Horror movies are constantly calling out for experimentation; it’s a whole genre based around rules that are just waiting to be bent, twisted, or broken into a brand-new shape. Which is exactly why it’s such a shame that so many new horror movies are just slight variations on the same old ideas. But just last year we got two truly original horror movies — Azrael and In a Violent Nature — that truly felt like bold new directions for the genre. And now that both movies are streaming on Hulu, you can finally check them out for yourself.
In a Violent Nature’s logline is simple: It’s a slasher where we follow the killer instead of the victims. It’s a brilliant idea on paper, but one that’s obviously harder to do in practice. After all, most of these monsters don’t really talk, and while their feats of violence are often truly remarkable, that usually only makes up a small portion of the overall movie.
If you really think it through, a slasher where you follow the killer would probably mostly be a movie about walking. And that’s exactly what In a Violent Nature is: a beautiful, pastoral film about a big monster who quietly and methodically walks through forests and fields in search of the teens who disrupted his supernatural slumber. Of course, when he actually does catch up with those teens, they meet violent and horrible ends. But the time in between is so wonderfully peaceful, and it gives the movie a different feeling of time and pacing than any other slasher you’ve seen.
Azrael, on the other hand, is a little more apocalyptic. The film takes place after the rapture and follows a woman named Azrael (Samara Weaving) who escapes from her cult, which has taken a vow of silence because they believe speech kept them out of heaven. To say too much about this one would ruin some of its fun, but suffice it to say that the woods Azrael escapes into are teeming with strange demonic creatures, and the cult she ran away from was up to more than just keeping quiet.
The whole movie is absolutely thrilling, and gorgeously shot, but what really makes Azrael unique is the fact that it’s almost entirely free of dialogue. Even without words, the movie’s incredible world comes through loud and clear, and Weaving’s talent for big-eyed expression makes her the perfect on-screen cipher for this wordless post-apocalypse.
Both of these movies are fascinating on their own, but taken together, it’s hard not to hope that their releases last year could be a sign that more experimentation is on the way in the horror genre. But as we wait for more new and unique movies on the horizon, at least you can stream both In a Violent Nature and Azrael on Hulu for now.
The post Two of 2024’s most innovative horror movies are now on Hulu appeared first on Polygon.
