Angel Heart (UK)

Another Alan Parker that doesn`t work. But then again has he ever made a film that has.

Raymond Chandler crossed with Dennis Wheatley?

"Angel Heart" boasts a very strong cast, spearheaded by Mickey Rourke's riveting performance as Harry Angel quite possibly the best, most memorable of his entire career. It is fascinating to watch Rourke, an unshaven and unwashed slob, breathing life and sympathy into the role of the charismatic down-and-out private eye. His performance stands out even next to Robert DeNiro's first-class portrayal of the enigmatic Louis Cypher. The well-rounded cast is filled out by Charlotte Rampling and Lisa Bonet herself making a fine showing, especially convincing in the "bamboucher" scene, portraying a god-mounted voodoo child in trance. A large part of the movie's charm results from its breathtakingly ominous cinematography and the intricate set dressing.

"Angel Heart" is a dark, unsettling thriller that covers a ground from the dark streets of Brooklyn to the run down quarters of Harlem to the smoky jazz clubs of New Orleans to humid swamps of Louisiana… and, by implication, hellish consequences. Director Alan Parker uses these backdrops to create a disturbing atmosphere that is threatening and mesmerizing at the same time. The images he creates are so captivating and real that you can nearly feel the sweat on people's bodies as they make their way through the sticky air of New Orleans' French Quarter, can nearly smell the heavy and sweet air of the Mississippi delta, can nearly feel the chill that goes through Angel's bones each time he discovers the murder of one of his sources. Recognizing that someone is watching his every step and ensuring that his contacts won't live long enough to tell him what they know, Angel's mounting desperation becomes palpable.

It is a memorable movie that you will not forget too easily, due both to its somewhat gruesome nature, as well as its striking and scary visuals. Though it begins as little more than a simple private-eye movie, "Angel Heart" quickly descends through a supernatural abyss into occult themes that play out the movie's early promise brilliantly. Live Entertainment have done a great job transferring this movie to DVD, and have achieved something that seems nearly impossible: making even "Angel Heart" look better.