Angel Heart (1987) [Blu-ray]
Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) is Harry Angel, a down-and-out Brooklyn detective who is hired by the mysterious Louis Cyphre (Oscar winner Robert De Niro, Raging Bull, The Godfather: Part II) to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite on an odyssey that will take Angel through the desperate streets of Harlem, the smoke-filled jazz clubs of New Orleans, and ultimately to the swamps of Louisiana and its seedy underworld of voodoo in this cult thriller that is at once eerily thrilling, darkly sensual and completely unforgettable.

User Comment: The_Core from Seattle, WA. USA, 5 February 2005 • How terrible is wisdom... when it brings no profit to the wise? On the surface, that seems to be the moral of "Angel Heart." But look a little deeper -- the fact is, Harry Angel knew the truth all along, and here's the true moral:

"However cleverly you sneak up on a mirror... your reflection always looks you straight in the eye."

Much of the meaning in this dark tale lies in the above line uttered by DeNiro's character, Louis Cyphre. We can pretend to lie to ourselves and bury our heads in the sand, but in the end we know. And it isn't the knowing that hurts us, but all the hiding and lying that went on before.

This film has been summed up many times before, so I won't do it again. It's also been said that the film was ahead of its time in 1987, and IMO this can't be emphasized enough. There's no doubt in my mind that it's been an influence on many a filmmaker and screenwriter. Among films of this type it's easier to follow than, say, "Memento," but more befuddled and confusing than "The Sixth Sense." You may or may not guess the ending, but if you're the type who's bothered by confusing movies -- simply read all the spoilers or the whole screenplay, THEN see the film! I guarantee you won't enjoy it any less for knowing.

Cinematography 10/10, screenplay 7/10, acting 9.5/10, overall I'd give it about a 9/10. If anything makes this movie great (and qualifies it as a classic) it's the cinematography and atmosphere. It really is richly and gorgeously shot, and atmospheric to the nth degree. Watch it on a slow day when you have time to savor these things and aren't overly anxious to figure it out or discover the resolution to the story.

Summary: How terrible is wisdom... when it brings no profit to the wise? or
Summary: "However cleverly you sneak up on a mirror... your reflection always looks you straight in the eye."

User Comment: tideprince from San Fernando Valley, CA, 1 December 2004 • I was stunned at what this film did to me. An absolutely brilliant display of psychological horror. Alan Parker made the scariest film of the eighties, maybe the scariest film of the second half of the century with this picture. The hell with "Psycho", "Angel Heart" is where it's at if you want horror.

I don't know how Parker hasn't become the Hitchcock of his generation after this film. I know some of his other work - "Evita" and Mississippi Burning" are two films of his that I happen to think are pretty good. But they're nothing like this. What Parker does so well here, what he seems to get better than any other director I've noticed since this film was made, is how atmosphere makes a movie. He has a real sense of place and time that's a key component to making the terror of this movie real.

Aside from Parker's talents, there are three performances without which the movie just wouldn't work.

Robert de Niro gives the second best performance of his career here, right next to "Raging Bull", and even that's pretty close. I'm not even normally a huge fan of de Niro's - I mean, don't get me wrong, he's a legend, but I find most of the time that I'm less impressed with him than most people are. Not here. In this movie, de Niro makes the simple act of eating an egg into a treatise on mortal dread. He should have received the Oscar for this performance, no question about it.

Lisa Bonet - what happened to her? Every couple of years I'll see her in something like this or "High Fidelity", and she's got all this charisma - she really is a superb actress. What she does here is really interesting because you can see that it's very underdone, a lot of subtlety. Which is a strange way to go if you're playing a voodoo priestess. But she's very vulnerable here. I think it's a shame she didn't become the star she could have. I'd love to see more work from her.

Mickey Rourke is another resident of the "Where are they now?" file. I've heard more from him recently though. He's been making a comeback of sorts. He's actually the primary reason I rented this movie, because I saw him in Sean Penn's "The Pledge" and wanted to see more of his stuff. He's the third performance that makes this movie complete, and he's the one who really has the hardest job, who has to strap it to his back and get it across the finish line. His is also the most important job, because he needs to instill the terror in you. It's through his eyes that you witness these bizarre events, and it's his reaction that makes it all the more terrifying.

Again, brilliant. Can't say enough about it. The last thirty seconds or so kind of sucks (those of you who've seen it know what I'm referring to), but I can just turn it off before that. Oddly, it doesn't ruin what's come before.

Summary: Grade: A.

[CSW] -4- This movie should have gotten a low -3- because I was able to correctly guess the whole plot within the first 9 minutes of the movie. However, I was still hoping that I was wrong and that it would take a different twist and move off in an unexpected direction, but it never did. The presentation was the deciding factor that raised my rating to a solid -4-. Nothing in this film was unexpected and yet it still held a fascination watching the obvious unfold. I just relaxed and went along for the ride and it turned out to be a pleasant journey in spite of knowing where it was going. It is still a thriller but if, like me you correctly guess the plot early in the movie it looses the horror and mystery aspects. Still, it is worth seeing.
[V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.


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