For twelve years, you’ve been living on borrowed time and trapped in another man’s memories.
Freshman year (1997) at Gonzaga University and a visit to Videoland on Hamilton Street brought me to the black VHS cover box to a movie I had never heard of. Robert De Niro was in it and some actor name Mickey Rourke. I rented it, watched it in my dorm room, and instantly rewound the tape to watch it again. During my second viewing, my roommate joined me. My girlfriend watched my third viewing with me, and after that, I watched it a fourth time before returning the worn-out tape back to the store. (It was a 3-day weekend.)
The truth is, I didn’t know exactly what I had watched (all four times). Angel Heart is a complicated juxtaposition of Faustian film noir and a voodoo atmosphere that eerily snuffs out its convoluted plot. It is less about mystery solved and more about solution feared. The ending is a shocker, both earned and head-scratchingly diabolical. To this day, I still have to put the pieces together as if I’m seeing it again for the first time.
No other movie does this for me.
Along with its nightmarish impressionism, Angel Heart was a part of several off-screen controversies.
There’s the documented resentment between Robert De Niro and Mickey Rourke, who never got along during the few scenes they shared together. To this day, the two actors make sure they never work with one another again.
There’s the sinister sex scene with Rourke and Lisa Bonet of The Cosby Show. Director Alan Parker had to cut 10 seconds of it in order to receive an R rating from the MPAA. (Of course, Bill Cosby was the first to denounce Bonet’s actions and even considered banning her from his show.)
There were even rumors of an evil, shadowy presence that haunted the film crew during production.
As a musician, I can’t help but notice connections between the movie’s plot and the legend of blues songwriter, Robert Leroy Johnson, who supposedly sold his soul to the devil in Mississippi for masterful skills on the guitar.
Throughout the film, Trevor Jones’s crafty score includes a seductive motif on the piano to a broken blues scale. There are times when Mickey Rourke whistles it as a source music cue while he’s digging up evidence on the case. Little does he know that he’s whistling the very melody he composed in a former life! It just shudders down your spine when you think about it!
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you obviously haven’t seen the movie, and I’m not even sure if I recommend it. This is an acquired taste of psycho-horror gumbo, but if you make it to the end, you’ll most likely enjoy the “Sixth Sense”-esque outcome.
New Orleans couldn’t look any more exotic and otherworldly, Trevor Jones’s dissonant jazz score is brilliant, Mickey Rourke is perfect as the tragic gumshoe, and Alan Parker creatively edits disjointed shots as clues without giving anything away. This is one of those movies where you catch a new phrase or image upon each viewing.
Right in time for a chillier October, Angel Heart is a thrilling watch. Just don’t watch it alone!
Reely Bernie Faves:
5. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
6. The Godfather Part II (1974)
8. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
10. Nosferatu (1922)
11. Pollock (2000)
12. Kicking and Screaming (1995)
13. Jaws (1975)
14. Fargo (1996)
16. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
20. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
23. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
24. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
25. Bambi (1942)
26. The Paradise Lost Trilogy (1996-2011)
27. Psycho (1960)
29. Swingers (1996)
30. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
31. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
32. Smoke (1995)
33. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
35. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
37. 1917 (2019)
42. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
43. The Greatest Showman (2017)
44. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
45. The Florida Project (2017)
Reely Bernie 
I was very aware of this movie when it came out. Could not get a handle on what it was about. You have clarified quite nicely here, RB. As best can be, right? ;}
Bonet’s acting career also took a severe nosedive after this one, as well. To the point where she was exiled from her own starring vehicle TV comedy, “A Different World”.
I understand there is a completely unedited version available now, including those naughty ten seconds. Have you seen it?
Write on, our friend.
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Yeah, it’s a messy plot that relies more on atmosphere, but when you put the pieces together, it’s jaw dropping. I haven’t seen the unedited version, but you are absolutely right: This was the movie that put Bonet under, and I now recall the “Different World” exile. Things are much different today. I have a feeling there wouldn’t be as much controversy, but I could be wrong. Have a great weekend! Always good to hear from you.
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I was spellbound seeing this in the cinema. I was with a date who got grumpy with me for ignoring her the rest of the evening I was so taken with the film. I cut see boiled eggs the same since.
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The symbol of the soul, that egg. Haha, you’re a true movie/music fanatic. I remember I (mistakenly) took a date to “Felicia’s Journey,” which I admire very much. My date wanted to leave, but I had to see the ending. She waited outside and ate popcorn.
I can’t imagine seeing “Angel Heart” for the first time in ’87. Or, did you see a revival?
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It was ’87 I was 13. I was not prepared.
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Damn. That’s awesome.
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After watching the film The Ninth Gate I read the book The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte. Somewhere I read an ‘if you like this, you’ll like this’. I found myself reading Falling Angel by William Horjtsberg. I was so enthralled I bought this DVD. I seem to remember both book and film were amazing. But….I have something named Aphantasia. I see nothing in my mind’s eye. So closing my eyes brings no imagery whatsoever. Hence, when I rewatch movies I almost see them for the first time again. Books too are a difficult recall. So your explanation has once again intrigued. By the way. Joan of Arc , your post I said I’d seek out, is ‘currently unavailable’ to watch here in the UK on Prime. Shame really. I have it on my watchlist though. Fingers crossed. Sorry for the long reply. Cheers and all the best.
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Great context there. With the images, I remember more Alan Parker’s random shots of scenes “hanging in there.” For example, there’s a scene when Mickey Rourke looks lost but finds his way in a door. On the side is a woman just sitting there. Alan focuses on her for some reason. She looks left. She looks right. It’s creepy. Something menacing is about to happen. I remember something like that.
Shoot. So, the last time I saw The Passion of Joan of Arc was on DVD when Netflix actually rented those out. I’m still seeing Amazon Prime (US) available, but that’s not going to help you, obviously.
I love long replies.
When my daughters are old, the UK is #1 on my bucket list.
Any suggestions?
Best,
Bernie
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The context! Spot on. I’ve watched certain films that are so dynamic that rewatching is required. A must! Same with books. With repetitive viewing or reading they get dumped into long term memory. As stated re: The Ninth Gate. Scenes are there for keeps. Because further enquiry from others demands a rewatch. Primary colours often appeared in the film of the The Ninth Gate. The links to the woodcut prints in the film and book. The music from Wojciech Kilar is another link to scenes. The ‘terrible’ ending which was not terrible at all. It gave you a hanging there and wondering what next scenario. The Perez-Reverte book does the same. Holistic approach cements a certain film or book into the psyche. Into the memory. I often wondered why my granddaughter watched films over and over. Because she has the same Aphantasia reality as myself. Loves it so much that it requires revisits because the imagery is lacking. When you state individual scenes, is it Rutger Hauer’s iconic speech or the whiskey glass in Bladerunner? Weird connections. But the film is the memory because you begin to expand from those bases. I will catch Joan in the future. Promise. 😊 All the best.
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The whiskey glass for sure. (And Sean Young’s android eyes.) I get the repetition for sure. The further down the list I go, the more times I’ve seen each movie and would see them a dozen times more again. Favorite ethereal book/movie/real life connection: Maurier’s “Don’t Look Now” in my mind, my visit to the film locations in Italy, and the movie.
Need to look up Aphantasia. Thank you for this word.
I wish I could send you a copy…
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I was teaching Mindfulness to the local community as a nurse. My main focus personally was pain control. Then the oddity. That meditative experience of closing eyes and imagining. Sitting by a river, etc. ? I realised I actually couldn’t do it! A lifetime of not realising this was unusual. Then researched and wham! If you do look into it yourself it’ll become clear what I mean. Cheers for the reply. 🙏🏽
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Oh! And do revisit, as you do, over and over. Genius demands revisiting status. 😊
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Love it. Will do for sure!
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Sorry. Your question re: UK. People imagine UK as either London vintage or the greenery of the country old genteel existence. Neither truly exists. But there are those wonderful hidden corners still. So a jaunt between the two. Grab a short visit to modern chaos on a bus too tour and followed by the ever relaxing quiet of Yorkshire, Scotland or Wales. Then judge preferences. First times are always an experiment. 👍🙏🏽
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Good to know. Ever see “Psychomania?” I want to visit those locations, haha
Appreciate the suggestions 🙂
Have a great weekend!
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No. Haven’t seen it. So….Took a quick overview. Bikers? Yup. Love a bit of that since I read Hunter S Thompson back in the early 70s. Psychomania? I watched Flat-liners. Maybe my closest near to subject watch. Cheers. Have a great weekend too. All the best.
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I watched this in 1989 and liked it alot. I haven’t seen it since then but I remember loving the movie. It was dark and the Robert Johnson story was really popular at that time because of the movie Crossroads.
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I gotta see Crossroads! Yeah, this one has such a sinister atmosphere! So good for the fall season! Not many people have seen it. It kind of dropped off the cinematic map…
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A friend of mine rented it while in college and I went up and spent the weekend…it was really a good movie.
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I remember the day I first saw that VHS box and thought, “I thought I’ve seen all of Robert De Niro’s movies. What the heck is this? Who the heck is Mickey Rourke?” What a journey this movie placed before me. Formative for sure. 1987. What a time. I even read the book Angel Heart was based on. I liked the movie better because they moved the setting from NYC to New Orleans. Much spookier…
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Yes…New Orleans always is! It’s a gem…and a forgotten movie. Lisa Bonet was the reason at first I wanted to see it.
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Hahaha!
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