It stars Andy Whitfield as Gabriel, Dwaine Stevenson as Sammael, Samantha Noble as Amitiel, and Erika Heynatz as Lilith.

[1] Produced without government funding on a low budget, the filmmakers aimed to create a film that could compete in international markets and become financially profitable.

Cut off from their power, the Archangels were eventually worn down and fell prey to the Fallen who thrived and became stronger the longer they stayed in purgatory.

He also reluctantly tells Gabriel what happened to some of the other five Archangels: Remiel was killed before Uriel arrived; the whereabouts of Ithuriel (Matt Hylton Todd), Raphael (Jack Campbell), and Michael are uncertain, but Raphael is most likely hiding in the East Side of the city and it is thought that Sammael has killed Michael; and Amitiel (Samantha Noble), who now calls herself Jade, was defeated by Sammael, stripped of her wings, and forced to work as a prostitute.

Initially angry at Ithuriel for abandoning his mission of seeking out and destroying the Fallen, Gabriel eventually shows him compassion and understanding.

Gabriel fights and kills the Fallen Ahriman (Kevin Copeland), then returns to Michael's apartment where he sketches a picture of Amitiel.

He eventually finds Asmodeus and discovers him with his nigh unconscious female sex slave, whom he's been forcibly surgically altering to make her facially identical to himself so as to satisfy his narcissism.

I hope I see you again ..." A post-credits scene shows Gabriel, (wearing different clothing, minus angel wing tattoo and with brown eyes), joining Amitiel and smiling.

[6] However, everyone involved in the production worked on deferred payment, meaning that the actual cost of the film runs "well into the millions" once deferrals have been taken into account.

[5] Shane Abbess claims that Gabriel's official budget will eventually be announced on its DVD release in a two-hour behind-the-scenes special feature.

"[8] The film was significantly funded out of the filmmakers' own pockets: Abbess worked as a building labourer, a removalist, at a call centre, and as a truck driver at the docks in order to raise the money to produce Gabriel.

'[4] He and co-writer Matt Hylton Todd researched angels and demons in various religions, drawing figures from Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Islam as well as John Milton's Paradise Lost.

The art department collected props from "the local tip and thrift shops,"[11] and costumes were bought second-hand from St Vincent de Paul.

To dress this set, Lam and his team hung fences, fake blood and plastic chains painted to look metallic around an abandoned shooting stage in Gore Hill, Sydney.

'"[10] Shane Abbess instructed the art department to include much fake blood and gore; Lam describes this as "video game influence.

Lam and his team built a large sculpture made of hessian and chicken wire, and though "it looked really good" and fitted "really well with the whole theme of Gabriel," it wasn't used in the film.

Another crucial advantage to digital video was its cheapness: "Ten years ago, we couldn't have made this movie, because we would have had to shoot on film.

Abbess ran out of time to film this scene using conventional techniques, so positioned the camera at the end of the hallway and used "crash zooms… in and out of the action" to highlight the key moments.

[9] Abbess studied other low-budget films like Requiem for a Dream and Donnie Darko to identify ways the filmmakers worked around their small budgets.

[8] Initially intending to make Gabriel without computer-generated effects, Abbess also tried to reproduce bullet time on a low budget by using giant props on strings, though he eventually decided CGI were more successful.

[7] Abbess chose Sony particularly because of their subsidiary Screen Gems; he believes "they knew how to handle films like Hostel and Underworld.

[11] In addition, he aimed for "a very international feel," intending that audiences would look at the cast and say, "They belong on the big cinema screen anywhere in the world.

[4] Producer Kristy Vernon states that even if the film had more money, "we probably would still have gone with somebody unknown, because part of doing this movie was making it fresh and new and something different.

[16] Gabriel received an 'M' rating from the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification with the consumer advice "moderate violence, coarse language, drug use and sexual references.

In general, its visual style and technical achievements on such a low budget were praised,[13][18][19] while its stilted dialogue and unoriginal storyline were criticised.

"[20] In contrast, David Stratton, Pomeranz's co-presenter from At the Movies, described the film as "tedious," deriding its dialogue, "derivative" story and uninteresting characters.

[20] Sydney Morning Herald reviewer Richard Jinman concurred with Stratton's assessment, stating that the "cliched aesthetic ... is a turn-off, as is the rather stilted dialogue.

"[13] He went on to write that Gabriel is "hamstrung by a lack of visceral thrills, engaging characters and a storyline that can command attention for almost two hours.

[21] Gabriel's opening-week gross represented the second-highest for an Australian-made film released in 2007, behind Rogue which opened the previous week with approximately A$667,000.

[22] The Age journalist Jim Schembri described Gabriel's opening week as "impressive," writing that "The gloom-laden film may not be for all tastes, but it looks like it's hitting the right spots with its intended audience of goths, emos and people who have trouble sleeping at night.