ClobberBlog | Mormonism, Evangelical Christianity

8. Fallen (1998) ~ The second religious entry on my top ten countdown goes to Fallen, a movie in which Denzel Washington plays John Hobbes, a detective trying to take down an immortal demon who doubles as a serial killer. The demon, Azazel, has the frightening ability to move between human hosts by touch, and often identifies his current host by singing “Time Is On My Side.” Hobbes makes the mistake of annoying Azazel with his good cop antics so that Azazel takes up a personal vendetta against Hobbes.

Denzel Washington is another one of those actors I love; even the crappy movies he does are upgraded to “meh” by his presence. Props also go to the many different actors who offer brief, creepy portrayals of Azazel. As the plot unfolds, the rules are carefully laid out and Hobbes comes up with a daring plan to beat Azazel by those rules. Azazel’s power effectively brings to this film the paranoia factor from other classics such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers andThe Thing. The movie isn’t perfect; my main complaint is that Azazel is really just too powerful for the movie’s good. However, Fallen makes up for it in delivery of creepiness and plot twists in spades. And “Time Is On My Side” is kind of catchy, amirite?