Co-writer/director Adam Werth wins the roll for initiative in his sword and sorcery/horror feature Devil’s Knight. The setup is a Dungeons and Dragons mad-lib: in the vaguely medieval land of Veroka, the kingdom of Remény is suffering a reign of monstrous terror from a foul, ancient beast known as Bone Devil. King Samuel (Kevin Hager) calls in an intrepid band of mercenary swords for hire, The Lost Blades. While the mercs are tracking Bone Devil, the cauldron of palace intrigue boils with toil and trouble. The tale is framed as a flashback war story from a scarred battle veteran around a friendly campfire group he’s stumbled into.
Creepy Monsignor Mustela (Greg Tally) plots against the king with Princess Sabine (Sarah Nicklin). She is frustrated, having dedicated 10 years of study to her passion for swordcraft in a place where women are not allowed to fight. When one of the Lost Blades, Joan (Kim Kelly), turns out to be a woman in disguise, Sabine challenges her to duel simply because Joan is the only one who can fight her.
Look, it’s well known that a film doesn’t need a great script, stellar acting, or a logical narrative in order to be fun. Devil’s Knight sets out to demonstrate this. Every line is delivered with exaggerated gravitas, slowly, and with great emphasis. When it seems there might be a powerful moment of exposition coming, it turns out someone is ordering drinks. The medieval element tastes like watered-down Shakespeare, as if a group of well-meaning amateurs performed Macbeth from the Cliffs Notes.
“…Mustela plots against the king with Princess Sabine.”
Along with the bouillabaisse of words that make up the script, there are other interesting notes. Kelly wears a comically large helmet, presumably to hide her long hair. A Baldwin brother, Daniel, is featured in the campfire scene. It’s been a minute since he’s been in film. There is an impressive array of languages and international influence spread around the names and accents — everything from Scandinavian to French to Kevin Sorbo’s painfully flat Midwestern U.S. delivery.
Note that Sorbo, the top-named actor, doesn’t show up for the first hour of Devil’s Knight. He’s playing Baldur, captain of the king’s guard. Eric Roberts is also marketed as starring in the film but has what can only be described as a cameo as Lord Sussex. This is unfortunate, as Roberts has serious acting chops and a compelling presence. Model and actress Angie Everhart plays a small role as the sneering Duchess de Baudicourt.
On the plus side, there’s the senseless gore, and the monsters are wonderful person-in-suit performers. There’s no CGI, which is good or bad, depending on your point of view. Despite the cheesiness, or possibly because of it, everyone seems to be having a wonderful time waving swords around, speechifying, and dying in geysers of stage blood. Everyone that is, with the possible exception of Sorbo, who looks tired and frustrated. It’s been decades since the Hercules series, and he has not fared well since.
Devil’s Knight is a lighthearted bit of fluff as if someone chronicled a D&D campaign and then translated it into a script. It’s low-stakes fun that you don’t have to pay too much attention to. If you like to indulge in anything mind-altering, it would make for a good time to get interplanetary and check it out.
"…everyone seems to be having a wonderful time waving swords around..."
