If you thought Samara Weaving took a battering in 2019’s Ready or Not, then she and the makers of Azrael may have taken that as a challenge. The brutalities poor Azrael (Weaving) suffers here make the wedding night of Grace (Weaving) look like a walk in the park.
Punching bag Azrael is a denizen of a world in which no-one speaks, having adopted mutism to atone for the sins of humanity. On the run from a particularly devout sect of survivors, Azrael and her lover (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) are captured and served up as sacrifice to the charred zombie-like creatures who reside in the forest. Surviving this attempt on her life and breaking free of her bonds, Azrael embarks on a perilous quest to re-unite with her man – when not being bound, battered and brutalised every five minutes, that is.
It’s only apt that Weaving’s journey to horror icon should have started out with a bit part in Ash vs Evil Dead (where, needless to say, she had the shit kicked out of her), with the star quickly turning into this generation’s Bruce Campbell. Being the one and only Samara Weaving is accomplishment enough though, and Azrael makes full use of her talents, both as human piñata and fierce (if particularly luckless) survivor.
There isn’t a great deal of meat on these bones otherwise, and neither director E.L. Katz nor screenwriter Simon Barrett stop to explore Azrael’s world beyond the pressing action. There’s a damsel in distress, a cult of gun-toting lunatics and some bloodthirsty zombies, and they all live in the woods together; what more do you need to know? The rest of it is revealed along the way, a byproduct of the explosive action and shocking gore. The final act may frustrate as much as it satiates, but it’s delivered with gusto, and full of bloody surprises.
Azrael: Angel of Death is a vicious post-apocalyptic action thriller and another string to the bow of one of modern horror’s most ferocious new warriors.
AZRAEL: ANGEL OF DEATH premiered at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest on August 25th, 2024.
