Due to the fact that the world has changed and I've gotten old, I don't buy as much new music as I used to. But, when I did, one of my favorite things to do was find a new band and observe their careers as they released new albums. Would they be able to maintain the energy of their first release? Would they have the dreaded sophomore slump? Would I turn on them once they went mainstream? Now, I find myself doing this with filmmakers. It doesn't happen often, but occasionally I'll catch someone's feature film debut and watch how they grow (or not) from there. One such director is Christopher Smith. Will his latest film, Black Death, show that his career is moving in the right direction?

Black Death is set in England in the year 1348. The Black Plague has ravaged the country and dead bodies lie everywhere. Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) is a young monk whose monastery has been hit by the plague. He wants to do God's work, but he is also in love with Averill (Kimberley Nixon) and wants to be with her. One day, a knight named Ulric (Sean Bean) arrives and announces that he's on a mission from the Bishop. There is word that a village has been spared the plague and Ulric is to travel there to see if this is true and to see if rumors of witchcraft are true. Osmund knows the area and volunteers to lead the knights, as he can also meet up with Averill while on the mission. Ulric's men are battle-weary warriors who have fought the French and share their horrifying stories with Osmund. As the group travels through the forest and then a marsh, they encounter several obstacles. Once they reach the village, they find it very inviting, but they also learn that things aren't always what they seem.

Black Death starts off promisingly enough. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of movies set during medieval times (not to be confused with movies set at Medieval Times), and I wasn't sure about the film going in. However, Smith doesn't beat around the bush and it's not long until Osmund joins Ulric and his men on their journey. Their trek allows for character development and expansion of the story combined with action scenes. Once they reach the village, the movie becomes a mystery of sorts, as they must figure out what is happening and who is behind it. These first two acts aren't perfect, but they are interesting and introduce enough plot and debate about the nature of religion and man to keep the viewer interested.

However, the movie fizzles out in the final reels. The movie doesn't suddenly get bad -- the ending makes perfect sense and it is a very logical conclusion. However the movie runs out of gas and loses all of the energy and momentum which it had. The movie doesn't so much grind to a halt as it coasts over the finish line. Many movies have built a reputation on their great endings, but Black Death is a movie which is undone by its finale. The movie would have easily rated a solid "B", but the lackluster ending leaves the viewer feeling unfulfilled.

The Black Plague isn't the movie popular genre out there, so Black Death is pretty unique by default. While one scene evoked unintentional laughter due to its resemblance to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the movie creates a grim tone and draws the viewer in. The ending is a huge letdown, but you can certainly do worse and the movie is worth a rental. Still, I hope that Smith fulfills the promise made with Triangle with his next film.

Black Death has some decidedly questionable dialogue for the 14th Century on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Magnolia Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 25 Mbps. The image is sharp and clear, showing no overt grain and no defects from the source material. For this film, Smith has given the film a look which is devoid of bright colors. The result is a movie which is filled with Earth tones, but also makes the video look washed out. The picture does show good detail and depth. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 2.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The surround sound effects are particularly good, most notably during the fight in the woods. The stereo effects are nicely detailed and often focus on sounds off-screen. A few moments offer impressive subwoofer effects.

The Black Death Blu-ray Disc contains a handful of extras. The Disc offers four DELETED SCENES which run about 4 minutes. The bulk of this is taken up by a longer scene of the men crossing the marsh. The other three scenes are simply brief dialogue moments. "Bringing Black Death to Life" (12 minutes) is a short making-of featurette which looks at the cast and Smith's directing style. The piece is made up nearly exclusively of comments from the cast and filmmakers and on-set footage, including a closer look at the fight scenes. "Interviews with Cast and Crew" (32 minutes) contains extended versions of the soundbytes seen in the last featurette, as we get comments from the director, two producers, and nine actors, who talk about their involvement in the film. "Behind the Scenes Footage" (11 minutes) is simply on-set video showing the cast and crew at work. "HDNET: A Look at Black Death" (4 minutes) reprises the footage which we've seen in the other extras in one small package. The final extra is the THEATRICAL TRAILER for the film.