MovieChat Forums > Solomon Kane (2012) Discussion > WARLOCK, CAPTAIN KRONOS, or SOLOMON KANE...

WARLOCK, CAPTAIN KRONOS, or SOLOMON KANE?

posted 13 years ago by jeffyoung1
6 replies | jump to latest

Who's your favorite witch-hunter, or vampire hunter for that matter?

1) Richard Grant plays the courageous witch-hunter - has no powers - in mid-1600s America in WARLOCK.

2) Captain Kronos was a former captain in a royal imperial honor guard unit of some western European country in the very early 1700s. He and his scientific, hunch-backed sidekick (think, Artemis Gordon from the, Wild, Wild, West) traveled about England (possibly the continent as well) searching out local vampires to terminate with extreme prejudice.

3) SOLOMON KANE. The original book and illustrated novel character is a devout Puritan warrior in early 1600s England who travels abroad, encountering and defeating supernatural evil.

For my preference, I liked the very brave, very human, very likeable witch-hunter character played by British actor, Richard Grant in WARLOCK. Richard Grant was in his prime and looked it, compared to his much older and thin, reedy body frame in 2011. Some people just don't age well. But had I been able to make it happen, I would have cast Richard Grant in a Solomon Kane-like adventurer hero series of movies where he tracks down and violently eliminates supernatural and occult evil. Richard Grant's character possessed no special powers or even special weapons. He had only his strong moral and ethical character, strength of purpose, natural hand-to-hand fighting skills (no martial arts training), his immense courage and bravery, and of course, his resourcefulness and wits. It helped a lot that he had a working knowledge of the kind of evil, destructive spells the warlock could cast and what steps could be taken to ward off the warlock or counteract his destructive curse spells. In other words, he knew his enemy well in advance.

[–] misbegotten 13 years ago

Don't know if you're aware of this, but when Warlock was released in the UK and Europe in 1989, the producer(s) stated in interviews at the time that there were plans for a sequel in which Lori Singer's character would get sent back in time to the 1600s to assist Richard E. Grant's witch-hunter in battling a different Warlock. Unfortunately, the film's American distributor went bust, and Warlock wasn't released in the States for another two-three years. The delay resulted in the original plans for the sequel being abandoned, and in the sequels that were eventually made, it was Julian Sands' Warlock who became the only recurring character (with Sands replaced by Bruce Payne in the third film).

http://hexfan.proboards.com/index.cgi

[–] jeffyoung1 13 years ago

Hollywood missed out on an opportunity. Of course, the timing was off. The concept of a Solomon Kane-type witchhunter based in mid to late 1600s England, Wales, Scotland, perhaps Ireland, and then the American colonies on America's northeastern Atlantic coast would have been more receptive in 2009, given the rise in popularity of films like TWILIGHT.

Richard Grant looked particularly rugged and handsome, almost in an American Wild West frontiersman way, back in 1989. It helped that Richard Grant is tall, 6'2". His Giles Redferne character in Warlock was good at fisticuffs and dirty street fighting if necessary, and his only weapon appeared to be a knife. Giles Redferne's character could have been widely expanded and lucratively exploited by Hollywood had the studios been perceptive about the idea.

I don't feel that the concept is dead and irretrievable. It could still be resurrected today and some appropriate British actor could be identified for the role. What about Irish actor, Colin Farrell, given his rugged looks, dark hair, and piercing black eyes? However, Farrell is only 5'10" tall; well, for the time period of the mid to late 1600s, that would have been considered just above average height. Even an Australian actor could be employed. An American actor would be third choice given the difficulty of an American being able to portray and speak in an Old World character and dialect.

[–] Kantos_Kan 13 years ago

Colin Farrell??!!!! Seriously? That guy is one of the biggest dbags on earth. How about.... James Purefoy?

[–] jeffyoung1 13 years ago

Yeah...well...you still gotta pick a good-looking guy though.

[–] Kantos_Kan 12 years ago

Solomon Kane was average looking at best. Purefoy is "handsome" based on what my super hot wife says. Now what?

[–] piazzollachick 12 years ago

Your wife is correct; Purefoy is gorgeous. They obviously went to some pains to make him look rough in "Solomon Kane."