Matthew Ninaber directs, writes, produces, and stars in “A Knight’s War”, a gritty and imaginative creation that embraces medieval action, dark fantasy, and horror. It even adds a few dashes of black comedy to lighten up what is a mostly grim and dread-driven story. Ancient prophecies, jealous gods, soulless demons, bloodthirsty witches – they all play into this twisted and forbidding world.

For an 80s kid like me, “A Knight’s War” calls back to a number of fun fantasy adventure films I grew up watching. Throughout its entertaining 104 minutes, it brought to mind such movies as “Krull”, “Conan the Barbarian”, “Beastmaster”, and “Dragonslayer” just to name a few. But what impresses most is the way Ninaber and company do so much with so little. “A Knight’s War” didn’t have the benefits of a big studio budget but it often looks like it does. The production design, costumes, makeup, visual effects – it’s all a striking testament to the vision, vehemence, and virtuosity that drives the filmmaking.

Co-written by Ninaber and his brother Jeremy, the story is soaked in original mythology that’s relayed through a healthy balance of visual and expository world-building. It begins with two brothers, Bhodie (Jeremy Ninaber) and William (Matthew Ninaber), both knights on a mission to rescue a young woman being sacrificed in a demonic ritual. The woman’s name is Avalon (Kristen Kaster) and the brothers believe her to be the key to a dark mystical prophecy.

But their rescue efforts are thwarted and Avalon is transported to a hellish realm populated by all manner of evil. Desperately clinging to the prophecy, Bhodie follows Avalon through a forbidden gate while William attempts to fend off a horde of demons. Once in the realm, Bhodie is greeted by a mysterious gatekeeper (Shane Nicely) who informs him that three evil lords possess three magical stones. If he wants to return home with Avalon he will need to defeat the lords and retrieve the stones.

To help Bhodie on his journey, the gatekeeper offers him a magical talisman that gives him one hundred lives. All he asks in return is that Bhodie brings him along when he returns to our realm. Bhodie accepts and then sets out to find Avalon. It doesn’t take him long, but convincing her to come back with him proves difficult. That’s because she’s on a mission of her own – one fueled by her own lust for revenge.

From there, the action picks up as Bhodie and Avalon, each with their own levels of distrust, face-off against forces of evil and sometimes each other. Along the way, Ninaber treats us to a strikingly creative array of sinister enemies and a series of encounters infused with deliciously gory combat. And it all plays out against a fittingly fantastical backdrop. Things can get a little too exposition-heavy in spots and the mythology doesn’t always make sense. But the film steadily moves forward, delivering one skillfully crafted sequence after another.

Admittedly there are occasions where the budget limitations can be hard to miss. You see it in a handful of stagy backgrounds and in moments where the story confusingly lurches forward to get to its next point. But those things can’t minimize what the filmmakers are able to accomplish in this well-made, incredibly efficient, and wildly entertaining fantasy adventure. “A Knight’s War” opens in select theaters on February 7th and is available on VOD February 11th.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS