Angel Heart (1987)

[Ribelin2000 23]

I know this movie has tons of fans, but I think this one is just crying out for HDTGM to do an episode about it. It was written and directed by Alan Parker, adapted from a book written by the same guy who wrote the script for Ridley Scott's Legend, but you'd think it was made by the members of Slayer, seriously (a band which just so happens to be one of my favorite bands of all-time, BTW). Joe Queenan once wrote an excellent column about movies that make no fucking sense whatsoever, called "In the Realm of the Senseless", where he gave an excellent description of this movie:

Mickey Rourke plays a down-at-the-heels Gotham gumshoe hired by a shadowy, pony-tailed sleazeball (Robert De Niro) to track down an obscure 40's singer named Johnny Favorite who was last seen in a Poughkeepsie mental hospital. The trail leads him-inevitably-to New Orleans, where he gets involved with a shadowy psychic named Madame Krusemark, played by Charlotte Rampling, and a shadowy voodoo chile named Epiphany Proudfoot, played by Lisa Bonet. Rampling winds up with her heart ripped out, Bonet winds up with a pistol jammed up her privates, and a minor character named Toots Suite suffocates on his own penis. The movie seems to have something to do with evil.

The Mount Everest of moronosity in this Himalaya of horseshit occurs when De Niro and Rourke have this exchange:

 

DE NIRO: Well, you know what they say about slugs.

ROURKE: No, what do they say about slugs?

DE NIRO: They always leave slime in their tracks.

 

Mr. De Niro, I do not think this is the kind of information you need to tell Mickey Rourke.

 

Of course, Queenan failed to mention that this movie originally was rated X, due to a rather graphic sex scene with a butt-naked Rourke and Bonet, involving rain leaking from the roof that slowly turns to fucking blood (RAINING BLOOD!!!). At the time of the film's release in 1987, this was especially scandalous considering that Bonet was still playing Denise Huxtable on the family-friendly "Cosby Show", and Bill Cosby made it public that he didn't exactly approve of her part in this movie (remember, this was back when Cosby still had a rather squeaky-clean image, decades before his true self-that of a serial rapist-was revealed). Anyway, anyone else think HDTGM should cover this movie?

[justinmh05 1968]

It is crazy enough for HDTGM, but I actually think it's a pretty good movie. I think sometimes people spend too much time trying to make sense of it, when part of the idea with the movie is that it's like a hallucinatory fever dream.

[Bugs Meany 69]

By no means a true breakdown, but they do talk about this very briefly on the Devil's Advocate episode.

 

De Niro's character has a great dumb name: Louis Cypher. Get it???!!! OMG so clever.

[Ribelin2000 23]

Here's the original trailer for Angel Heart:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp0LXxkx7yA

[jarrycanada 2483]

You guys, this is the best movie Mickey Rourke ever made.

 

and they still haven't done, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. The biggest peace of shit he's ever made. I think i can safely say that because i was big fan of Mickey Rourke's for a long time. Before I liked Nicolas Cage.

 

No one's recommend Wild Orchid here yet. that's the Nine 1/2 Weeks remake with Mickey Rourke back from his plastic surgery makeover. Wild orchid was the pinnacle turning point for Mickey when he turned from playboy to cheap over night. It's really kind of all sad. he was a good actor once, still sort of has it but not the good looks that he once had.

[Bugs Meany 69]

Is Color of Night the only '80s/early '90s erotic thriller they've done? That genre is GOLD.

[jarrycanada 2483]

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

Is Angel Heart really that hard to comprehend? It seems pretty cut-n-dry, even with that twist ending. I remember seeing this movie as a kid and liking the hardboiled-gumshoe-meets-Faust-noir of the whole thing. Also, the grimy set dressing of this film is pretty cool. Plus, sweaty, pointy boobs!

 

I recently watched this movie with my wife. Halfway through, she turned to me, rolled her eyes and guessed the twist ending exactly.

 

"Gah! Robert De Niro isn't...? Oh, gawd. He is, isn't he!?!"

 

"Yeah..."

 

"Pfft...!"

[Ribelin2000 23]

I bet she didn't know the other twist at the end, though.

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

I bet she didn't know the other twist at the end, though.

 

No, she figured that one out too.

 

"And he's the guy he's chasing, right?"

 

"Dude, stop ruining it!"

 

"It ruined itself."

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

The moral of the story of this movie: if anybody even tangentially related to the Cosby legacy wants to have sex with you, just run for the fucking hills.

[LizaEllis 0]

Mickey Rourke has played some amazing roles like the one in Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. He adorned a leather costume which was Harley Davidson. The unofficial replica of this jacket can be reached at Sky-Seller. For details, please visit the site.

[Glen Toran 94]

I hated this film. Mostly because I loathe Mickey Rourke and thought Lisa Bonet was as sexy as treading in dog shit.

I did figure out the Lou Ciphre thing and its unusual for me to work out even pish easy shite like that, so that's how obvious that was. Though I did enjoy yer man getting his head boiled in that big pot of gumbo. At the end I'd given up caring about who or where the fuck Johnny Fantastic or whatever the buggers name was, was.

 

And if I end up going to hell (50/50 at this stage) then I hope the transport is a sight more gothic and stylish than a warehouse elevator.

[jarrycanada 2483]

I got this movie stilling in the stack of films i've got. i think I'll rewatch it night. but i remember it being on the level of like jacob's ladder. as far as movies goes.

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

I got this movie stilling in the stack of films i've got. i think I'll rewatch it night. but i remember it being on the level of like jacob's ladder. as far as movies goes.

 

I believe both of these movies share the same producers and production. They do pair quite well with each other, given the twist ending and all the weird shit that happens in both.

[jarrycanada 2483]

Watched it last night, enjoyed every minute of it. Especially Lisa Bonet topless, how could you hate this movie. it's a work of art.

 

Shame on you all!!!

 

still an excellent movie!

 

By no means a The Devil and Max Devlin movie.

 

[rf_curtis 0]

Please, do a Mickey Rourke themed series - Angel Heart, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man then Year of the Dragon. Regardless, Angel Heart is screaming out for you guys to cover it.

[jarrycanada 2483]

Please, do a Mickey Rourke themed series - Angel Heart, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man then Year of the Dragon. Regardless, Angel Heart is screaming out for you guys to cover it.

 

that is long over do,

 

sponsored by Two Sisters Cocktail's,

 

The Recipe for that drink sounds like just what a person needs to get sick in the morning after a long night of heavy drinking.

• 1 1/2 ounces Dolin Blanc Vermouth
  
• 1 1/2 ounces Dolin Rouge Vermouth
  
• 1/4 ounce Tenneyson Absinthe Royale
  
• Garnish: orange twist