Has anyone watched this movie recently?  I did after I heard about Ingmar Bergman dying, and was really surprised how chilling the movie was.  Obviously, not as gory as something like 'Saw' but in 1957, it waqs seen as quite intense and still holds its value today.

For those who haven't seen it, the movie is about a knight returning home during the black death, who in order to postpone his own demise, challenges the figure of Death to a game of chess.  The film also deals with several other characters including the knight's squire, a troop of actors, a blacksmith with his wife, and others.  Of all of these characters, for me, the most interesting was that of the squire.  For me, the scene that grabbed me the most is one in which an actor has climbed up a tree to rest and death produces a saw with which to cut the tree down, and promptly does.

This is more than just a suspense or horror film though.  Throughout, Bergman examines life, death, and our beliefs in God.  The knight and squires attitudes about the latter would have been extremely radical for a knight returning from the Crusades and the squire might have even been burned at the stake for his.  This is NOT a popcorn flick...

As Roger Ebert put it: "Films are no longer concerned with the silence of God but with the chattering of men."  An excellent film for anyone who can look above the mediocre films that are made today and appreciate and great story...

http://imdb.com/title/tt0050976/

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20000416/REVIEWS08/401...