Synopsis
Harry Angel, a down-and-out Brooklyn detective, is hired to track down a singer on an odyssey that will take him through the desperate streets of Harlem, the smoke-filled jazz clubs of New Orleans, and the swamps of Louisiana and its seedy underworld of voodoo.
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Cast
- Mickey RourkeHarry Angel
- Robert De NiroLouis Cyphre
- Lisa BonetEpiphany Proudfoot
- Charlotte RamplingMargaret Krusemark
- Stocker FontelieuEthan Krusemark
- Brownie McGheeToots Sweet
- Michael HigginsDoctor Fowler
- Elizabeth WhitcraftConnie
- Eliott KeenerSterne
- Charles GordoneSpider Simpson
Recommendations
- 88
Chicago Sun-Times
It has the unsettled logic of a nightmare, in which nothing fits and everything seems inevitable and there are a lot of arrows in the air and they are all flying straight at you. - 88
Chicago Tribune
The centerpiece for Angel Heart is Mickey Rourke's carefully modulated performance as Harry Angel. Ever a resourceful actor, Rourke is a marvel of complexity here, a blend of innocence and cunning, a mask of streetwise nonchalance over personal torment. [06 Mar 1987, p.F] - 80
Empire
A diabolical treat with Rourke and De Niro in fine form. - 70
Variety
Even if it may be a specious work at its core, Angel Heart still proves a mightily absorbing mystery, a highly exotic telling of a small-time detective's descent into hell, with Faustian theme, heavy bloodletting and pervasive grimness. - 63
Washington Post
As fascinating as it is frightful. But despite all the occult patter and tony trimmings, Angel Heart is bogus -- only the bogeyman again. - 60
Los Angeles Times
In retrospect, there are gaps in the story, a crucial lack of parallelism about the murders, one interview in which Rourke makes amazing leaps of knowledge from we-don't-know where. But the performance that fuels it all, Rourke's unfolding portrayal of a man on a spiraling slide downward toward a truth he doesn't want to learn, may be enough to carry us beyond quibbles. [06 Mar 1987, p.C1] - 50
Slant Magazine
It would all be laughable if the evil deeds and premature deaths and withered witch doctor hands led us to more than the protagonist’s unnecessarily messy self-discovery. As it is, it’s mostly just gratingly pointless. - 50
The New York Times
Mr. Parker is an eclectic film maker. He seems to have no readily identifiable obsessions that define supposedly more serious directors. He's a very able technician who needs a good screenplay, which is what's missing here.
