‘Azrael’ Heads Into the Forest to Become Acquainted with Evil

September 26, 2024

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Azrael being Azrael (Courtesy of Gabriela Urm. An IFC Films and Shudder Release)

Starring: Samara Weaving, Vic Carmen Sonne, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Katariina Unt

Director: E.L. Katz

Running Time: 85 Minutes

Rating: R for A Minor Symphony of Blood

Release Date: September 27, 2024 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Azrael (Samara Weaving) looks like she’s just a girl (or a young woman, I suppose, but that wouldn’t have worked as a sneaky 90s rock reference) enjoying her idyllic life. But not so fast! It seems like everyone else wants her dead, so she runs around the woods in a desperate attempt to survive. Also, there’s a demonic-looking monster lurking in the midst. And apparently nobody is able to talk. Will Azrael survive? Or is she actually the one to blame for all this chaos?

What Made an Impression?: When and Where Are We?: Azrael doesn’t hold your hand at all. It’s a fairly simple setup that runs a brisk 85 minutes (including credits), so you might think that it would be easy to follow, but it leaves some very important details quite vague. For example, the temporal setting: is this taking place in the future? Or an alternative present? The past seems unlikely, as the costuming is modern. The loss of speech suggests that it’s perhaps a Planet of the Apes-style dystopia wherein the humans have devolved, although no simians (or any other species) has risen up to the top of the pecking order. Another possibility: this is a cult that’s starkly separated from the rest of society. Although, they couldn’t be completely separated, because at one point, Azrael is picked up by some guy whose radio is playing the 1978 new wave hit “Driver’s Seat.” So yeah, it’s really not clear what’s going on, and I have to guess that that was intentional on the part of director E.L. Katz and writer Simon Barrett.
The Devil, You Say?!: Here’s another way in which Azrael is confusing: everyone, including Azrael, appears to be deathly scared of that demonic creature. And rightly so. Except that the creature doesn’t seem to be interested in killing her. Unless I’m misunderstanding motivations. Or maybe Azrael is the one who’s confused. Maybe we both are! Anyway, the movie leads to a climax in which quite possibly the Antichrist is born? That sounds like a spoiler, except that I’m not entirely sure what happened. There’s plenty of verve here, but not a lot of clarity.

Azrael is Recommended If You Like: The Village crossed with Rosemary’s Baby multiplied and/or divided by A Quiet Place

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Trees

The New ‘Candyman’ Asks, ‘What if Candyman Now … and Forever?’

August 25, 2021

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Candyman (2021) (CREDIT: Universal Pictures and MGM Pictures)

Starring: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Colman Domingo, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Vanessa Estelle Williams, Rebecca Spence, Brian King, Tony Todd

Director: Nia DaCosta

Running Time: 91 Minutes

Rating: R for The Bloodiest of Hook-Based Violence

Release Date: August 27, 2021 (Theaters)

What’s the DEAL with decades-later horror sequels having the exact same title as the original?! Halloween did it just a few years ago, and now Candyman is getting on the reboot-but-actually-it’s-a-continuation action. I’m not a fan of this trend, and it strikes me as especially dangerous in the case of Candyman. We need some extra words in there so that we don’t accidentally say his name five times in a row! But there’s actually something apt in this case about just recycling the title. Candyman may be overwhelmingly deadly when he appears, but he exists as a whisper and a shadow the rest of the time. So it makes sense that a new generation would be discovering him completely fresh thirty years after his cinematic debut. I would maybe tack on a “The New Generation” subtitle, but the idea behind the repetition is justifiable.

So this may sound a little weird, but just go with me here: the movie that Candyman 2021 most reminds me of is … The Force Awakens. They share a certain kinship in the way that they go about examining their predecessors. These stories have become legends within their universes, and the new characters are fans of the original adventurers who are psyched to meet them. In Candyman Land, Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is a visual artist who’s been struggling to find inspiration but suddenly becomes full-to-bursting with ideas when he hears tell of a man with a hook who slices and dices his victims after they summon him in a mirror. He’s also soon spending much of his free time listening to the recordings left behind by Helen Lyle, the graduate student who was researching the Candyman in the first film. When you go this deep into the story, you become a part of that story, and oh boy, does Anthony become an integral cog in this tale.

By focusing so squarely on the original, Candyman 2021 is occasionally a little too myopic in its approach. For horror freaks like myself, there’s something bizarrely enjoyable about the unhinged world-building that’s typical of so many spooky sequels but less common in these reboot-style sequels. Writer-director Nia DaCosta’s approach is decidedly laser-focused, which is a good thing insofar as she knows exactly what she’s trying to accomplish and she reminds those of us who loved the original why we loved it so much. But it’s a less-than-good thing insofar as it keeps her movie perhaps too much in check. I haven’t seen either of the first two Candyman sequels that were released in the 90s; as far as I know, neither is highly regarded, but wouldn’t it be cool if DaCosta somehow found a way to incorporate elements of them into her outing? I think so. (Although maybe there are some Easter eggs that I missed… It didn’t feel like that was the case, though.)

All the ducks are in order here: the set pieces are thrilling, the music is chilling, the acting strikes the right range of tones. To sum it all up, I appreciate the lens that New-Candyman focuses on Candyman Original Flavor, but I also believe that it would have benefitted from expanding that lens a bit.

Candyman 2021 is Recommended If You Like: The Force Awakens in terms of the self-awareness, People saying “No! No! No!” right before someone summons something evil, Fun with production logos

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Bees