If there ever is an actual end of times — and not just some crank yelling about it on the streets, in church, or online — it won’t look a thing like the bleak-as-hell depictions found in cinema and television. And humanity should be thankful for that. The latest offering of the post-apocalyptic horror persuasion, Azrael, is cut from the same cloth as The Walking Dead, A Quiet Place and The Last of Us, however, E. L. Katz and Simon Barrett‘s collaboration turns the “genre” dial all the way up. The result is a familiar yet enjoyably blood-soaked and breakneck-paced horror-actioner that always keeps the audience on their toes.
Neither Katz nor Barrett are amateurs when it comes to horror, so they might be expected to make something groundbreaking with Azrael. Quite the opposite, their film plucks various bits and pieces from past horrors: namely the beautiful but deadly heroine on the run from her unrelenting enemies. In this case, Samara Weaving‘s character and the story’s namesake is the target of both a religious cult and the monsters they sacrifice women to as part of an implicit truce. Originality is evidently not this film’s objective. Instead, Azrael wins out by serving up nearly round-the-clock action and splatter in lieu of narrative innovation.
Shot in the woodlands of Estonia, the film benefits from its locale’s natural splendor. All that peace and openness are soon undone by virtually back-to-back chase sequences where a frantic Weaving repeatedly dashes for safety and claws for her freedom. The only breaks are whenever the protagonist takes temporary shelter in any available nook within this gradually darkening forest, or she is inhibited by either the fanatical cult or one of the zombie-like “burned people” (think the Crawlers from The Descent if they were sluggish, charred and stood upright).
Azrael‘s story is low on major novelties — even the near lack of dialogue isn’t unique — but Katz and Barrett’s combined talent from years of working in the genre compensate for that. Their artistry excels where the story falls short. The high number of compelling practical effects here are worth celebrating; the crew members one-up themselves with every new violent confrontation between Weaving and her on-screen foes. And once the namesake finds deeper motivation for her survival, other than an instinctual desire to live, then the real bloodbath begins.
This is a film where the audience screams whenever the main character simply cannot. Azrael’s frustration becomes theirs, and they journey with her through a dangerous and desolate ecosystem. The glut of sanguinary and make-you-wince set-pieces greatly help this high-concept film move at a swift pace, and the ghastly monsters — their straightforward designs are more terrifying than that of most modern zombies — and brutal zealots are the best kind of disposable villains. Azrael contains nothing discernibly original on the surface, but its ferocious presentation of primordial fears is engrossing. An hour of Azrael’s bizarre ordeal feels like minutes, and most likely, viewers are holding their breath until it feels safe to exhale again.
Azrael premiered at South by Southwest 2024.
Tales from the Paulside 
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