Trial by Combat (1976)

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Excellent but underrated film

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

An obscure but highly engaging piece of trash, this treads the comedy-action mould far more successfully than more recent blockbusters from Hollywood such as A KNIGHT'S TALE. The unbelievable plot evolves around the overused idea of a gang of vigilantes outside of the law trying and executing criminals who have got away scot-free from their crimes, although this time at least the criminals get a chance at beating their opponent in a medieval joust before they die. TRIAL BY COMBAT really is a film of two halves, moving from a straightforward mystery/thriller in the first half to an all-out action spectacular in the second half, directed impressively and surehandedly on a low budget by the underrated Kevin Connor.The comedy comes thick and fast and most of it is fairly surreal or oddball in nature. Half of the time it misses and fails miserably but for the other half, the movie offers plenty of laughs and entertainment. Camera-work is solid and carefully makes the film a violent spectacle without earning it anything more than a PG certificate thanks to some well-placed branches and horses in the death scenes. Most of the action takes the form of some rather routine jousting, but then there are some excellent chase set-pieces scattered throughout including a hair-raising battle in a vegetable patch! The long-running finale in which the knights finally get disbanded is also engaging stuff and a wonderfully exciting (if slightly predictable) way in which to end the picture. The effort and energy put into the action alone makes it work.A quick glance at the cast list and you know you're in for a treat with some standout performances from film veterans. But first we have the leads, two imported Americans in the rugged, handsome but slightly boring David Birney and the young, attractive love interest as played by Barbara Hershey. The fun value is heightened considerably by the appearance of John Mills in a comedy role as an eccentric retired detective out to solve one last string of crimes, and his Doctor Doolittle-style conversing with the animals and 'creating all kinds of calamity mishaps' is very enjoyable.Also in it for comic performances are an over-the-top Margaret Leighton and Brian Glover, as good as he ever was, as an unstoppable dynamo of a gangster named Sidney Gore who makes life a misery for the knights after they tangle with him! Great comic work from Glover who steals his scenes and puts in the best performance, narrowly beating the veteran Mills. Donald Pleasence makes for a fine omnipotent villain, evil in the old-fashioned sense of the word, and his piercing eyes and imposing frown make him a great casting choice - plus he's one of the few men not to look slightly silly in a suit of armour. Finally, Peter Cushing makes a welcome, if small, pre-credits cameo whose murder sets off the plot in motion. It may be bizarre and it may fall flat on its face at times, and the mystery/comedy/thriller/action elements may not always gel, but when it works TRIAL BY COMBAT is fantastic entertainment.

Quite an oddity this one.The premise is simple. In 1970s England, a cult of enthusiasts of medieval knights, led by Sir Giles Marley (Donald Pleasance), have become vigilantes, dishing out their own unique brand of justice to criminals who have managed to evade punishment by the police or law courts. After capturing their targets, they put them through a 'trial by combat', that is making them fight for their lives in the style of the old knights, primarily via a joust.Now whilst that's not exactly the most solid premise, but it's certainly no worse than that which many other horror films are founded upon. Indeed, things start off quite promisingly. The images of heraldry and the colourful English countryside (back in the days when English summers used to be dry and sunny) give an interesting look to the film, then when you throw in actors like Donald Pleasance being suitably sinister and Peter Cushing as a concerned neighbour who discovers and opposes the dastardly goings-on, you think this could unfold as a dark, macabre game of cat-and-mouse between the pair.Unfortunately that's not the case. Cushing's character is immediately bumped off, so instead of him we have as the leading good guys retired police chief Colonel Cook (John Mills) and David Birney as Sir John Gifford, the estranged son of Cushing's character returned from the USA to claim his inheritance.Unfortunately Mills' character is made eccentric almost to the point of being ridiculous, for example he leaves the windows open so that pigeons can fly around his office whilst he's working. Well, actually it's not his office anymore, it's that of his replacement Oliver Griggs (John Savident), so perhaps it's all really Cook's way of winding him up since the pair are rivals. Whatever, it seems to be thrown into the film for comedy effect, and that's one of the main problems, there's too much comedy. Light relief ceases to become 'relief' when it dominates the rest of the proceedings.Many British TV and film productions of this period felt a need to incorporate an American leading man in order to capture the overseas market. Whilst there's nothing wrong with that idea, in practise many of them failed because they had a bland, stereotypical American character played by a bland stereotypical American actor. The 1970s British TV series 'Thriller' suffers very badly in this respect and 'Trial By Combat' is another case in point. In a film littered with great British actors who are able to inject a real presence and character into even the smallest of parts (even down to the likes of Bernard Hill, George Sweeney and Kevin Lloyd who have early cameos here), Birney as a lead is so one-dimensional and uninteresting he just gets swallowed up. Furthermore, very early on in the film, his character comfortably defeats pretty much all of Marley's toughest warriors in a friendly contest, which completely undermines the suspense when they lock horns on a more serious level in the closing stages of the film.Barbara Hershey plays the female lead and is given very little to do. Well, actually she does manage to knock down John Savident by pushing a cannon ball along the floor at him with her foot from a distance of 15 feet, but that's just symptomatic of the kind of film this is. I won't say how Pleasance's character meets his end, but that's pretty silly too.The most frustrating thing about this film is that, with the ideas and resources at its disposal, it should have been so much better. Birney aside, it really does have a good cast, and there are some good ideas and images too, which at least keeps it interesting, but it completely fails as a work of horror or suspense due to a pervading air of silliness, and so it consequently leaves you wondering exactly what audience the director was trying to appeal to.

Strange, I don't remember going to "Medieval Times" and actually see people executed. Nor do I remember them taking the body outside and throwing it on the street. Maybe somebody poisoned me.In any case, this is one strange movie. And actually, it came off funny in an odd sort of way. There was a running gag with animals appearing at the desk of the man investigating the mysterious killings by the "Knights of Avalon".I found it funny that nobody really did anything about it until the final showdown and the strange somewhat funny ending. The ending being funny because it was abrupt.Overall, not your typical comedy with knights, but it has its moments. "C"

A British aristocrat played by Peter Cushing is killed by the Knights who say "ni" and it's up to his son coming all the way from America to solve the case. The whole thing is extremely silly, but Donald Pleasence, the head of "The Knights of Avalon" (a society dedicated to the medieval values of live, unfortunately gone vigilante), manages to look fairly omnious in full knights armour. Quite hard to track down these days.