Azrael follows an exciting concept: The horror shocker by EL Katz (Cheap Thrills) wants to tell its story without dialogue. But the lack of words makes the bloody trip into the forest even less enjoyable.
Azrael: What does a horror film have to say without words?
After a post-apocalyptic event called The Rapture, the world is changed and the survivors have renounced the sin of speakingAzrael tells us this in the opening credits and then plunges us into the violent action of the horror film alongside the heroine (Samara Weaving). The young woman is pursued by a cult-like community that, after just ten minutes, prepares to sacrifice her to a monster in the forest. Why? No idea. But the fugitive manages to escape the bloodthirsty creature and then runs, fights and suffers for another hour without saying a word.
Actually, the Idea of a horror film without words temptingAfter all, the genre thrives more than any other on noises and silences, which make our heart rate rise in a spooky interplay. And when Azrael rushes through the trees, pursued by shadowy figures, holds his breath in a bunker or watches from a treetop as the black forest creatures mercilessly consume their victims, it is certainly eerie.
However can the Shockers silently provide no answers and Azrael quickly degenerates into a mere exercise in a series of violent outbursts. The religious elements remain without explanation and are simply clichés that Azrael has stolen from other horror films.
The action without a comprehensible background is frustrating: Where does the main character come from? Why are there ritual murders? Why do the zombie-like monsters look like Pompeii’s residents after their volcanic eruption? Why is talking a sin? Why does no one break their silence even in the throes of death? And on the other hand, why does the film break its vow of silence with a random driver in the middle of it all?
Azrael fails to compare: There have been better films (almost) without language before
Director EL Katz explained in a video message at the Fantasy Filmfest in Berlin that he was inspired to make Azrael during the Corona period, when – high on marijuana edibles – post-apocalyptic films and horror works helped him escape isolation. With the (apparently existing?) deeper thoughts behind his film, he wanted to “don’t be bored”by putting it into extravagant words. But that is precisely Azrael’s problem.
The idea of a wordless film is nothing new per se. Comparison to other wordless representatives But it becomes clear that the horror film is missing something: In All Is Lost, Robert Redford’s fight for survival at sea simply did not require any articulation, because who would the lonely sailor have been able to talk to? In A Quiet Place, the post-apocalyptic situation logically requires absolute silence.
Last year, No One Will Save You proved in the sci-fi genre that no contrived end-of-the-world scenarios are needed to tell an exciting story silently. The TV series Buffy showed in the episode “The Great Silence” how effectively the characters could communicate without functioning vocal cords. And just this year, the animated film Robot Dreams showed that friendship works without words and can still evoke a lot of emotions.
All these silent examples brought us closer to their characters and situations without words and thus sucked us into their plot. But Azrael seems only interested in the hunting spectacle of violence and gore, without the silence adding any added value Instead, the film relies on Samara Weaving’s experience as a scream queen (in Ready or Not, The Babysitter, Mayhem) and believes that its concept will be enough to keep you entertained for 85 minutes. Unfortunately, it isn’t.
If you imagine Azrael as a “normal” horror film with language, you can understand why: Even if the film could communicate its intentions better, Azrael would be a quickly forgotten trip into the Estonian forests. A A good formal idea does not necessarily create a good film.
More from the Fantasy Filmfest:
How and where you can watch Azrael:
Azrael will be shown at the Fantasy Filmfest in September 2024: it celebrated its German premiere in Berlin on September 5, 2024; it will then be shown in Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Hamburg on September 13, and in Frankfurt and Cologne on September 22.
Azrael has not yet had a German release in cinemas, home cinemas or streams.