Fallen - 1998

 I'm really enjoying this weird run of unknown late 90s thrillers that were either similar to Se7en, and honestly even the Hellraiser movies fit into this category loosely, which is probably why I liked those so much.

Fallen comes up and its 1998, something about copycat killings or deaths that continue.  This instantly makes me think of Copycat, which I liked, so naturally I put on Fallen.  Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland, and Elias Koteas star in this strange movie which also reminded me a little bit of the far-in-the-distant-past God Told Me To.  That movie explored "what if that excuse was true?"

Fallen takes on a similar route, because it might be the only movie which explores, "what if the idea of demon possession was real?"  Demon possession as the claim when some real life people kill, as when some people explain it to themselves, aghast that a real person could have committed some heinous act.  They shake their head and wonder what ol' Beezlebub or whatever is up to.

I just fell down a quick IMDb rabbit-hole trying to find more movies like these.  I started this with Oxygen, I watched Bone Collector, and then Hellraisers got me really into this, and recently Suspect Zero and the others have really isolated:  this weird little time and genre was really fun, cuz it was very dark and weird, but also tonally very all over the place, with a ton of experimentation.  Nothing speaks to me as much as vibe movies, too, which most of these very much are.

Plot-wise, Fallen has Elias Koteas get the gas chamber in the beginning, and his essence leaves and hops body to body to continue to fuck with Denzel Washington as Hobbes, the detective who got him captured.  Eventually Denzel uncovers the evidence that Azazel is the name of the demon which was infesting Koteas and is now free, and as unlikely as that idea seems, it eventually gets proven true, and now he's up against a supernatural force.

The movie is definitely a vibe film, and as it goes on it harkens back to classic film noir, especially through the soundtrack.  That move was definitely not one I expected, and the atmosphere in this one is seriously interesting.  It makes this stick out and become cozy, which I guess is the other piece of the puzzle about why these are hitting for me.

Whatever the reason may be, these are great and I'm enjoying them, and I give this 4 stars.