When an average film goer is asked to name the film with twist ending, the most likely answer will be The Sixth Sense, 1999 film by M. Night Shyamalan which sparked annoying trend in early 2000s Hollywood. Such films were, however, being made decades before and one of the best known is Angel Heart, 1987 horror thriller written and directed by Alan Parker.
Film is based on Fallen Angel, novel by William Hjortsberg. The plot begins in 1955 New York City where the protagonist, small-time private investigator Harry Angel (played by Mickey Rourke) gets hired by Louis Cyphre (played by Robert De Niro), mysterious foreign gentleman. Angel has to track down John Liebling a.k.a. “Johnny Favorite”, popular pre-WW2 singer who is apparently in debt to Cyphre. His last known whereabouts is upstate hospital where he ended in comatose state following wartime injury. Angel goes there and finds that Johnny Favourite left the hospital years ago with the help of mysterious man and woman who bribed the staff to falsify records. Angel continues with investigation which leads him to Louisiana, where he discovers that everyone involved in the affair was involved in voodoo, black magic and dark occult rituals. He also finds out that all those people tend to die in gruesome ways, with police increasingly likely to see Angel as the murder suspect. One of the clues to resolving mystery might be a woman with whom Favourite had affair; although she died, her 17-year old daughter Epiphany Proudfoot (played by Lisa Bonet), who also happens to be a voodoo priestess, might still give Angel the answers and he also happens to be attracted to her.
Parker’s script for this film represents an interesting and, for the most part, very successful blend of film noir and supernatural horror. For Parker, who always liked to experiment with different genres, this was also an opportunity to display his sense of style. As such, Angel Heart is very dark film – both literally, because many scenes occur at night and dark spaces, and figuratively, because it features some very bloody and gruesome scenes. The most disturbing events, however, occur off screen and are, mercifully, left to viewers’ imagination. Script is, for the most part, very good, and manages to embroil viewers in mystery while carefully leaving hints about great reveal near the end. Parker, however, at times can’t resist temptation to indulge in stylistic experiments that aren’t beneficial to film. Editing is very quick, much like with the directors who took inspirations from MTV videos that were becoming vogue in 1980s. There are some details in the folm that don’t make much sense and almost semi-documentary display of African American and Cajun everyday life in Louisiana is at odds with film’s “noirish” atmosphere. Probably the most disappointing element of the film is music by Trevor Jones, a synth-based score that is often at odds with 1950s period, as well as authentic blues music that is used in some scenes.
Those shortcomings are, however, more than compensated by formidable acting. Mickey Rourke plays what could easily be remembered as one of the best roles of his career. Character of Harry Angel begins film unshaven, poorly dressed and unrefined but still possesses plenty of street smarts and possesses boyish charm that could help him in his investigation. By the end of the film that confident, almost heroic, detective turns into pathetic wreck and the ease of such transformation is good example of Rourke’s acting skills. Rourke is, on the other hand, overshadowed by Robert De Niro, who appears only in few scenes but nevertheless leaves great impresion. Louis Cyphre is mysterious and enigmatic figure, but nevertheless manages to radiate pure menace in seemingly banal gesture and lines of dialogue. Lisa Bonet also plays her role well, although her appearance became best remembered for nudity and relatively graphic sex scene, which later became subject of long battle with censors and source of controversy, because such content was difficult to reconcile with image based on family friendly sitcom The Cosby Show. Famous blues musician Brownie McGhee also did well in one of his rare acting appearances as ill-fated guitarist Toots Sweet. On the other hand, regal presence of Charlotte Rampling is wasted in the role of fortune teller that could be seen as glorified cameo. Character actor Pruitt Taylor Vince also makes one of his first notable roles as cynical New Orleans police detective.
Angel Heart is not among the best film noirs or supernatural horror films, but its quality is more than sufficient to please fans of the both genres. Furthermore, its twist at the end is intriguing enough to make many viewers watch it for the second time in order to catch clues that they might have missed. And that is something most of modern Hollywood films lack.
RATING: 7/10 (++)
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