Azrael - Angel of Death

Would have made a great short which seems to be the case for alot of these features these days. This film is massively padded out with dross that needs editing out. Found my eyes closing at a couple of moments during the film which is never a good sign, same was said for A Violent Nature. There's a reason no one has told the slasher story like that before and it's because it's a snooze fest.

This looks great on paper and like I said would make a great short but there is nothing in this feature that was new or unique. Mute cults... um sure, Valhalla Rising did this masterfully. Also I did not buy it. These people have supposed to be mute for a very long time yet they exhibit no real form of other communication. It all felt staged. A world not earned or lived in.

I think my biggest gripe is that this film lacks so much clarity. It presents a bunch of questions and answers none.

Some nice gory bits in it but that's about it.

In the aftermath of the Rapture, Azrael (Samara Weaving) and her lover Kenan (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) are outcasts from a cult that have renounced the "sin of speech" by surgically removing their vocal chords. When the two are captured by the cult with Azrael sacrificed to the burned creatures that prowl the land she narrowly manages to escape and embarks on a quest of retribution against the cult.

Azrael comes to us from director E. L. Katz and writer Simon Barrett. The film came about as something personal for Barrett as per an interview by Katz with Comic Book Resources, Barrett came from a religiously oppressive upbringing and incorporated that with a dream he had that served as the basis for what would become Azrael. Uncompromisingly brutal and atmospheric, Azrael creates an engaging and immersive experience thanks to a strong lead and an effectively atmospheric world.

While Azrael covers well trodden ground of stories involving aftermath of the Rapture (such as the multitude of unimpressive Left Behind films), Azrael largely acts as a subversion of those films and is less about reaffirming faith with fear and more about creating a twisted world of faith gone wrong to the point it robs its followers (willing or unwilling) of their ability to speak leaving them in a cold unforgiving world without reason or argument. Being a dialogueless film, the actors have to rely more upon facial expressions, action, and suggestion to create character and build the world and they do so quite effectively with Samara Weaving particularly good as the titular Azrael. While the film is relatively small scale and features another visit to the all too familiar location of the woods with many films inspired by the likes of A Quiet Place (such as the recent and underwhelming Never Let Go) I felt it did a good enough job with its creation of the cult compound and the surrounding atmosphere to largely avoid the traps of some other similar films from this year. The movie has an absolutely fantastic ending that pays off the carnage in a memorably disturbing fashion and it made me think of the underrated Gareth Evans horror film Apsotle from 2018 and makes a great companion piece.

I really enjoyed Azrael. While it does cover familiar ground, it also creates a stylish and unique atmosphere and useless the increasingly common "no dialogue" gimmick to solid effect and creates a memorably brutal and engaging ride.

I would like to describe how frustrating it is to watch a film like this but ... there are no words.

It's some post appocalyptic scenario (maybe) and there are people in the woods who seem to (maybe) worship some force of evil, embodied by zombie-like demons that lurk in the woods.

People run around in the woods and there are some fights between the maybe good and maybe bad guys until eventually it draws to a somewhat unambiguous ending.

There are some awesome gore effects and the movie is expertly made but why they wanted to go the silent route is bizarre. It is tedious and you just don't care about any of the no-name characters and the things they don't say.

I'm sure some will rave about this movie but for me it did not work.

This is a well put together movie. The production, sound and lighting are all pretty strong. The acting, despite a word not being uttered, is good. Samara weaving was excellent as the determined and gritty lead. I'm keen to see her in action with actual lines.

The dialogue free story moves at a fair pace without ever truly grabbing you by the balls. It's occasionally gory/bloody and unnerving but is never jumpy or particularly frightening.

There are small breadcrumbs of clues smattered around about the post rapture apocalyptic world the movie is set in - but there's a lot left up to your own interpretation and many won't get past that.

I'm still most confused how such a fine looking truck decked out with all the mod cons pops up out of nowhere. Especially driven by a relatively normal guy (that actually speaks)!?

A better, more polished effort than many I've watched on shudder but no classic by any means.

And it leaves a lot up to the imagination. These things do the film no favors. Nothing is explained and that is fine. I guess. But it also keeps the viewer at arm's length. How I am supposed to care about the lead when she is just in one after another of the same situation. Yeah, we get it: she's scrappy.

It was also hard to stay abreast of who was who without names, dialog, etc. I can't even tell you if there was an "us" or a "them".

The movie just seemed there. And it tried to justify its there-ness with the mostly non-verbal contrivance at its core. But while the silence in A Quiet Place has its reasons, I just don't get it here.