4 Star

Multilingual Horror.

From popular horror writer Simon Barrett (The Guest, You’re Next, V/H/S/94) comes a story out of the forests of Estonia. Where director E.L. Katz (The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV Mini Series), Cheap Thrills) brings us a closed in, claustrophobic visceral horror that is based on the aftermath of the ‘Rapture’. With a novel and a unique approach to telling a story, Azrael: Angel of Death has great practical effects to keep any gore fan happy.

“From all my transgressions, deliver me. I have become mute, I open not my mouth.”

Deep in a forest two people live in fear, Kenan (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Misfits (TV Series), Candyman (2021)) and Azrael (Samara Weaving, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Ready or Not), we don’t know why, but we feel the pressure they are under. They listen to every sound the forest makes, and they hear sounds they don’t want to hear.

They are not paranoid, they are being hunted. They are caught and split up, and driven further into the forest. Azrael is taken to a small clearing and tied to a sturdy chair in the middle of the clearing. A matriarchal woman takes a cut-throat razor to cut Azrael’s leg.

They retreat and start hyperventilating. Then there are strange noises coming from the woods, and a tall shadowy figure is seen approaching the clearing. There is something in the air as the leaves rustle and the strung up bottles start swaying. Azrael starts struggling to break free, the smell of the blood is attracting this tall shadowy figure. Azrael’s efforts don’t go unnoticed, one of the acolytes comes to retrain her but ends up with a punctured throat. Azrael breaks free and the acolyte becomes the gory victim of the blood drinking tall black figure.

It is like a different species that feeds on humans and this is a cult that worships them. Azrael seems to be their sacrificial candidate and this turns into a battle for survival as Azrael tries to take the fight to them, and then she has both the cult and the monsters against her.

Azrael: The Angel of Death, has everything a horror film requires, except for dialogue, which shows off the acting abilities of the players in this gory death-fest. Plus a nice twist at the end. Definitely a stand-out performance by the lead, Samara Weaving.

Azrael: Angel of Death is available on Digital 30 September and DVD and Blu-ray 28 October. Distributed by Signature Entertainment