Denzel Washington is one of the most prolific names in Hollywood, but he has only appeared in a single horror movie: Fallen. That’s particularly interesting because of his versatile career, which spans crime thrillers, courtroom dramas, and sci-fi action movies. The 10-time Oscar nominee and two-time winner has starred in over 58 movies since his onscreen debut in 1977.
However, Washington clearly has a preference for grave, subdued stories, which explains why he hasn’t been in many comedy movies either. His penchant for clearheaded roles makes Fallen stand out even more in Washington’s filmography. The movie is a detective story with a supernatural twist, a perfect combination of David Fincher’s Se7en and William Friedkin’s The Exorcist.
Fallen Is an Unconventional Possession Movie
Although Fallen is Denzel Washington’s only horror movie, it doesn’t fall into standard genre conventions. It combines a detective thriller format with supernatural elements that are gradually revealed to the audience. It’s a horror movie that respects the unknown and provides only the answers that are crucial to the narrative, leaving the viewer in the dark for the majority of the movie. Washington plays John Hobbes in the underrated horror movie, a detective who has recently solved the case of serial killer Edgar Reese. He witnesses Reese’s execution but is shocked to discover that a new string of murders is sweeping the city, the modus operandi being the same as Reese’s.
Hobbes initially suspects a copycat killer, but discovers a much darker truth: a fallen angel named Azazel, who can possess people by touch, is responsible for the gruesome killings. That’s when Fallen shows its true colors. Unlike a conventional possession horror movie, Fallen plays around a growing sense of disorientation and paranoia, as anyone could be possessed by Azazel. The film transforms into a supernatural game of cat and mouse between Washington’s character and the fallen angel.
Although Fallen brings heavy biblical influences to the story, ancient symbolism blends into contemporary trends. For example, Azazel’s victims frequently sing “Time Is on My Side”, a song popularized by The Rolling Stones. Whenever the song comes up, both viewers and Hobbes know they are in the presence of evil. It’s a clever way to build tension and characterize a villain whose real identity is a mystery. Fallen explores the idea that religious symbols and figures are hiding in plain sight in the urban streets. Azazel is the embodiment of evil as it adapts to a changing world.
The possession dynamics of Denzel Washington’s only horror movie break the mold of a traditional criminal investigation. Fallen is a conventional crime thriller only on the surface, because rationality is against Washington’s character the whole time. As the police proceed with the investigation through conventional methods, Azazel keeps possessing witnesses to give false testimonies, planting evidence, and painting Hobbes as unreliable and unstable. Washington’s character is fighting a one-man war. Everything leads to a chilling confrontation between Hobbes and Azazel: light against darkness, good versus evil.
Denzel Washington’s Creepiest Movie Has A Spectacular Cast
Fallen stands out in Denzel Washington’s prolific career for being the only horror movie the actor has starred in, but he’s backed up by other A-list stars. Legendary actor Donald Sutherland is a scene-stealer as Stanton, a dutiful yet skeptical lieutenant. John Goodman, who was highly praised for his performance as Walter in The Big Lebowski that same year, plays Hobbes’ partner, Jonesy. However, the biggest acting gem in Fallen is James Gandolfini in a pre-The Sopranos role. He has a small role in the movie as Hobbes’ friend, but leaves a huge impression in a scene where he is revealed to be possessed by Azazel. The scene begins with Gandolfini playing the nice guy and ends with him singing “Time Is on My Side” menacingly.
Fallen is full of standout moments like this because of its star-studded cast, but it’s Denzel Washington who truly shines outside his comfort zone. He is no stranger to detective thrillers, even winning an Oscar for his performance as a corrupt narcotics detective in Training Day. However, the supernatural twist in Fallen changes things around. Washington’s character must catch an enemy with no face and no clear purpose — a pure incarnation of sin. The veteran actor had made a name for himself in crime thriller roles, but reached a whole new level with Fallen.
Fallen Isn’t Like Other Serial Killer Movies from the ’90s
Fallen is the fruit of a wave of serial killer movies that dominated the film industry in the ’90s, but the movie was severely overlooked. Although it’s Denzel Washington’s only horror movie, Fallen lacks the conventional horror elements that were popular at the time. It was too austere to attract a large horror audience and too absurd to be classified as a standard crime thriller. Before Japanese horror movies rekindled the audience’s interest in ghost stories and supernatural horror movies, the ’90s were marked by a growing obsession with serial killers. It explains why the most popular horror movies of the ’90s had human villains, such as Scream, The Silence of the Lambs, and Misery.
Crime thrillers about serial killers usually fall into horror territory by default. The Silence of the Lambs and David Fincher’s Se7en are two great examples of that. By dealing with gruesome murders and psychotic killers, these movies manage to induce fear in the audience with a grisly yet realistic approach. The threat seems real, like something that could happen to the person watching the movie. That’s why most serial killer movies of the ’90s succeed. Fallen, on the other hand, was interested in something else entirely. Instead of replicating the same genre conventions, the movie found a great point of collision between crime thriller and horror by having a demon serial killer — a criminal that can’t be caught in the traditional sense.
Fallen has gathered a cult following, but it didn’t do too good when it came out in 1998. The movie grossed only $25 million domestically against a substantial budget, losing over $20 million at the box office. In addition, Fallen was met with mixed reviews from critics. Roger Ebert praised the movie for successfully setting up a supernatural threat under ordinary and realistic circumstances, but thought the idea was much better than the execution. He writes, “‘Fallen’ develops quietly and convincingly, and it never slips down into easy shock tactics.” This sentence heavily suggests that the movie is at its best when it’s playing around the well-established genre conventions of the time. In these moments, Fallen heavily resembles The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en.
Looking at Fallen from a contemporary perspective, it’s easier to see the film’s merits in subverting expectations. The disintegration of a familiar reality as the movie swerves into the unknown makes it impossible for viewers to know what to expect next. The best horror movies take advantage of normalcy as a door to dark influences. Fallen takes the 1990s’ obsession with serial killers and deprives the audience of what they want the most: a monster to blame, a single face onto which they can project all their fears. In Fallen, anyone could be the monster. Azazel’s omnipotence is terrifying because it denounces how every single person is vulnerable to evil’s oppressive force.
It’s ironic that Denzel Washington turned down Se7en to make Fallen because Washington’s only horror movie feels like an extension of the former’s gritty realism. Instead of delivering a typical serial killer story, Fallen uses a supernatural force as a powerful allegory to the evil that lies within every soul. Curiously, serial killer movies with a supernatural twist have become exceedingly popular nowadays, which explains why Fallen has gained a cult following. Movies like The Black Phone and Longlegs are the horror genre’s response to the true-crime craze that made serial killer movies so popular again. Fallen pioneered many of these themes in the commercial horror landscape. It’s much more than just Denzel Washington’s only horror movie.
Fallen
- Release Date
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January 16, 1998
- Runtime
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124 Minutes
- Director
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Gregory Hoblit
- Writers
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Nicholas Kazan
Cast
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Denzel Washington
John Hobbes
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Donald Sutherland
Lt. Stanton
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Embeth Davidtz
Gretta Milano
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