Angel Heart (1987)

Director:

Alan Parker

Writers:

William Hjortsberg (novel)
Alan Parker (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 March 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

It will scare you to your very soul.

Plot:

Harry Angel has a new case, to find a man called Johnny Favourite. Except things aren't quite that simple...

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Sex | Fortune Teller | Key | Hearing Voices

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Mickey Rourke	...	Harry Angel
Robert De Niro	...	Louis Cyphre
Lisa Bonet	...	Epiphany Proudfoot
Charlotte Rampling	...	Margaret Krusemark
Stocker Fontelieu	...	Ethan Krusemark
Brownie McGhee	...	Toots Sweet
Michael Higgins	...	Dr. Albert Fowler
Elizabeth Whitcraft	...	Connie
Eliott Keener	...	Det. Sterne
Charles Gordone	...	Spider Simpson
Dann Florek	...	Herman Winesap
Kathleen Wilhoite	...	Nurse
George Buck	...	Izzy
Judith Drake	...	Izzy's Wife
Gerald Orange	...	Pastor John (as Gerald L. Orange)

Also Known As:

Aux portes de l'enfer (Canada: French title)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA | Canada | UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (1992) | Finland:K-18 (1987) | Canada:18A | Portugal:M/18 | Brazil:18 | USA:R (Certificate #28544) (Cut) | USA:X | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Chile:18 | France:-12 | Germany:16 (re-rating 2001) | Norway:18 | Singapore:R21 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:X (original rating) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Albany, New York, USA

Company:

Carolco International N.V.

Trivia:

Shirley Stoler was originally cast in the part of "Izzy's Wife", but was replaced by Judith Drake. Stoler's voice can still be heard at the end of the scene, singing the song, "I Cried For You".

Goofs:

Continuity: When Harry Angel impersonates an official (Harry Conroy) from the National Institute of Health at the private hospital just outside Poughkeepsie, at the end of his conversation with the nurse, his glasses disappear between the penultimate and final shots of the scene.

Quotes:

Harry Angel: What's your name?
Epiphany Proudfoot: Epiphany Proudfoot.
Harry Angel: Your mother left you a very beautiful name, Epiphany.
Epiphany Proudfoot: Not much else.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Commune (2009/I)

Soundtrack:

Rainy Rainy Day

I recently blew the dust off of my copy and watched it again…

And I can't believe I never threw my two cents in about this one. When I first saw Angel Heart, I thought it was going to be your regular old mystery. Like a Mamet or Spillane yarn about a down on his luck private investigator drawn into a web of lies and deceit… Oh yeah, it IS like that… and then some. I was completely drawn into this movie. I found it perfectly paced. And just like other movies of this type, could not see the end coming at all. However from the beginning it felt like something was kind of different about THIS yarn. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Kind of like the feeling you get as your walking out of the house and you just know you forgot something but you can't remember what. It was like that, a ‘nagging at the back of your brain' feeling. And then, oh boy! When all is revealed you wish you would have just left without what ever it was you were missing, ‘cause what you find is oh-so frightening. What a terribly wonderful story and what great direction. I can't think of anybody better that De Niro for the roll he played. If you own it: watch in again. If you haven't seen it, you must.