Going Medieval: 25 films to watch while waiting for Game of Thrones season 8

7) Flesh and Blood (1985)

Don’t be fooled by the ’80s-era poster art here — Flesh and Blood (starring Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason-Leigh) is a deeper, darker and more twisted movie than you might expect. It’s a American-Dutch-Spanish co-production directed by Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct) and there’s plenty of gore, sex and plague tossed into this wartime adventure.

Set in 1501 Italy at the close of the Middle Ages, the story begins with a force of mercenaries (led by Martin, played by Rutger Hauer) assisting Lord Amolfini in the recovery of his castle from enemy forces. Once his castle is secure, Amolfini betrays the mercenaries and refuses to pay them (24 hours of looting the city had been promised). Martin leads the company on a course of revenge both bloody and unpredictable.

Flesh and Blood choked in its limited U.S. box office release, but it has garnered a cult audience and a healthy level of critical acclaim since. Variety described the film as “a vivid and muscular, if less than fully startling, account of lust, savagery, revenge, betrayal and other assorted dark doings in the Middle Ages,” adding “for the amount of carnage that piles up, explicit gore is kept to a minimum.”

Per Rotten Tomatoes, 79% of critics enjoy the film, while only 63% of the audience does, reflecting the public’s love-hate relationship with it. Flesh and Blood is uneven, but it’s also unique, and Hauer’s performances are always fun.