Solomon Kane (film)

Solomon Kane is a 2009 sword and sorcery film based on the pulp magazine character of the same name created in 1928 by Robert E. Howard. Written and directed by M. J. Bassett, the film stars James Purefoy in the title role. Despite obtaining the rights in 1997, filming did not begin until January 2008.

The film is an original story for the Kane character and was intended to be the first of a trilogy. The plot follows a redemption story for Kane, from the end of his life as a privateer, through the salvation of his soul by rescuing a Puritan girl and the beginning of his life as the Puritan avenger of the source material. It was produced by a consortium of French, Czech, and British companies and mostly filmed in the Czech Republic. The film was first shown at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. It went on general release in France, Spain, and the UK over the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010. It has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 67%.

The screenplay was novelised by award-winning fantasy author Ramsey Campbell.

Plot

In the year 1600, in North Africa, English privateer Solomon Kane leads his ship's crew into battle against the Ottoman defenders of a fortress town. After defeating the defenders, Kane and his men raid the fortress, where most of the crew are killed by demons. Kane fights his way to the throne room, but, before he can loot the riches, he is confronted by the "Devil's Reaper", a demon who tells him his soul is forfeit to Satan after his life of sin. Kane rejects his fate and jumps out of a window to escape.