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Plot

Harry Angel, a private investigator, is hired by a peculiar and enigmatic client named Louis Cyphre to find Johnny Favorite, a war veteran and a previously successful singer who was fraudulently released from a mental hospital in 1943 and then vanished into thin air. Angel works hard and learns many fascinating things before getting sucked into a terrifying blood vortex. A doctor who was a slave to morphine approved the man's discharge from the clinic, where he was thought to be a patient, in exchange for $25,000.00.

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Why should you watch it?

Angel Heart is a cleverly blended thriller, detective story, and horror where the search for a person becomes an inner journey of the protagonist, in a perfect setting that moves from a more real New York to Louisiana with its ancient rituals and secrets. We are talking about a cult must-see, one of those you talk about to be cool because not everyone has seen it. I can't tell you more because I don't want to spoil it for you, but you will be pleasantly impressed by this breathtaking film.

This film is set in the deep south of the United States, where the melding of African cultures brought by black slaves who crossed the ocean and arrived in the new land with their shaman cults ignited by violent voodoo rituals has contaminated the souls of their children while preserving their spiritual strength.

The movie overflows with foggy atmospheres, and emits poisonous effluvia from the screen, giving off the impression that it was made in a darkroom full of dust and fumes. The settings are unsettling and decorated with ambiguous, magical things that take part in the story as real people, such as the cigarette packs and crushed cigarettes, the pale mirrors that are unreliable, and the old fan blades that spin with presence.

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One of the main themes of the movie is the tale of the pact with the devil, which is undoubtedly cliché and timeless. An unknown musician named Mr. Favourite obtains fame and rose (up to myth status) in the USA. He had ascended from hell by using a technique he had discovered in old esoteric literature to conjure the evil one using black magic. After making several attempts to avoid his fate and after having forgotten some of his past, Johnny returns to examine himself. The policeman warns him, "You'll burn for this," hinting at the electric chair. "I know, in hell", blinks Johnny dejectedly. The atmosphere, the deep gulf concealed within individuals, and the dark river where the border is imperceptible, are what make Alan Parker's journey so amazing. "I recognize who I am. I recognize me!" The voice lingers, becoming increasingly doubtful. Uncertain. Then alert and angry. Resigned. Thunderous heartbeat. The trolley of the elevator moves evenly and gently in the direction of the chair room. Prior to hell.

One of the criticisms raised at the exit of the movie was directed at the acting, which was thought to be far too excessive yet really fit with the story's tendency toward hallucination.

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But this has been (correctly in my opinion), reconsidered. All the main character's performances are exceptional and very suitable to the type of atmosphere and mood of the movie. While Lisa Bonet propagates an erotic charge throughout the second act that pierces the screen, Robert De Niro, who needs no introduction, plays a Mephistophelean figure who is impalpable and gloomy but never truncated for just under a quarter of an hour. The investigator played by Mickey Rourke, who is more ditzy and crafty than Humphrey Bogart, is very close to perfection.

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Conclusion

A disturbing, gloomy, macabre movie with rhythm and tension that builds gradually to a natural conclusion rather than a forced finale. A gut punch that horrifies (certain impact scenes are horrible), disturbs and fascinates. Alan Parker has done it again. A must-watch (perhaps away from meals). Highly suggested.

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Rating

My personal vote is:

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8.5/10

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