Angel Heart Special Edition

I saw this film when it first came out in 1987. I loved it then (it’s brilliant). You know how sometimes when you rewatch a movie you loved decades ago and think, “I can’t believe I liked this. It’s utter garbage!”? That was definitely not the case with Angel Heart. I loved it then and I love it now. There is one VERY graphic scene that’s still hard to watch, but the story, plot, atmosphere, and acting are top-notch. One of my all-time favorite films - no pun intended (one of the main characters is named Johnny Favorite). Read more

Angel Heart is my favorite movie of all time. The director Alan Parker has created a timeless masterpiece utilising two great talents of our time Mickey Rourke as Harold Angel and Robert De Niro as Louis Cyphre ... Lucifer. SPOILER ALERT - At that time, 1987, most people did not figure out the obvious (Louis Cyphre is Lucifer) as Mickey Rourke mispronounces the surname Cyphre's throughout the movie. I have noticed that the Amazon summary spoils the "secret" that Louis Cyphre is Lucifer. These days people divulge fact that De Niro is Lucifer immediately spoiling the secret. Angel Heart and The Mission De Niro was filming Angel Heart whilst also filming the epic movie - The Mission. Rumor has it that De Niro flew back to the US on weekends or quiet times on The Mission to complete Angel Heart. De Niro plays the bearded Mendoza in The Mission, and has a beard up until the second last scene in Angel Heart. The story is simple yet brilliant. A man sells his soul for limited fame in World War II New York. We subsequently discover through Harold Angel's investigation that Johnny Liebling, cum Johnny Favorite who was called "golden tonsils" just prior to WWII with limited fame as a crooner. Like all alleged Faustian pacts with the Prince of Darkness it was short lived and a debt subsequently owed. Johnny Favorite thought that he had a legal occult loophole found in a n old ancient manuscript where there were incantations in Latin and Greek , and tried to avoid the horrific debt. The Devil De Niro's lines are brilliant with my favorite being: "Alas, how terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to the wise." An excellent line that was borrowed from Oedipus Rex." The last juicy tit bit is De Miro's last appearance in Angel Heart. A few moments prior to the movie's ending, De Niro appears beardless Blink and you'll miss it - he is crouching outside Johnny Favorites' hotel room dressed all in black as a nun. Many re-watch Angel Heart again for this scene alone, as they ALL missed it in the repeated viewings. To this day, De Niro playing Louis Cyphre is the best on screen devil or Lucifer. (NOTE: Another memorable actor playing Lucifer was then then relatively little known Viggo Morgenstein as Lucifer in the 1996 movie, The Prophecy) SPECIAL FEATURES - As the story unfolds we are taken on a wild dark ride with the dark occult growing. In the SPECIAL FEATURES the director, Alan Parker, claims that the story moves south to Louisiana to highlight this fact that we are moving to the hot swamps of the Deep South which is to reprsent a step closer to hell. I missed the obvious and that is what I love about Angel Heart. Every time I watch Angel Heart I discover something new. Mickey Rourke One of Mickey Rourke's finest efforts. He guides us the audience through the unravelling of the story with the scene with De Niro in a Louisiana church being the crux of the film. Rourke is swearing in church with Louis Cyphre constantly reminding him of his surroundings to which Angel(Rourke) replies that he doesn't care as churches give him the creeps. Angel he that the is coming across too much religion. De Niro then says " they say there is just enough religion to make men hate each other, BUT, not enough to love one another." There are rumors that Angel Heart may be re-made in 2013, I don't know why. We saw Total Recall re0made in 2012 and it was a useless effort as it no doubt, will be with Angel Heart. You cannot improve on perfection. This is why Angel Heart is my favorite film as it is a simple story, brilliantly executed. Five out of five !!!! Read more

Many films, albums, books, art pieces, etc., are not fully understood at the time of their release. Some are indeed trash, and deserve to be ridiculed and dismissed as tripe. But every now and then, something comes along...in this case a film...which gets the raspberry treatment by the establishment, but later on....with careful revisiting and analyzing...proves itself to be something that was judged too harshly in it's time. With more and more people seeing it, as the generations go forward, it begins to gain a steady following, until it is finally deemed as "A Cult Classic!".....So goes the story behind "Angel Heart". Mickey Rourke (pre-botched plastic surgery) turns in a very angst-filled and believable performance as a grizzled & jaded 1950's-era NYC private investigator, Harry Angel, who is sent on the MIND SCREW ASSIGNMENT OF A STOLEN LIFETIME by the dark, mysterious, and wickedly sardonic Mr. Louis Cipher (LUCIFER), who is played brilliantly, and almost tongue-in-cheek, by the master thespian ROBERT DE NIRO. It turns out that Harry is far from an Angel...in fact, there is much drama, death, and intrigue which seems to follow him wherever he goes. As he accepts the job from Mr. Cipher...more and more, Mr. Angel finds himself deeper and deeper in the ka-ka, as the convoluted layers of a former 1930's crooner named Johnny Favorite's life is revealed to the earth-shattering climax of the story, which is that Mr. Angel has been sent on a mission to find HIMSELF, so that he and Mr. Cipher can make good on the deal for his eternal soul that was struck up years before! (-: It seems that Mr. Angel tried to pull a fast one on old Lucifer, but he's not having it, and decided to show Mr. Angel/Favorite who indeed the master gameplayer is! He makes him do all kinds of horrible things...murders always being the icing on the cake. But the real fun starts when ol' Harry goes down to New Orleans, in hot pursuit of what he doesn't know yet, is himself...and then voodoo, cajun chicainery, dirty cops, and the fact that the beautiful young cafe au lait-skinned mulatto girl, Epiphany Proudfoot, played by a then smoldering & rebellious Lisa Bonet, (in her first role on hiatus from the Cosby Show), whom he is strangely attracted to; culminating in one of the most simultaneously lustful & erotic and terrifyingly bloody sex scenes in film history!---Turns out to be his interracial love child! Yes, the devil makes him do his own, unbeknownst-to-him, daughter!--YIKES!! This film is filled with great scenes, and lines, that will stick in your head, whether you want them to or not. Though it didn't do well at the box office in it's time, and was basically written off....Oh yeah, and that BIG SCANDAL around the fact that Dr. Cliff Huxtable's daughter Denise, had turned out to be the ultimate black sheep of their imaginary family! People (some of them) who loved "The Cosby Show", were actually very disturbed to see their sweet little esoteric free-spirited Denise, play such a sexual and taboo role. She was a very sensual and mysterious voodoo priestess who dies a horrible death after her graphic & erotic scene with Mickey Rourke's character. But time has been very much on the side of this film.... It's now an admired and respected cult classic, which has now been re-issued in this special edition version, which is in widescreen 16:9 format, with fully remastered in 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital Surround sound. A great addition to your collection, if you like the film noir genre that's kind of off the beaten path. ***5 Stars** Read more

This is an old favorite. It came out in '87, and was recommended by a close friend. The movie is Mickey Rourke gets hired by Robert DeNiro to locate a missing crooner. There's twists and turns as nd murders at every step. The climax, the solution of the missing crooner, is a jaw dropper. Glad to have it in my collection. Quick delivery. Nice price. And of course, it's captioned. Read more