I had never heard of Robert E Howard or Solomon Kane before, but I like the fantasy genre, I'm a fan of James Purefoy and the blurb about the film made it sound quite interesting.
Having no preconceptions at all, I thought it was actually pretty good. It was dark, violent and brutal as others have said, and most of the film is set in either freezing or sodden conditions with the characters wallowing in mud or soaked to the skin most of the time which added to the hard, unforgiving feel of the film. There is no love interest, no light hearted characters and no comedic relief at all which is actually quite refreshing in a film that didn't need any of that. There were echoes of Lord of the Rings at times - the Balrog for example and vaguely Ork like creatures, and a little Van Helsingy occasionally, but not enough to make real comparisons.
James Purefoy was really good as the protagonist - suitably lean and muscled enough to make you believe he could have been a brutal killer, yet able to portray a slightly softer and kinder side as he searched for redemption in a new, violence free life in order to save his soul. The supporting cast were good - I especially liked Pete Postlethwaite - and it was generally all pretty believable. Not too sure about being crucified, then pulling your nailed hands free let alone sword fighting afterwards, but that's artistic licence I suppose.
Really good generally though, and I hope there's a sequel.