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Battle Angel

DEMONS are real. ANGELS are real. But they can’t act without A DEAL.

  • Riley Cosby
    Director
  • Sam Horton
    Director
  • Riley Cosby
    Writer
  • Sam Horton
    Writer
  • Riley Cosby
    Producer
  • Summer O'neil
    Key Cast
    "Bel"
    Opening Kill
  • Logan McLellan
    Key Cast
    "Ethan/Asmodeus"
  • Ethan Pipichelli
    Key Cast
    "Gabriel"
  • Tree Conrad
    Key Cast
    "Mai"
  • Rowan Gottshall
    Key Cast
    "Dark King"
  • Ren Seith
    Costuming and Makeup
  • Ricky Hartford
    Costuming and Makeup
  • Quynh Rosario
    Costuming and Makeup
  • Connor Drew
    Stunts
  • Nick Laviolette
    Stunts
  • Joey Calhoun
    Stunts
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Action, Anime, Fantasy, Student
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 18, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    100 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Sony A6400, 35mm 4k
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Westfield State University
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • LAVA Film Festival
    Greenfield, Massachusetts
    United States
    October 11, 2025
    Official Selection
  • Access Film Fest
    Framingham, Massachusetts
    United States
    November 7, 2025
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Riley Cosby, Sam Horton

Sam Horton is an aspiring multimedia artist specializing in the audio-visual field of production. Sam studies communication, film, music, and theatre design at Westfield State University as a 4th-year. Passionately, he works collaboratively in the Massachusetts area with like-minded individuals in studio and performance based productions and actively researches similar environments.

Riley Cosby is a filmmaker based in Western Massachusetts. He grew up in New England, Texas, and Colorado and is currently in his senior year at Westfield State University. Cosby, who started writing and directing five years ago, has a purposeful enthusiasm for storytelling that inspires him to push the mold on what student independent filmmaking can be.

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Director Statement

BATTLE ANGEL is meant to feel like the show you watched on Adult Swim’s Toonami in 2007, but reimagined as a twisted graphic novel style of Frank Miller’s Sin City. For better or worse, we decided to take this insane anime pitch, the hundred dollars in our pockets, and attempt a faithful live-action adaptation of a show that had no chance of being animated. Our inspirations came from the aesthetics of anime like Fullmetal Alchemist and Jujutsu Kaisen, as well as films like Constantine starring Keanu Reeves.

With this project, I wanted to prove two things: first, that queer female action heroes not only exist but can be powerful and compelling on screen; and second, that passion can take you further than resources when it comes to independent filmmaking.

Despite being just a nine-minute, micro-budget student film, BATTLE ANGEL pushed us to innovate technically, in visual effects, audio production, and cinematography. To me, these breakthroughs are proof of a simple truth: if you have a bold idea, pursue it.