The newly-launched fan film Predator: Dark Ages sends Crusade-era Templars on the deadliest hunt of all.
The Predator films are great fun, but there’s not much variety in the settings – they’re all about military forces fighting aliens in the jungle, other than one sequel starring Danny Glover. Thankfully fan films can fill in the gap with amazing ideas we’d never otherwise see on the big screen, like pitting a Predator against freaking Templars. That’s the premise of Predator: Dark Ages, where a unit freshly returned from the Crusades responds to reports of a “demon” terrorizing the English countryside.
Set at an undisclosed time surrounding on of the European crusades, this 26-minute film follows a Templar Knight who returns home questioning his faith. But before retiring from the order, he’s asked to complete a task – kill a beast that terrorized Jerusalem before setting its sights on England. Naturally, the Templars are completely unprepared for the Predator’s true nature, prompting the Knight to don his full helmet and armor for one final battle.
The end result admittedly looks like someone wore Predator cosplay to a larping event, but it’s impressive to watch all the same. Its production stars several Hollywood actors, including Alien Vs Predator‘s Adrian Bouchet, and showcases some fantastic cinematography and costume work to boot. Despite its half-hour runtime, it might even be too short – I would’ve love more time to develop the individual Templar characters. But it’s a great watch all the same, and who knows – maybe it’ll inspire future Predator filmakers to do equally original concepts.
