With a clever central premise and a refreshing lack of any special effects work whatsoever (apart from a nifty 'demon vision' which is used occasionally), FALLEN is a cut above the standard fare of today's American horror films. With a more complex plot than usual (for once, the film doesn't underestimate the intellect of the viewer) and plenty of suspense and nightmarish scenes built up, this will be a refreshing treat for any horror fan.It must be made clear, though, that no matter how clever FALLEN thinks it is, one thing it is not is original. While the theme of the story's hero being implicated in the crimes by the real, supernatural criminal of the piece harks back to CANDYMAN, the real concept of a force which can swap bodies at will actually goes back to the late '80s in the form of such cult classics as THE HIDDEN and SHOCKER. This time around the evil force is more believable though, because there are no rubbery or slimy special effects, the demon is ever invisible. If you will, more is less.One thing I liked about this film is that full use is made of the demon's ability to swap bodies, and many times it escapes just as its about to be caught. Dozens of people get the demon inside them, and there is one great moment where it travels through a queue of people, as one after another they transfer the demon to each other. Another disconcerting moment is when the demon gets inside the police station and one person after another starts singing "time is on my side". Aside from the central killer, the film is very much in the style of SEVEN, in that the settings are gloomy and there is a depressingly downbeat ending. The influence of THE X-FILES is also clear, with impossibly bright torches lighting up dingy surroundings, and Washington could easily be substituted for Mulder.Denzel Washington is well-cast in the role of John Hobbes, a typical everyday sort of detective who displays no psychic powers or anything, he's just a believable, clever guy who uses his wits to catch the demon out. Washington is given able support by three actors and actresses who perform well in their roles and who all come out looking good. Firstly there is John Goodman, looking very much older these days, who plays his typical mild-mannered friendly person. Donald Sutherland is also on hand to lend distinguished and solid support, and it's always great to see Sutherland in a film. Whatever critics might say, he's a good guy. Embeth Davidtz (ARMY OF DARKNESS) plays the female lead who is unsurprisingly underused, but for once she plays a well-drawn out, realistic female character in a horror film.Fallen deserves kudos for being a little bit more intelligent than the more typical blockbusters filling out the horror shelves these days. There are plenty of twists for the mystery fan to enjoy, and a gripping finale, which, like ARLINGTON ROAD, doesn't succumb to the sappy sentimental ending so beloved of most of these films. I can only praise it for the lack of special effects which, like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT showed, don't necessarily make a good film.

Detective John Hobbes attends the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese. They have a private chat where Reese gives him a riddle of sorts and then speaks in a strange language. The riddle leads him to a once decorated officer who went to his cottage in the woods and killed himself. It was never explained why but when Hobbes looks around the cottage, he finds the name Azazel on the wall. Hobbes soon learns that Azazel is an evil spirit who can transfer itself from one person to another through touch. As Hobbes comes to realise the extent Azazel is responsible for much of the evil around him he also realises that Azazel is after him.......If you remember the Lou Diamond Phillips movie from 1990 The First Power, you will realise that this is nothing more than a remake of that movie, albeit with a higher calibre of acting on show, and all the camp jokes taken away in favour of straight up thrills.Washington is the Everyman police officer, and this was the point in his career when he was still having fun in his career, starring in more low budget B-movie fodder like this and Virtuoisty, rather than being more choosy like he has been in the last fifteen years (2 guns aside).And it's pretty good stuff, quite creepy in places, and there is one scene where Davidtz is being chased down the street by the Demon, but it looks more like an extreme game of tick/freeze-tag.There are a few questions that are unanswered that really irk the viewer, I really wish the his brothers character was fleshed out more, and the ending doesn't really make sense, why didn't he let him bleed slowly to death and run off?It's not a bad film though.

As far as the sub genre of supernaturally tinged detective vs. Killer mysteries of the 1990's,(Virtuosity, The Prophecy, In  Dreams etc) Gregory Hoblit's Fallen stands out as one of the best. It's a somber, sardonically written, Gothic influenced chiller that is absolute cinematic joy from beginning to end. Denzel Washington is reliably solid as John Hobbes, a sharp detective who's caught a vicious killer Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas in a cameo so scary you want to hide behind your couch), and oversees his execution. Reese's casually cavalier attitude and malevolent theatrics leading up to the execution unsettle Hobbes, but not as much as when an eerily similar copycat killer begins taunting him long after Reese's death. Enigmatic clues, visits from strangers who mysteriously know him and a sense of impending dread lead Hobbes to believe that Reese wasn't human, and is reaching out from beyond the grave to continue his murderous legacy. The plot gets spiritually ethereal and uses some very unique situational scares that are highly memorable. The colour palate and mood of the film are absolutely gorgeous, using a gauzy, earth toned,  fluttering brown moth wing style aesthetic that haunts the characters, and a darkly humorous screenplay that gives the actors dialogue and character feasts. John Goodman and James Gandolfini are fantastic as Hobbes's detective colleagues. Embeth Davidzt is down to earth and human as a mythological expert with secrets of her own, and other memorable support is provided by Robert Joy, Gabriel Casseus and Donald Sutherland. There are an endless parade of cop vs. serial killer films in the post 70's all the way to present day. Some pedestrian, some with lofty twists on the convention. Some work splendidly, some are crap. But in a sub genre so crowded with entries, you need to give yours a special brand and aesthetic that will make your effort stick in people's minds as something unique. Fallen succeeds very well in this way, and is a spine chilling popcorn flick with a grounded, serious undercurrent of shadowy, haunted house stylistics. Highly recommended.

So, early on in the film we learn that the demon can't possess the body of Hobbes, yet at the end Hobbes kills himself so the demon can't possess his body. They must think their audience have really short memories and it seems many reviewers do, since they thought this movie was "clever" "thought provoking" "suspenseful" etc when a major plot hole like that was was used to hurriedly finish the movie. Stupid = the same ending as other films where the antagonist/ protagonist comes back in another life form (Aliens and Species to name two franchises with such endings).