By MICHAEL GINGOLD
READY OR NOT’s Samara Weaving plays horror/action hero again in this one.
IFC Films and Shudder have announced that they’ve picked up North American rights to AZRAEL, with exclusive theatrical release set for September 27 ahead of a Shudder debut later in 2024. The movie, which world-premiered at this year’s SXSW Film & TV Festival, won three Audience Awards including Best Feature at Panic Fest and has its Canadian premiere Friday, August 2 at Montreal’s Fantasia festival, was directed by E.L. Katz (CHEAP THRILLS) from a script by Simon Barrett (YOU’RE NEXT), who also produced with LONGLEGS’ Dan Kagan and Dave Caplan. Samara Weaving, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (CANDYMAN), Vic Carmen Sonne, Sebastian Bull and Eero Milonoff star; the synopsis: “In a world in which no one speaks, a mysterious, devout community hunts down a young woman named Azrael [Weaving] who has escaped their imprisonment. Recaptured by its ruthless leaders, she is to be sacrificed to pacify an evil which resides deep within the surrounding wilderness–but Azrael will stop at nothing to ensure her own freedom and survival.”
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to have AZRAEL released by our good friends at IFC Films/Shudder,” Katz says. “Their support of wild, uncompromising genre films is unparalleled. We are so excited to invite all horror fans along for this mysterious, gruesome, hellish, Samara Weaving ass-kicking marathon.”
“AZRAEL is a chilling, heart-pounding experience that will grab at your senses start to finish,” says Shudder’s SVP of Acquisitions and Production Emily Gotto. “We are thrilled to work with these bold and innovative filmmakers to bring E.L. Katz’s distinct vision to theaters, and to Shudder, later this year.”
