Angel Heart
1987 Directed by Alan Parker
Synopsis
The down-and-out private detective Harry Angel is ordered, by a mysterious man named Louis Cyphre, to go on a mission to find a missing person. His routine failure soon leads to a bloody spur with himself as Harry Angel goes on a supernatural journey into his soul. A thriller starring Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro.
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Mickey Rourke is a schlubby PI with a phobia of chickens, Robert De Niro is the subtly named Louis Cyphre and Lisa Bonet is the daughter of a jello loving OB/GYN. At the end a fat gut explains everything and a demon eyed baby points at Mickey Rourke. Pretty good.
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Angel Heart is a horror film that is in no hurry to reveal itself, instead it masquerades as a cleverly contrived thriller with a mysterious and sinister agenda. A thriller with underlying hard-boiled detective drama and neo-noir elements. Adapted from William Hjortsberg's mystery novel, Falling Angel, Alan Parker stays true to the source material with only minor differences, and the supernatural elements are executed embracingly. With an uncommitted flow, we are deceptively weaved through webs of atmospheric menace. Even in the moments when the pacing becomes erratic and tough to follow - there are numerous moments when it becomes lost in its own mystique - it has that perpetual figure-lurking-in-the-dark feel that will keep you fully engrossed and searching for…
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Yeah, I went into this blind. This was some fucked up shit psychological horror. My first dip into the genre and it probably won't be the last, this is a very well played by an unrecognisable, but excellent Mickey Rourke, and a disturbing Robert De Niro.
The story is 95% of the time coherent with elements from noir, horror and mystery, it all comes together pretty damn well. Rourke as Harry Angel is an extremely likable character and De Niro is Cyphre is stunningly interesting in an unusual way. The supporting cast also lends a hand to make this film 4 stars in that they're pretty much all damn good. My favourite was Toots. He was cool, classy and just…
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A psychological horror film that masquerades as a neo-noir detective story.
Mickey Rourke's performance is so good that it even challenges his performance in The Wrestler. De Niro (who I watched this for as part of my ongoing project) doesn't appear on-screen as much as I expected (which makes perfect sense), but he still steals every scene he's in as the brilliantly creepy Louis Cyphre. He portrays a level of disturbing that he only tops in Cape Fear. Lisa Bonet appears in her first film role and a definite change from the family-friendly stuff on The Cosby Show.
Alan Parker's direction when combined with the cinematography from Michael Seresin combine to create a bleak and unnerving world. Some of the…
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Great film! Had no idea what to expect; was pleasantly suprised. De Niro is great
I was really puzzled through the entire movie about where I had seen the main actor before. He looked like a cross between Michael Madsen and Ed Burns. It was only when the credits rolled that I learned it was a young Mickey Rourke.
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In which Mickey Rourke gets beaten up so many times he quits Hollywood to become a boxer.
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Great film! Had no idea what to expect; was pleasantly suprised. De Niro is great
I was really puzzled through the entire movie about where I had seen the main actor before. He looked like a cross between Michael Madsen and Ed Burns. It was only when the credits rolled that I learned it was a young Mickey Rourke.
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nice
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35mm
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Meh. Held my interest throughout, not great not terrible, but quite a decent watch with a great performance from Mickey Rourke.
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This movie somehow gets better and better with each viewing. There is always something new to uncover with this movie, some bit of symbolism, connection from one point of the movie to the other, study of the characters and each of their fates, etc. This movie is among one of my personal favorites to watch.
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This week Forest & Cory dive into the shadowy world of ritual and superstition in this new special voodoo edition of Slaughter Film. Forest shares his thoughts on the 1987 flick starring Mickey Rourke, Angel Heart, while Cory reviews the Wes Craven, book to film adaptation of The Serpent and the Rainbow.
Also, keep an ear open for a pooping Pope and Vikings that give Cory a huge boner!
Listen to, and download the podcast at Slaughter Film
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Yeah, I went into this blind. This was some fucked up shit psychological horror. My first dip into the genre and it probably won't be the last, this is a very well played by an unrecognisable, but excellent Mickey Rourke, and a disturbing Robert De Niro.
The story is 95% of the time coherent with elements from noir, horror and mystery, it all comes together pretty damn well. Rourke as Harry Angel is an extremely likable character and De Niro is Cyphre is stunningly interesting in an unusual way. The supporting cast also lends a hand to make this film 4 stars in that they're pretty much all damn good. My favourite was Toots. He was cool, classy and just…
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Really wish i saw this without knowing the full "twist" at the end. Also couldn't believe that was Mickey Rourke.
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When I was ten years old, Angel Heart utterly terrified me. No surprise there - when I saw it again almost twenty years later, I noticed not only how improper that movie was for a child of that age (no clue how I got my hands on it, I guess my big brother borrowed it from the videostore), but how effective and powerful the ending must seemed to me, then a little Catholic girl still learning ropes in the matters of the faith. This time I was seeking also the differences from the original source material, Hjortsberg's Falling Angel. Although it isn't any less disgusting, I liked the film more . Nevertheless, I wouldn't go back to it. The premise and the whole story were intriguing, but too dark, too filthy (too much nudity, some quite degrading and shocking), too evil for my nerves to willingly see it again.