprised by the stark beauty of many shots and could accept its low-budget shortcomings because the story and acting were good enough for me to enjoy..
Finally, a decent Christopher Lambert movie!.
This movie takes place in Spain during the horrible Spanish Inquisition.
The sheriff, a good and decent man (played by Lambert) tries to find out who killed these nobles.
The sheriff is met by resistance from the inquisitor and even his own boss (played by Brian Blessed) when he tries to uncover this murder mystery.
Eventually, the sheriff realizes that these murders are connected to his family history and he must act quickly to save his life and the lives of his family.I love the look of this film.
It is a costume drama and a murder mystery and it takes place during a particularly horrible time in Spain's history.The acting is very good.
Congratulations to all the actors in this film, they've really outdid themselves.
Christopher Lambert actually does a really decent job in this film and for the first time, I'm watching this guy actually act and not go on auto-pilot.
The plot of this film is extremely intriguing and I greatly respect a film that still makes me think after the movie is long over.This is a beautiful looking film and a good mystery, though I must warn some viewers that some of the murders are extremely graphic but it is not gratuitous violence as it is central to the story.Absolutely worth viewing, maybe even worth viewing more than once..
A Good Movie!.
A Good Movie!.
First of all , Christopher Lambert had some good movies , like Mortal Kombat , Absolon , Beowulf , Fortress 1 ( Better then Fortress 2 ).
About Day of Wrath , well the first part of the movie is like a mind game , you don't know what is really happen , but then ..
you realize what is all about and the movie start getting a interesting way and keeps you awake.
I loved the last 25 minutes of the movie , when he found the list and saw his name with other Jews and when he speaks with his uncle he found the true about the crimes and the only way to survive is to have 2 identities.
Despite its all-star cast (Christopher Lambert, Brian Blessed, James Faulkner) this film falls flat.
The problem was that the actors/director failed to 'execute' (scuza the pun).
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.
So, how could he not be good/bad?The second was in the costume and set designs.
I love the original Highlander, but Christopher Lambert has gone down hill big time.
As for the bad guy, he is actually the good guy- huh ?