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SOLOMON KANE

"Overtly Christian, but Violent"

What You Need To Know:

SOLOMON KANE is a rousing movie based on a character created by Robert E. Howard. Howard also created Conan the Barbarian. Solomon Kane is a wealthy heir to an estate in 1600 England. A family tragedy leaves Kane full of guilt, and he becomes an evil warrior. The Devil’s reaper comes to take his soul, but God saves him, and Kane renounces violence. He befriends a Puritan family. Then, when demon-possessed marauders attack the family and kidnap their daughter, Kane promises her mortally wounded father that he will not rest until he can save the girl.

SOLOMON KANE spends as much time exploring good and evil and the concepts of revenge and redemption as it spends on showing violence. Every time it seems the movie might fail at depicting Christian viewpoints, it usually gets them right. Thus, despite a couple questionable lines of dialogue, the movie has a very strong Christian worldview. Some of the violence is graphic enough, however, to warrant extreme caution. SOLOMON KANE also has the hero fighting scary demonic forces, but it’s one of the best movies of the year.

Content:

(CCC, BBB, O, FR, VVV, N, AA, M) Very strong Christian, moral worldview as man fights occult, demonic evil to save Puritan girl including prayers to God, references to Jesus on the Cross, positive references and appeals to “the Lord” and God, evil forces try to crucify girl’s rescuer, but hero asks, “God give me strength,” and he breaks free to save the girl, and hero tells God only God can save him now when a large demon monster is released by occult means by the sorcerer villain, plus two borderline false theology issues that appear to refute the Gospel when a monk says there are many paths to redemption (though monk’s words can mean there are many paths for a Christian to take), and when movie presents the idea that the hero can free his soul from Satan’s grasp by saving the damsel in distress from Satan’s minions; no foul language though Puritan girl cries Oh God at one point when hero is in real danger; very strong violence includes some blood sprays when people use swords or knives, swordplay, stabbings, throat slashings, decapitations, and shootings, both when Kane is in his evil days and killing innocents, and after he renounces his newfound pacifism in order to stop the Devil’s forces and save the Puritan girl; no sex; no nudity; brief alcohol use and despondent hero gets drunk at one point when he thinks he’s lost; no smoking; and, demonic forces kidnap people, hero wears tattoos (including a Christian cross tattoo) to ward off the Devil, and hero’s father thinks only his suicidal death can release a curse from his family.

More Detail:

SOLOMON KANE is a rousing, expertly made genre movie based on the character created by Robert E. Howard, who also created Conan the Barbarian. It’s a passionately acted tale of Christian heroism and redemption as the title character fights to win back his soul from the Devil through a quest to save a Puritan girl.

Solomon Kane is a wealthy heir to an estate in 1600 England. His father wants Solomon to become a Catholic priest, but Solomon rebels. Solomon leaves the family estate. He finds his older brother hitting a woman. As he defends her honor, Solomon accidentally knocks his brother over a cliff and believes he died. Thus, Solomon became embittered and set off wandering the earth in sadness and desperation, feeling his soul is lost. This, in turn, causes him to become a brutal, evil warrior.

However, just as the Devil’s reaper is about to kill Solomon and seize his soul forever, Solomon begs God for help and manages to escape. He hides out in a Christian monastery, having renounced violence in the belief that, while his soul may be a lost cause, becoming peaceful may prolong his earthly life. He believes that, if he lashes out in violence, he will immediately be sent to Hell.

Despite this, the chief monk sends him away. On the road, Solomon becomes friends with a passing Puritan family. He soon realizes that demon-possessed men are roaming the countryside to kill Christians at will. The men are searching for an evil mark on a girl’s hand; a mark which was forced on the Puritan family’s daughter by an evil witch. When the demonic forces find the girl’s family, they fight her father and brothers. Solomon believes God wants him to renounce violence, so he tries to make peace with the men while they threaten the younger brother with a knife.

However, as he watches the inevitable tragedy unfold, Solomon cries out to God. He asks God what He wants from him. He believes God wants him to stop the further carnage by these men as he and the Puritan family fight them. The evil, possessed men kidnap the girl after killing her two brothers and mortally wounding the father. Solomon promises the dying father and his wife that he will hunt the men down and free their daughter. So, the rest of SOLOMON KANE becomes an action-packed, rousing, well-acted adventure.

SOLOMON KANE spends as much time exploring good and evil and the concepts of revenge and redemption as it spends on showing violence. Every time it seems that the movie might fail at depicting Christian viewpoints, it usually gets them right. Thus, despite a couple questionable lines of dialogue, the movie has a very strong Christian worldview.

SOLOMON KANE was shot in 2008 and released around the world in 2010, yet inexplicably never reached American theaters. It’s now being put out on Video on Demand (VOD) and in limited U.S. theaters on Sept. 28. While the violence warrants extreme caution, its bloody action is also sometimes left to the imagination. Meanwhile, its many strong endorsements of Christian faith conquering evil make it one of the more surprising, most spiritually uplifting releases this year.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.