Review of Angel Heart

Introduction

Alan Parker`s directorial career has brought some varied material including Midnight Express, Fame, Pink Floyd`s The Wall, Mississippi Burning, The Commitments and Evita. Unlike many directors who stick to a genre, Parker likes a change each time he gets behind the camera.

Angel Heart comes between Birdy and Mississippi Burning and was Parker`s first thriller.

Featuring a cast which includes Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro, the film is a dark tale of murder and voodoo. Rourke plays a private detective hired to track down a musician Johnny Favourite, who apparently broke a contract with a Mr Cyphre (De Niro). What starts as a simple missing person investigation soon becomes more serious as the bodies begin to pile up.

Video

Video comes as 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and in general is of good standard. There are a couple of scenes which looked very slightly out of focus, but having said that, there`s no evidence of grain or compression problems.

The film is set in 1955 and scenes are often shot at night or in poorly lit rooms, adding to the tension. This seedy look helps the director to tell the bleak story, which is well presented on the screen.

There are no special effects to speak of.

Audio

The soundtrack is Dolby Digital Surround - basically a Pro-Logic track and as Pro-Logic goes it sounds quite good.

There`s plenty of atmospheric sound and music - which is well crafted and helps build tension. There is also good stereo separation which helps make the most of the soundstage, despite the lack of full-range stereo rear channel.

Throughout all this, the dialogue is clear and easily understood.

Features

The extras promise a great deal but unfortunately the three featurettes and "behind-the-scenes" film having a total running time of just 8 minutes. The three featurettes are interesting enough, but far to short to be of use for anything other than filler. The "behind-the-scenes" is a dull look at a few scenes being shot and is of little interest.

There is also a director`s commentary, a five minute interview with Alan Parker, photo gallery and cast/crew info.

The disc is packaged in a black Amaray case and contains a 64 page companion book "Angel Heart - The Making of the Film Beat By Beat". This is basically a production diary by Parker and is quite interesting. There is no printed chapter list however.

Conclusion

Angel Heart is a very dark and despairing film. The locations used, the storyline and the style of the director, the characters and the acting make this a disturbing movie, but despite this it is still an enjoyable thriller.

The cast give good performances - especially Rourke and De Niro and the movie has an authentic feel. The plot is essential the usual murder mystery with an added twist, but there is enough going on to hold the viewer`s interest, with plenty of action and plenty to think about. There`s also quite a bit of blood - there are several numerous gruesome murders but there`s nothing graphic - it`s more the tone that`s alarming.

The picture and sound are both good, but the extras don`t deliver what they promise - however the 64 page production diary gives you all the information you`re likely to need on the making-of the film.

Overall this won`t be to everyone`s taste, however fans of the film will not be disappointed, and newcomers like myself may be pleasantly surprised.