Forbidden Empire

Forbidden Empire

22/5/2015 2h 8m 5.9/10

Overview

Early 18th century. Cartographer Jonathan Green undertakes a scientific voyage from Europe to the East. Having passed through Transylvania and crossed the Carpathian Mountains, he finds himself in a small village lost in impassible woods. Nothing but chance and heavy fog could bring him to this cursed place. People who live here do not resemble any other people which the traveler saw before that. The villagers, having dug a deep moat to fend themselves from the rest of the world, share a naive belief that they could save themselves from evil, failing to understand that evil has made its nest in their souls and is waiting for an opportunity to gush out upon the world.

Director

Oleg Stepchenko

Top Billed Cast

Aleksey Chadov

Aleksey Chadov

Petrus

Agniya Ditkovskite

Agniya Ditkovskite

Nastusya

Jason Flemyng

Jason Flemyng

Jonathan Green

Yuriy Tsurilo

Yuriy Tsurilo

Sotnik

Aleksandr Yakovlev

Aleksandr Yakovlev

Overko

Olga Zaytseva

Olga Zaytseva

Pannochka

Reviews

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

5/30/2024

6/10

It seems to be that if your name is "Jonathan" then maybe you ought to avoid Romania? This one is called "Green" (Jason Flemyng) and he is trying to do some intricate cartography between Europe and Asia. With his stagecoach equipped with all mod cons - including some cleverly mounted reins for the horses and a candle-lit trundle wheel at the back, he sets off into the Carpathian mountains where his wheels, quite literally, come off and he finds himself in a community that has done all it can to fortify itself from the evils of the outside world! He can write - and that's not a good sign as he is quickly condemned as a devil worshipper. Luckily, there are still a few folks around who know the difference between his scribblings and satanic incarnations and gradually he starts to have a bit of fun amongst this eclectic bunch whilst helping them to realise that like charity, evil usually begins at home too! I actually quite enjoyed the premiss of this, but the execution is all over the place and the budget really does limit the potency of the visual effects that are quite creative just very clearly manipulated. Flemyng looks like he is having some fun and there's even a be-wigged Charles Dance along to top, tail and narrate the adventure as it moves along. Mysticism, magic and gadgets galore feature and though I can't quite recommend it, it's not terrible.

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