Mikes Film Talk

Night of the Templar is a 2012 low budget British film. Star David Carradine deserved better for his last film appearance. Of course the best thing about the film is, ironically,  Carradine.  Officially this was his last film before being found dead aged 72 in Bangkok, Thailand. His death was  apparently caused by auto-erotic asphyxiation.

Stuntman Paul Sampson writes and directs this abysmal attempt at “historical” drama/horror. Sadly, the best bit about this under 3 million quid film is its taglines.

If you can’t be bothered to look up either the cast or the tag lines here they are. In reverse order.

Night of the Templar Taglines:

“Here tells a tale of Passion, Loyalty, Deceit, Betrayal … and Revenge!”

“Hell is Eternal as is the Wrath of Vengeance!”

“The Eternal Wrath of Vengeance!”

The Cast

Cast list courtesy of IMDb:
	Paul Sampson	…	Lord Gregoire / Jake McCallister
	David Carradine	…	Shopkeeper
	Udo Kier	…	Father Paul
	Norman Reedus	…	Henry Flesh
	Billy Drago	…	Shauna the Chef
	Max Perlich	…	Benoit the Butler
	Nick Jameson	…	Lord Renault

The Night of the Templar Story

Per IMDb.com:  (sic)“A Medieval Knight resurrects to fulfill a vow. He bestows a blood-thirst vengeance upon the kindred spirits of those who betrayed him long ago. In the course of one night, identities will be revealed. Destinies will meet and poetic justice of the macabre sort will be maniacally served.

The Night of the Templar, Why?

Really, I could get by with not doing a review at all. However, despite the execrable editing and the horrible acting, I liked it. On a side note here, Kier and Carradine knock this one out of the park.

I did have some problems. The main one being Paul Sampson. He was, and may still be, a horrible actor. My main issue with the man was his unstable accent. It was all over the place. He just didn’t sound right.

A Bridge Too Far

It is just that every single time Sampson opened his mouth as his “reincarnated” self, he sounded almost camp. He was supposed to be a muscle bound actor. A screen tough who was the reincarnated soul of a Templar knight. He just didn’t sound the part. It took halfway through the film to realise the problem. His “Hollywood bridge.” problem.

A Hollywood bridge is a cosmetic dental device. Something very popular among the Toddlers and Tiaras set, where losing a front tooth can be disastrous. The “bridge” clips over your real gnashers and  give you a perfect smile.

Sampson’s changed the way he spoke. It was as though he was wearing somebody else’s teeth. Watch the flashback scenes. He is very obviously not wearing the bridge. In those scenes when he is playing the Templar he sounds just fine.  His acting even appears to improve.

Problems

This last film of Carradine’s was doomed by so many problems. It is shame  that Night of the Templar wasted him in such a sloppy fashion. The 72 year-old Carradine and  the 68 year-old Udo Kerr both played this like is was a big budget film. As a result, they both shine.

The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus is give a two dimensional character to play. He fails to impress. Of course this is sort of an issue that all the actors had. Even Billy Drago has to struggle with an oddball part as does his partner; Max Perlich.

About Kerr

Udo has surely made some sort of Faustian pact. Either that or he has procured the services of the world’s best plastic surgeon. The man looks eerily undaunted by time. It is as though he has stopped aging. It is a little creepy.

I keep trawling the internet to find pictures. Ones like those that feature  Keanu Reeves, Nick Cage, and John Travolta. The “are they immortal” ones. The photographs I found seem to confirm that Kerr’s aging process has been halted.

But Udo Kerr and his creepy non-aging thing aside, the film could have been great. A scattered plot, bad acting, even worse editing and VFX that were laughable. Only the stunts looked halfway decent.

However.

Towards the end of the film, the acting got better. The interaction by the surviving members of the cast turned out to be pretty good. It gave a glimpse of what the film could and should have been.

It’s a shame that they didn’t figure that out before they started post production on Night of the Templar.

Shivers

One very odd moment in the film stuck out. And if you know what auto-erotic asphyxiation is it will actually give you a bit of a shiver.

One of the characters is getting some sexual oral ministrations from another. Whist in the throes of passion he takes his belt and wraps it around his neck, tightening it.

Shivers, right?

The irony of that scene not only gave me the shivers, but I had to stop and have a think. Night of the Templar was David Carradine in his last “official” performance. You have to ask the question: “Was he influenced by that scene?”

The Night of the Templar Verdict

This is a 2 out of 5 star film, notable only for the presence of Kerr and Carradine. Worth a look if you want to see the Kung Fu actor and Kerr together. Wander on over to YouTube where the full length film is available to stream. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The Trailer