[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Reckoning (2020)

Following the death of her husband from the plague, a young woman (Charlotte Kirk) is unjustly accused of being a witch when she spurns the sexual advances of the local squire (Steven Waddington). She is taken to the local town to await trial by the feared witch finder Judge Moorcroft (Sean Pertwee).

In a way Neil Marshall's The Reckoning is nothing new. There's nothing here you won't have seen in classier films such as Witchfinder General and The Devils and their pulpy cousins Mark of the Devil and The Bloody Judge.

The torture on show isn't as strong as those earlier films although there are one or two suitably toe curling acts of gruesomeness on offer including a man having his skull crushed by a horse and cart. The acting is decent all round (Even if Kirk did appear to wear remarkably hardy make up throughout). The sets and locations were top notch although they didn't exactly look like the north of England where the film is set and the prison set scenes were dingily atmospheric. It was a nice touch having the devil manifest itself to Kirk attempting to entice her to the ways of Satan, and very impressive he looked too, the great horned beast.

At 106 minutes the film is a little over long. (I seem to have said this about a few films recently) - It's a good half hour in before there's any accusation of witchcraft for example - but the final twenty minutes proved a gripping finale.