Angel Heart (1987)

"You know what they say about slugs. 

They always leave slime in their tracks."

If this film proves anything, it’s that no matter how little screen time Robert De Niro has, he’ll always steal the show. It also proves that there was a time when Mickey Rourke didn’t look like a melted tire.

Private eye Harry Angel is hired by the mysterious Louis Cyphre to track down a missing person. 

I discovered Alan Parker’s 1987 film ‘Angel Heart’ on a whim after a Blu Ray shopping spree and, before I knew it, I was thrown into a supernatural world full of detective work, murders and satanic cults. "These are a few of my favourite things!”.

The film kicks off with small time private eye Harry Angel, played by Mickey Rourke, going to a meeting with a mysterious business man named Louis Cyphre, played by the great De Niro, who pays him handsomely to look into a missing persons case. As he begins to look into the case, strange things begin to happen around him and to the people he's been meeting with.

It sounds like your bog standard detective movie and, it kind of is, but it’s got so much more going on that it elevates itself from the norm.

We are given very few details as we embark on this mission with Harry Angel and are left to fend for ourselves a lot of the time. Rourke works his way through clues and leads but the tension starts to boil as we begin to realise, with Harry Angel, that there are more malicious forces involved in this than Louis Cyphre is letting on.

Mickey Rourke, despite being heavily overshadowed by De Niro in the marketing, is the lead in this brooding film and he’s very good as Harry Angel. He's very charismatic and sits right into the role. He’s unkept and hungover, doesn’t play by the rulebook and smokes a lot. Despite this archetype, he does it so much better than most. He’s got style, good looks and a great acting range that brings believability to a lot of scenes that would be typically unbelievable. These tough scenes are what separates him from the rest and prove that he has the acting chops to stand toe to toe with the likes of De Niro in this story. 

Robert De Niro, for only being in the film for a couple of scenes, really sets the tone for the rest of the film. With his razor sharp nails, slicked back long hair and sharp suits, he’s got an equal amount of mysterious style and grotesque depravity about his character that just sets the plot alight early on. He instantly involves you in Harry Angel’s story. Marlon Brando was originally considered for the role but I can't imagine anyone else doing it as classy as Robert De Niro does.

The imagery in ‘Angel Heart’ is what will stick with you. Key moments in the film are enhanced by some powerful images that will burn into your subconscious. One scene in particular is a sex scene involving Harry Angel, passionate sex and horrific flashing images are intercut while blood rains from the ceiling onto their naked backs. 
The film has a "look" and it expertly executes it. It's also a period piece so the costumes and the sets add a lot to this as well, you're transported to the place and the time in every scene and Rourke revels in it. 

The film has a lot of excesses and a lot of style and director Alan Parker manages to balance the two with flare. It pushes the envelope and you can tell everyone was having fun with what they were doing. The characters are interesting and every piece of the puzzle that you get paints a rich and developed picture.
The film is a bit of puzzle and it's part of the fun with any murder mystery to try and put it all together but it's got a larger agenda to it than that. It has a lot of moving pieces and, when you put them together, the bigger picture becomes clearer. Not crystal clear though, more like looking through a cloudy window, you can see the view but there’s a lot you’re missing.

Overall, this is a little gem of a film that you should definitely check out. It’s entertaining, intriguing, atmospheric and makes you think. It deals with some pretty horrific ideas and themes but I guarantee you’ll not be able to look away.

It’s got a great story and some unexpected moments that makes me want to rewatch it over and over.

The very 80's trailer below actually hits the nail on the head by tagging it as 'The Exorcist' meets 'Chinatown', I can't compete with an 80's movie trailer voice-over...