 THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT... |
| Review Date: June 21, 2003 |
| Reviewer: Lawyeraau, Balmoral Castle |
| This is an intriguing, unusual, beautifully directed, highly atmospheric film that successfully crosses any number of genre: film noir, thriller, mystery, and horror. The plot is simple. In the mid nineteen fifties, a mysterious and slightly sinister business man, Louis Cypher (Robert De Niro), hires Brooklyn gumshoe, Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke), for a missing person case. Angel's investigation, for which he is being paid a princely sum for the time, takes him from Harlem to New Orleans, as he looks for a former crooner named Johnny Favorite, who sometime during the early nineteen forties apparently welched on a business deal with Louis Cypher and hasn't been heard from since. What happens when Angel gets to New Orleans will be infused with voodoo rites, ritual murders and taboo sex. The Big Easy is hardly that for our erstwhile detective, as he becomes susceptible to a series of initially puzzling flashbacks. Moreover, it seems that everyone with whom he meets, who had a connection to our missing crooner, ends up being savagely murdered. When he meets with a tarot card reader (Charlotte Rampling), it is just the beginning of the end for our increasingly disheveled gumshoe. His introduction to the gorgeous Epiphany (Lisa Bonet), a seventeen year old voodoo queen, later leads to a coupling that is played with singularly wild abandon. Both of these women have a connection to our mysterious missing person, Johnny Favorite, who, it turns out, may have given the Devil a run for his money in the evil department. Robert De Niro is sensational in the highly stylized, role of Louis Cypher. He imbues the role with just the right amount of sardonic humor and restrained menace so as to make the character memorable. De Niro leaves an indelible imprint on every scene in which he is in. Mickey Rourke, who is in nearly every scene in this film, shows that he has the ability to carry a movie, as he is simply terrific as the private detective who is slowly unraveling. As the film progresses, the toll that the investigation is taking on the tormented Angel is evident on his face. Angst ridden, bleary eyed, and disheveled, Angel is definitely involved in the biggest case of his life. As he gets closer to the truth of what happened to Johnny Favorite, the more his life seems to be spinning out of control. Rourke manages to convey all this, no easy task. The supporting cast is uniformly excellent and adds to the flavor of this delicious gumbo of a film, which is reminiscent of Goethe's Faust. Undoubtedly, this film is one of Alan Parker's best directorial efforts. Bravo! |
Worthy Blu-Ray release of this excellent, and little known 80s gem!
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| Review Date: December 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Martin Andersen, Bergen, Norway |
Film: 5.0/5.0; Video: 4.0/5.0; Audio: 3.5/5.0
Obviously due to Mickey Rourke's well-earned success and critical acclaim with last year's "The Wrestler", we now receive a fairly expedient release of Alan Parker's "Angel Heart" on the Blu-Ray format, released on the long-defunct Carolco pictures from 1987.
First off I must mention that I am a big fan of this title. It is not a movie which will appeal to everyone, but I really enjoy the overall visual style and the feel (of impending doom) together with the scenery and the truly awesome music and sound cues which makes this a very original piece, and not in any way reminiscent of a typical 80s film. Coupled with a compelling story based on William Hjortsberg's novel "Falling Angel" and top-notch performances throughout makes this one well worth watching over again.
Ironically, this movie was released just before Mickey Rourke intensified his self-destructive process (which coincidentally is what makes "The Wrestler" so good as well, since it parallels Mickey's own strides in life over almost the same period of time covered in that film), a time which--according to his interviews--he was in the process of losing his house (the interviewer actually repeats himself over and over asking Rourke about "why he chose to make the film"). :)
I don't know if it was this pressure which brought out his performance, but nevertheless it is something to behold--especially near the end where he goes all out and almost loses his voice.
The rest of the cast is excellent as well. Lisa Bonet and Charlotte Rampling offer memorable performances, not mentioning the scene in which Bonet almost got kicked off "The Cosby Show" for doing. ;)
As for the technical quality of this release, it is quite decent. The film does show its age in certain scenes and background detail, but it is overall quite acceptable. Not much tinkering has been done to make it artificially sharper or "smoother" using DNR, edge enchancement, et al.
The sound (which is afforded a DTS HD Master Audio track) is quite good as well. Obviously the music really benefits (Courtney Pine's saxophones sound glorious). One small negative point is that it has a little muddy bass (which the original DVD also had), and some scenes did not deliver as much punch as I would have wanted to. Other than that, it was given a quite respectable treatment overall.
Dialogue was also intelligible throughout the feature--better so than many newer 90s releases which have made it onto Blu-Ray.
All in all, I can highly recommend this title if you are looking for something a little out of the ordinary. It has quite a few memorable scenes and the performances and music alone makes this a strong buy.
One of Alan Parker's best.
(On an a related note, I see to my horror that this is scheduled for a remake to be released in 2011. Why do these so-called "moviemakers" always feel the need to subject the most unique & iconic masterpieces to this abhorrent practice? Create something thoughtful & original instead. Oh wait, you're unable to as that would require some ounce of talent. My bad.) |
The genius of Mickey Rourke...
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| Review Date: April 26, 2001 |
| Reviewer: , |
| is fully evident in this late 80s Alan Parker film, an overlooked classic if there ever was one. In my opinion, no one then or now could do the job portraying detective Harry Angel that Rourke did. He captures every nuance of the character perfectly, running the gamut from emotional wreckage to physical haggardness. How someone so gifted could let said gift get away from him the way Rourke did is a mystery almost as compelling as the one serving as the subject of this film. The basic storyline is deceptively simple; Harry Angel is a down and out post WWII New York detective hired by a shadowy figure to find a missing singer, one Johnny Favorite. That search leads him from New York City to the bowels of the Louisiana bayou, and it's that setting that gives the film so much of its powerful atmosphere. Things are not as they seem, and the story becomes stranger the further along it goes... Alan Parker did a fantastic job of using muted colors to convey the sense that this story is not taking place in our time, but rather one of a recently faded past. Visually, the film transports you to that place and moment in a way that few "period pieces" manage to accomplish. Add in his notorious attention to detail, and you have little doubt that you are seeing the deep south of Louisiana as it was in the 1950s. The other major performances (Robert De Niro, Charlotte Rampling, Lisa Bonet, Brownie McGhee) are wonderful in their own right, but IMO, this is Rourke's show. A modern classic! |
Critics missed this one...
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| Review Date: March 14, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Raymond B. Wilson, Liverpool, NY |
...and they caused me to pass it up for about 20 years, too. I don't recall many kind words about this movie when originally released. Most reviewers never got past the notorious scene -- you know the one I mean. How sad. Anyway, I took their word for it, movie sucks, don't waste your time. They were so wrong.
I finally saw it this weekend. Wow. What an outstanding little thriller. And, I gotta say, a fairly important film. Along with Jacob's Ladder, this seems to anticipate almost every major thriller of the past 15 years. But this one came first, and it may be the stronger film.
Rourke is terrific. Seeing this, it's hard not to wonder how different his career might have gone if the critics hadn't chosen to make him their personal whipping boy. I'm not quite ready now to rush out and snag copies of 91/2 Weeks and Wild Orchid, but I'm thinking about it. They were so wrong about this one...maybe these others weren't celluloid vomit, either.
Anyway, excellent film. If you're a horror / thriller / mystery fan, and have steered away from this one because you didn't want to see the Cosby kid defiled, I'd encourage you to give it a chance. And if as it unfolds you're thinking, man, this is pretentious trash...well, hang in there. When the story is over you might feel differently.
Only complaint. DeNiro's character's name. Come on. As effective as the movie was, it might have been that much more so if they hadn't telegraphed DeNiro's character every step of the way. |
Best Alan Parker Movie (and soundtrack)
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| Review Date: March 14, 2005 |
| Reviewer: L. Carol, |
"Angel Heart" is one of my favorite movies of all times.
Have re-watched it over and over again since 1987 but am still haunted by Parker's first-class story-telling and cinemaphotography; Trevor Jones' wonderful music score and superb casting from the leading to supporting cast, showcasing a particularly diabolical de Niro teamed up with Mickey Rourke at his very best. The scene where Rourke/Angel smashed his hand into the mirror while shrieking "I know who I am, I know who I am..." in the hour of reckoning was a truly cathartic moment.
But kudos and praise must certainly go to top-notch direction/screenplay by Alan Parker. This is the very first time I am rating the movie better than the original fiction, "Falling Angel", by William Hjortsberg. Parker's very own modifications like shifting part of the movie from Harlem to New Orleans for contrast was clever and visually gratifying.
To be nitpicking, the only flaw in the movie was the use of special effects on Lucifer and Epiphany's baby to signify evil when truth was revealed at the final hour. This came across as a tad heavy-handed, especially when the supernatural / demonic influence thread was already so effectively sewn throughout the film sans special effects. Don't get me wrong though - what made this little imperfection stuck out like a sore thumb was just how good 99.99% of the movie was. As shown in the Director's Commentary (yes, they are finally adding "Bonus Materials" to the Zone 1 Director's Cut), Alan Parker equally questioned himself on the use of "green contact lens" to heighten the visual impact - he was right to have asked himself that question and should probably have stuck to his guns with the "less is more" principle.
All said, despite this little irksome flaw, the movie is as excellent as great movie-making, acting, story-telling and unstoppable visual feast can go. Check out the extraordinary original soundtrack which is a cut above others. The director is sheer genius in weaving selective dialogue into Trevor Jones' atmospheric score (excellent use of theme song, "Girl of My Dreams", in melodious refrain); and Courtney Pine's mesmerising sax solos of yester years, rendering a soundtrack that is in part haunting and in part nostaglic, but nothing less than alluring. |
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