Ask any regular FrightFest attendee to begin listing some of their favourite films over the last twenty-five years and it won’t be long until they mention E. L. Katz’s Cheap Thrills. Now Katz is back at the festival with their latest film, Azrael: Angel of Death. The film has been on the festival circuit since earlier this year and has finally made it to the UK.
Starring Samara Weaving – who horror fans will recognise from Ready or Not, Mayhem, The Babysitter, Scream 6, and Mayhem to name only a few – Azrael is a very different film to Cheap Thrills. No filmmaker should be expected to make the same type of movie over and over again, but Azrael is such a departure from Cheap Thrills that it might throw some people. Set after the Rapture, many humans have denounced the sin of speech, meaning that in many ways, Azrael is a silent movie. Weaving stars as a young woman called Azrael who is chosen as an official sacrifice to the creatures that lurk within her community’s woodland home. Azrael however, is unsurprisingly not happy with this plan and flees; the rest of the film follows her mission to survive.
If the mention of the Rapture and the name Azrael didn’t make it clear, Azrael is principally Biblical in nature. The action is punctuated by a series of Bible quotes and those hunting Azrael are clearly devout, extremist Christians. It’s a bold move for Katz to make in placing religion front and centre in the piece and positioning the devout as antagonists. This serves to act as a stern warning about where humanity’s future could go if we follow extremist ideologies of any kind.
With the whole film acting as a big game of hide and seek, Weaving is the perfect person to cast as Azrael. Her time on Ready or Not gave her experience with this type of film, though the inability to speak adds an extra challenge. Luckily, Weaving has one of the most expressive faces in horror and as such the viewer is always able to read exactly what Azrael is thinking at any given moment. Those hunting her do not speak, but do make animalistic noises, confirming that mankind has resorted to its more primal form. These noises are especially effective at creating a dangerous atmosphere. The only snag in the non-dialogue approach is that it becomes hard to follow precisely what is happening. It is a small niggle, but one that will slowly build for those more accustomed to a standard dialogue and exposition type of film.
The action is handled well, and the gore is suitably brutal. In addition to being hunted by the devout, strange oil blackened beasts roam the woodland. Their design is reminiscent of the cave dwellers within The Descent, and they are similarly ferocious. These creatures literally pick and rip apart any prey that winds up in their path, routinely bathing the screen in showers of blood. A go-to kill move involves peeling back neck flesh to expose what lies beneath; it is grotesque, but beautifully so. The woodland setting contributes to the atmosphere and a late addition of some caves helps up the ante visually. Of all of the imagery within Azrael though, it is the final glimpse of Azrael that sells it. The image ties perfectly into the Biblical component of the film and is striking enough to be a contender for best final shot in this year’s Pigeon Shrine FrightFest.
How much enjoyment one will get out of Azrael: Angel of Death depends entirely on the viewer’s patience for silent films. This is a film that requires committed concentration as Katz and scriptwriter Simon Barrett refuse to simply explain any aspect. Those that enjoy an extended action sequence should be reasonably placated though, and fans of Samara Weaving will be the ultimate winners as Azrael lets her show the full range of her skillset.
Azrael: Angel of Death
Summary
Biblical led and bloodshed heavy, Azrael: Angel of Death gives new meaning to the term strong and silent type.
Azrael: Angel of Death was reviewed at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2024.
