"Angel Heart" is a '50 noir-style murder mystery done in the 1980s in living -- and bleeding -- color. It's a very straightforward story that ends up being more than meets the eye, mixing in horror and satanic elements to become a one-of-a-kind thriller.
Private detective Harry Angel (Rourke) takes on a case to locate an old-time crooner named Johnny Favourite, who has been missing since WWII. He is hired by Louis Cyphre (De Niro) who has an "unfinished contract" with Favourite. It's fairly apparent that the devil is owed someone's soul, but Angel doesn't pick up on these clues as obviously as we do. Angel goes from name to name in search of people who knew Favourite and a trail of murder follows mysteriously behind him.
Other than the delightfully creepy performance by De Niro, director and adapter Alan Parker deserves the praise for the enjoyable parts of this movie, namely it's suspense. His use of heartbeats for this dreadful suspense effect and the way he intercuts the scenes of shocking discovery with normal ones (such as a boy tap dancing in the streets of New Orleans) is nearly adrenaline-pumping. His depiction of rotating objects such as the fan and elevator cable spool is a bit blunt, but stylishly effective.
Being an '80s film, you definitely get a sense of movement toward the modern thriller as we know it today. The style of the film, its pacing, its tendency to sit quietly at times and be introspective -- these are things we've come to know from the genre 20 years later, but as a '50s period piece as well, there's a definite tribute to film noir in the characterization and acting. Rourke's Angel is much like those P.I.s that get in too deep from the '30s and '40s. The dialogue too is very much the same way.
Not spectacular but not disappointing, "Angel Heart" is entertaining and certainly unique. People who are into movies that involve elements of satanism, where the devil is a character, will certainly enjoy it more, but most will get enjoyment out of its classic mystery structure and intriguing twist.
Private detective Harry Angel (Rourke) takes on a case to locate an old-time crooner named Johnny Favourite, who has been missing since WWII. He is hired by Louis Cyphre (De Niro) who has an "unfinished contract" with Favourite. It's fairly apparent that the devil is owed someone's soul, but Angel doesn't pick up on these clues as obviously as we do. Angel goes from name to name in search of people who knew Favourite and a trail of murder follows mysteriously behind him.
Other than the delightfully creepy performance by De Niro, director and adapter Alan Parker deserves the praise for the enjoyable parts of this movie, namely it's suspense. His use of heartbeats for this dreadful suspense effect and the way he intercuts the scenes of shocking discovery with normal ones (such as a boy tap dancing in the streets of New Orleans) is nearly adrenaline-pumping. His depiction of rotating objects such as the fan and elevator cable spool is a bit blunt, but stylishly effective.
Being an '80s film, you definitely get a sense of movement toward the modern thriller as we know it today. The style of the film, its pacing, its tendency to sit quietly at times and be introspective -- these are things we've come to know from the genre 20 years later, but as a '50s period piece as well, there's a definite tribute to film noir in the characterization and acting. Rourke's Angel is much like those P.I.s that get in too deep from the '30s and '40s. The dialogue too is very much the same way.
Not spectacular but not disappointing, "Angel Heart" is entertaining and certainly unique. People who are into movies that involve elements of satanism, where the devil is a character, will certainly enjoy it more, but most will get enjoyment out of its classic mystery structure and intriguing twist.