everything you have heard about this movie is true.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Billy Drago in drag… its an image and a concept my brain is still to comprehend. Why did this happen? How? To what purpose does it serve and does it even matter? Perhaps it's just one of those things, a random occurrence in the cosmos sparked by dense imagination and/or slight comic perversion and displayed for our hesitant amusement.Let's face it, our brains are only so big and we can only use so much of them… and while it is sadly a fact that I may never understand the grand concept of John Bly as a cross-dressing chef who before too-long has his/her life ended by a Knight Templar in a modern American manor, I strongly advise using yours to track down this awkward, bizarre, perhaps knowing or perhaps serious (I couldn't tell) small-budget oddity. Your inner critic may not thank you for it, but sometimes its better to tell that cat to scram while you groove with your inner 12 year old instead.If you succeed in that, you'll have a lot of fun here.The plot revolves around great medieval knight Lord Gregoire, who having been betrayed by his own adviser and warriors for an abundance of gold and riches, vows that after these traitors revel in 10 lifetimes of excess he will exact his bloody revenge. How this happens and the situations that arise from it are too confounding to detail here, especially concerning the true identity of the damsel our (anti)hero hooks up with at the film's end (this is simply brilliant) and what exactly the core group of characters have gathered for so this foretold 'night of the templar' can begin. Among these characters is an unfit deviant fittingly named Henry Flesh, played by none-other than The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus, who engages in a particular scene that he will one day be able to show to his kids with pride.Other notable actors supporting this original material include the simply legendary Udo Kier (Flesh for Frankenstein, Blood for Dracula, Suspiria, Europa, Shadow of the Vampire) who, while spending a large portion of his screen-time walking and starring, pleasantly progresses into a vital role come the third-act and elevates the camp proceedings with his thick accent and undiminished persona, and equally legendary David Carradine (Death Race 2000, Kill Bill) who sadly passed away in 2009 after post-production. Given the subtle lunacy here its obvious that these great actors signed up not just to pay the bills, but because they could sense a journey that an open-minded viewer could truly revel in; featuring, as the tagline reads, passion, loyalty, deceit, betrayal…and revenge. They were right.I sat watching this movie prepared to enjoy it, thanks to the promise of swordplay, violence and performances from two of my favorite cult actors; what I wasn't prepared for was the brazenly ridiculous script peppered with cues that certainly succeeded in making me chuckle when I wasn't wincing, and of course Billy Drago in drag… … that one tangible element of creative abandonment.That one element that should prove to you, ladies and gentlemen, that while this isn't perfect, it's a rickety barrel-load of fun that can be savored for all the wrong reasons, and will no doubt cause you to involuntarily smile when bored at work or frustrated at school in the following days. Sometimes we are simply not meant to know how things are, a side-effect of our limited minds, so instead of wondering exactly what would inspire someone to make this film, wonder instead how many times you can watch Sampson as the "events coordinator" intensely comforting a distressed, shy girl by kissing her on the forehead and bravely declaring that Henry Flesh will never touch her again.And there's that involuntary smile.3 random trophy-filled shelves out of 5 For more movie reviews and opinions check out - www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com

Betrayed by his own men for a wagon full of gold a Knights Templar named "Lord Gregoire" (Paul Sampson) vows to return after 10 generations and avenge himself on their descendants. Fast forward to the present and a young man by the name of "Jake McCallister" (also played by Paul Sampson) has agreed to host a small group of people in a fantasy retreat at a castle. As he surveys the castle he begins to have strange hallucinations. After that the guests begin to die one by one at the hands of a man dressed in the uniform of a Knights Templar. Now rather than disclose any more of the details and risk spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this movie was built upon a very interesting concept. Unfortunately, whoever wrote the script and assembled the cast doesn't have a clue about making movies. First, Paul Sampson sounded like Elmer Fudd and was clearly not up to the task as the lead character. Likewise, having Billy Drago (as "Shauna the Chef") dressed in drag certainly didn't help matters. Additionally, the dialogue was terrible and some of the scenes appeared to be made up on the spot. On the plus side this movie did have four pretty actresses in Ingrid Sonray (as "Amy"), Lisa Gleave ("Ashley"), Sofie Norman ("Celine") and Mary Christina Brown ("Japoniko"). Unfortunately, their characters weren't developed as well as they could have been and their roles were choked out by other non-essential subplots. The bottom line is that this movie had a good idea but it was badly written and executed. Because of that I rate the movie as below average.

I love this movie and have watched it multiple times. Each time I watch it I find something new and interesting that I didn't see before. While the modern day part of the film is amazing I find myself drawn to the medieval era even more. The subtleties and nuances of Lord Gregoire is absolutely amazing. Paul Sampson does an excellent job of portraying him in such a humble yet courageous way that is instantly likable yet you can't help but respect him as the great lord as he is. His transition into Jake McCallister is flawless yet you can still see Lord Gregoire buried within the character. I can't wait to watch it again to see what new gem I find buried within this amazing indie film!!

Night of the Templar is quite a surprising and brilliant piece of work which I suspect will achieve the accolade of instant cult status as word of mouth snowballs this film to richly deserved recognition.Paul Sampson, both the writer and the main star of the film, has been a comedic force for some time, most notably in the fantastic movie 'Whacked!'. Many of his previous works have hinted at Sampson's saliently dead pan comedic manner (and writing skills) which comes to full fruition in 'Night of the Templar'.In a nut shell, this film is an amazing blend of the funny, the violent and the poignant.It was a joy to watch and my only disappointment is that I can never watch this film for the first time ever again - every viewing will forever be a repeat viewing.