Angel hear, 1987.

This is a non-professional review of the movie Angel Heart by Alan Parker, 1987. I am only reviewing it based on my perception, overall experience watching it and lookout for basic aspects that I have been taught as a media student. This is mix or rather updated review of this movie from the one I did 2 years ago. key words: fan, shadow, death, lucifer and blood. 

This movie is known to be a combination of horror and film noir, something rarely done in movies few writers and directors ever attempt to combine the two. It is based on American screenwriter and novelist William Hjortsberg’s very own Falling Angel,1978.

The movie is set for the period of the 50s which they have accurately detailed. New York is where Harry is from, also where the movie begins but most of it is set in Louisiana. The Southern State of America is portrayed as dangerous and very dark. (Dave J. Wilson, 2016). This is an ageless detective thriller which lets the terror unfold.

This movie is about an unwashed private eye that gets summoned to Harlem, in one of the offices of a devil-worship cult. (Roger Ebert, 1987). After discussions Louis Cyphre gives the detective Harry Angel $5000 and hires him to locate a band front-man has-been “Jonny Favourite” who is believed to have been missing for years. This is where the unending torture begins for the detective, it seems Jonny Favorite does not want to be found and almost everyone he considers having valuable information on his target’s whereabouts gets murdered, making him a prime suspect in the brutal ritualistic murders. The ending has a fascinating twist, one not so obvious but when you sit back and revisit/reflect on some scenes you can spot signs leading to the end revelation.

There were some good skills and tricks used in the lighting of this movie, there are shadows wherever Harry Angel goes. His true self will always follow him, he is haunted by who he used to be. The shots in the movie were static most of the time. Flashbacks were used as an illustration, there were life changing and regret flashbacks. The sound is pleonastic during Harry Angel and his daughter love making session. The drops leaking from the ceiling hint at a rainy weather. The drops turn into heavy dripping, the sound gets louder and exaggerated when the two are in a bloodbath.

There are diegetic sounds, external and a few internal throughout the movie. Examples of external diegetic sounds is from piano or keyboard played in what seems to be church at 6:02, the tap dancing by a group of young men on the side of the road and the sound of brass instruments played by a small band at 41:30 into the movie. (Angel Heart, 1987). There is also a sound like the loud beating of the heart in some thrilling scenes when the main character seems nervous/frightened while approaching certain objects/people. An example is at 1:05:10 when Harry Angel was approaching someone dressed in black head to toes facing his back, dressed the same as the one he saw, in a room scrubbing blood of a deceased off the walls at 6:42. (Angel Heart, 1987). It is at 1:12:0 6 that we can hear a sound of quick tap dancing followed by that of a heartbeat, at 1:12:30 the intensity builds up and the sounds get louder as he approaches the dresser to take the letter under Miss Zoe’s heart. (Angel Heart, 1987). Another example is the slow beating of drums and what sounds like a clock tick tack/pendulum swinging sideways but only gets loud during intense scenes/moments.

There has been a use of different props or objects and names with not so obvious meaning like the fan, it is everywhere sometimes we can only see the shadow created by the blades. (www.automaticcinematic.word.com, 2017). 

The significance of it throughout the movie is unclear but my guess is it links Johnny/Angel to the occult, whenever someone he was with is about to die even after their death the fan appears. The fans are an indication of death, the coming doom has been foretold. Since it was revealed, he committed the murders, it makes sense for it to be a reminder or link to the first murder of Harrold. The twisted and curved long staircases vividly portray a growing sense of entrapment and how mentally drained he is. (The Film Stage, 2017). 

The use of a lift/elevator, the dark elevator eventually transports Jonny Favorite/Harry Angel to hell in the end, this is symbolic of a fallen angel. 

Harry Angel constantly says “I have a thing with chickens” this is makes sense as his former self “Johnny Favorite” was into voodoo, black magic where he sacrificed and used chickens. Louis Cypher “You know some religions think that the egg is the symbol of the soul; did you know that?” this question is all rhetorical, but he was not necessarily looking for an answer, he was informing Harry and him eating it like he did was representing how he will devour Harry/Johnny’s soul. (Angel Heart, 1987). Harry seems superstitious, when Cyphre offered him hard boiled eggs he declined with” I got a thing with Chickens” and he then throws a pinch of salt over his left shoulder; this is for the devil believed to always be behind us to blind him. (Dave J. Wilson, 2016). (Angel Heart, 1987).

This film has a fractured narrative, there is unexpected often tragic links between events and desperate people. All the horrific murders have a link to voodoo rituals and the disturbing way in which Johnny Favorite killed and ate Harrold Angel’s heart raw. There are also dire consequences linked to these events, one of them being the fall of Angel to hell for murder and deceit via a dark, endless elevator ride.

Selling of one’s soul to in different walks of life to different masters happens every day, in the film industry, perhaps a little more frequently. (Sven Mikulec,2018). People are very desperate for fame, quick riches; many will do anything for material possessions. There is death and blood everywhere in the movie, the atmosphere has been dreadful and conducive for murder since the first dead body is shown in the beginning of the movie.  The detective hired was not aware he was tracking himself, and soon learns Cyphre did not hire him randomly. For 12 years Johnny was living in borrowed time in another man’s memories, this man is who he currently identifies as “Harrold Angel” whom he killed and replaced. He has been told and he also sees the evidence points to him being responsible for the murders which have occurred.

He is in denial and clearly struggling with his identity; he looks himself in the mirror like he is convincing himself and getting confirmation of who he really is. He keeps shouting and saying, “I know who I am” Louis tells him to keep looking in the mirror and he will see the truth at 1:46:10 he says “that’s it, Johnny. Take a good look”. (Angel Heart, 1987).

Harry Angel turns out to be who he is in search of “Jonny the missing man”, the whole journey he was on was a trip into his soul and Cyphre is the devil with whom he made a pact and who is now gunning for his soul. Jonny had an entanglement with the occult and supernatural circumstances he couldn’t possible prepare himself for. (Sven Mikulec,2018). The word plays on the name Louis Cyphre masking Lucifer the devil himself was very clever. The pact Lucifer and Jonny made was never honoured, ultimately the unfinished business for which he wants Johnny for makes sense.

“However cleverly you sneak up on a mirror, your reflection always looks you straight in the eye”, Cyphre tells him at 1:46:15. (Angel Heart, 1987). This to me means that even after 12 years or more, even when Johnny changed his appearance and lived a new life as Harry Angel; he will always be Johnny Favorite who never honoured his pact with the Devil. He tried to impersonate his way out of fulfilling his own end of the bargain as promised, I think his former lover Margaret Krusemark helped him with masking so the devil could not locate him.

Louis Cyphre tells Angel “The flesh is weak Johnny, only the soul is immortal and yours belongs to me”. (Angel Heart, 1987). He uses a lot of diabolical trickery and schemes to get Johnny’s soul, including framing him for murder. This seals it all, Johnny can run all he wants from the devil, but he cannot hide. Whether he went back on the deal or not does not change the fact that he sold his soul, and it belongs to Lucifer. He made his bed and tried to escape lying on it, his he was trying to escape spending eternity in hell. This bears witness to what the bible says in John 10:10-29 that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy”. (www.biblegateway.com).

 Lucifer the devil will never give you anything for free, there is always a price to pay, and it goes up with your requests. The devil is after souls because he knows they are immortal and which better way to win more for his kingdom than promising material possessions of the highest value, riches, fame, and power on this earth he is the prince of.

This ending is not obvious from the beginning of the movie, there were times when I suspected Cyphre to be involved somehow with the murders or was withholding critical information. Although Johnny now Harry committed some evil and he dug his own grave, after the journey we took with him trying to unravel the mystery behind his disappearance I have empathy for him. He was framed for the murders, but he knew what he was getting himself into the day he made a pact with the enemy. The devil has always known where Johnny is, and he gave him a lengthy period of years to make him think he succeeded in in his plan to live a new obligation free life.

Lucifer showed him he was never outsmarted to begin with, reckoning day came for Johnny and his disguise could not save him. However, understanding part of why he did what he did makes it hard not to feel for him.

This was a not a horror for me or rather it was not horrifying to me. It is a very thrilling movie full of twisted mysteries compared to the horrors I have watched. It must have been one for the 80s, the acting was impeccable and so was the editing. The performances are memorable, the director is a controversial legend, thanks to this movie and this contributes to its relevance and being more of a classic today.