Deathkeeper (2026) Review

Luke (Charles Cottier) has been around for twelve centuries, protecting an artefact known as the Book of Souls from falling into the wrong hands. Whenever Luke saves a life, he ages, meaning that to become young again – and to continue to watch over the Book of Souls – he must kill. As the charming but murderous Malagor (George Pullar) assembles an army of the undead to seize control of the Book, Luke’s path crosses with that of the travelling Julie (Isabella Procida) and the possessed Yasmin (Shuang Hu), both of whom seem to be running from something. Or someone…

Having enjoyed director Tristan Barr’s previous feature Subject, an intriguing sci-fi/horror about a prisoner taking part in an experiment at a research facility, I was ready for Deathkeeper to be similarly bursting with concepts. To be fair, there’s a lot going on it terms of set up, as Luke has a couple of compadres helping him fight demons; local priest Father Muldoon (Matthew Caffoe); and eager cop Trevor (Peter Thurnwald). These two guys do their best to sand the edges off the somewhat square Luke, especially when our eleven hundred-odd year old angel attempts to woo Julie.

So, is Deathkeeper an across the centuries romance between Luke and Julie? Is it a possession/redemption story centred around Yasmin? Is it a battle between the forces of good and evil? Is it a supernatural thriller? Is it an action flick? It does head in all of these directions at some point but it flits between these elements too much for any of them to land in a satisfying way. Yes, there’s some crowd pleasing gore (an eye pluck is grisly fun) and a couple of scraps that lean into Raimi-esque territory but the main event – Malagor versus Luke – is constantly being put off as the tale sidetracks itself into another peripheral quest or musing on what it is to be almost immortal.

The fact that Luke comes across as the de facto lead because he’s the one that has to guard the book is an interesting one. Both Yasmin’s character and subplot turn out to be far more interesting than the main thrust of the tale and Shuang Hu turns in an engaging and physical performance, kicking arse in a much more cinematic way than the rest of the heroic line-up. I get it, Luke is troubled and weary – we all would be after twelve centuries of the saving the world – but the script doesn’t serve Cottier well, turning him into a standoffish bore, sullen rather than enigmatic, a moping, proto emo type when he should be a snappy, savvy slayer.

For anyone who bristles when films are chopped up into chapters, considering yourselves forewarned. Deathkeeper is split into three acts – The Fall Of A Rebel Angel, A Deal With The Devil and The Reckoning respectively – but these emotive subheadings could easily have been removed without any damage to the overall story. The one thing about the introduction, and title, of the third act is that it should at least get the viewer sitting up and ready for some Team Luke and Team Malagor smackdowns. You do get this, plus some fiery underworld visuals, but it’s arguable as to whether this all comes a bit too late in the day.

In his sophomore effort, Barr has thought much bigger this time around and has expanded the reach of his plotting to the point where the assumption is that the entire world will be in peril should Malagor succeed. There’s ambition far beyond presenting a simple good guys versus bad guys clash and the fact that Luke has back up and doesn’t cleave to the archetypal loner type is a pleasing twist. However, the fight to give all of the characters breathing room gets in the way of the plot a little too often and I was longing for more soul stealing less soul searching.

All the elements are there for this to have been a cracking angel v demons romp but the hero of the piece is often taciturn to the point of distraction and there’s a lack of energy in the spaces between the confrontations. Given the fantastical nature of the premise, it’s also frustratingly po-faced and, when any humour is allowed through, it tends to fall a little flat because it’s so at odds with the overall tone. Also, this could just have been me, but is Malagor’s satanic vocalising extremely difficult to understand at times? I couldn’t make out some of his lines during the climactic showdown, which took me out of what was shaping up to be a decent conclusion.

This type of genre fare is normally very much my jam but I was left a little deflated and wondering what might have been if the pace had been tightened a little and there were fewer characters to juggle. Shuang Hu stands out and certainly gives the meandering middle section a much needed jolt but she alone can’t rescue Deathkeeper. Sorry, folks, I really wished I loved this a lot more than I did.

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