Season of the Witch silently celebrated its ten-year anniversary this past January. For most, it was a movie that came and went. Although it doubled its budget in box office returns, most critics panned it. Nicolas Cage was even nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Actor. Few genuinely appreciated the fantasy and horror elements Season of the Witch delivers. Even fewer appreciate the enthusiasm and reservation Nicolas Cage brought to the role as the main hero, Sir Behmen. Instead of hamming it up as people tend to expect from him, he brought a quiet dignity to the role. Facing off against the plague and a devious evil, Sir Behmen is a character right in Cage’s wheelhouse.
Season of the Witch was released in theatres in 2011. Alongside Cage, it stars the boundless Ron Perlman. Both are Teutonic Knights in 14th Century Eastern Europe. After losing morale and faith in the Crusades, the pair desert the Order to return home to Austria. On the way, they enter a village ravaged by the Black Death – this bout of the plague is believed to be caused by a young witch. To gain pardon for desertion, the pair are charged with the quest of bringing the witch to a remote monastery to be purified of the evil. If done correctly, the ritual will save the land from the deadly plague. Their faith in the Church and in each other are tested as they journey across the country. Behmen specifically struggles with the quest as he learns that the witch is not all that she seems.
The Cast
Season of the Witch is an awesome movie for a lot of reasons. One of the main ones is the cast. In addition to Nicolas Cage, Season stars 2004’s Hellboy himself! Ron Perlman plays the grizzled Sir Felson. It is a part tailor-made for him. Felson, like Cage’s Behmen, is a veteran Teuton of the Crusades. Unlike Sir Behmen, Sir Felson could care less about the Church, the superstitious village, the truth of the witch, or their quest to the monastery. He just wants to get home safe and be done with the whole mess.
Sir Felson feels like a prototype version of Hannibal Chau, another awesome character Perlman would go on to play in Pacific Rim two years later. Season also features a young Robert Sheehan (of Umbrella Academy fame) in one of his first major motion pictures, and Claire Foy (who played the Queen in the first two seasons of The Crown) in her very first movie. To top it off, the Knights’ quest giver is none other than the legendary Christopher Lee (albeit he is covered in prosthetics) as the plague-ridden Cardinal D’Ambroise.
The Clever Twist (Spoilers)
To save the village from the plague the Knights must bring the witch to a monastery so a group of monks there can perform a sacred ritual and wipe away her magic curse. At first, her guilt is brought to question by Sir Behmen who believes she is an innocent woman mistaken for a witch. Quickly, however, she works her guile and starts eliminating the members of the Knights’ squad.
Then, when the remaining survivors reach the monastery, it turns out she is not a witch, but a girl possessed by a demon! The whole quest was a deliberate trick by the demon who wanted to get to the monastery and destroy a special ritual book that could be used against him. The movie then escalates into an exciting exorcism and a battle against this powerful demon. It cast aside the predictable witch story (is she guilty or innocent, will she burn or be free?) for a much more surprising turn of events (stop the demon from destroying the book and taking over the world).
The Cage of it All
The enigmatic career of Nicolas Cage has been marked with the ebbs of forgettable phoned-in performances and the flows of award-winning hits. Depending on the swing, fans could get his best work like Leaving Las Vegas (1995) or Face/Off (1997). Other times he will drop movies like The Wicker Man (2006) or Vampire’s Kiss (1988). Fans delight in the unpredictable mixed bag of his deliveries. More often than not he is providing quality content whether the movie itself is good or bad.
Season of the Witch is both a solid performance of his and, though regrettably overlooked, a really awesome movie. Cage is not overacting to the point of caricature, nor is he underacting just to cash a paycheque. He contributes a sincerity to the material, as being someone who is inclined to the supernatural and one who wanted to add his mark to the fantasy/horror genre.
Season of the Witch is awesome because it is a fantasy/horror that does not follow the formula, because it is cast with awesome actors, and because it is one of Nicolas Cage’s surprise quality performances. Find it and watch it!