Grey Knight (1993)

Redundant and unnecessary.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

George Hickenlooper failed most miserably here on all accounts - casting, music, scenery, action, probability, depth and morale. Nothing worked in this mesh-mash of Civil War, thriller, horror flick, erotica, mystical realm exploitation, quasi-psychology, drama and romance. Not a single actor shines here, even such heavyweights as Martin Sheen, Billy Bob Thornton or David Arquette do a very mediocre job here, at least slightly convincing, but generally very disturbing and even embarrassing. The very idea of this ghost brigade immediately slides into sleazy banality and deep clichés start appearing one after another. All those silver bullets, dark scenes, strange dreams, very vapid dialogs and laughable battle scenes make this film a real flop and a bomb. It does not hold, it never works.

The creative initial idea of an unstoppable army of Union and Confederate resurrected dead soldiers, gets trampled under the weight of it's limited budget, heavy handed direction, and chop shop editing. Many scenes are way too dark for interpretation of the action, while quite a bit of lines are garbled and incomprehensible. Character development is rushed and not acceptable. Other than the fresh concept of supernatural - Civil War genre mixing, there is little here to like. Billy Bob Thornton is wasted in a very small role, and Martin Sheen seems to be doing out takes from Gettysburg. "Grey Knight" should be considered more a curiosity than anything else, because it is simply too muddled and cannot be recommended as entertainment. - MERK

I saw auteur George Hickenlooper's director's cut of this movie under the title "Grey Knight". Spooky, world-class, polished performances delivered by Cynda Williams (tremendous in "One False Move" and an ex-Mrs. Billy Bob Thornton), David Arquette (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 8 Legged Freaks), Roger Wilson (Vampire Recruiter Extraodinaire), Matt LeBlanc ("Monsters: "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bites", "Showdown", "Lost in Space") and Martin Sheen ("The West Wing", "The Departed"), with Adrian Pasdar ("Near Dark", "Desperate Houswives") and Corbin Bersen ("Star Trek: the Next Generation", "Tales from the Hood") at each other's throats. Intelligent treatment, killer script, eerie atmosphere, and eye candy actors. Encore!

What could have been a good horror-movie is infected by a often to weird and confusing story. The acting is good, the filming locations are beautiful. The film also has a special 'supernatural' sphere, the supernatural elements in the movie are in a good way connected to the story. The function of the narrator of the story is good. It's a pity that the story is a such a mess, but watching the movie is certainly recomended.