Angel Heart (1987) ****

Angel Heart (1987) is a steamy, dreamy supernatural neo-noir with a languid pace and wonderful mood that builds to an unfortunately jarring and sloppy climax. Despite that, there is an undeniable appeal to the film—with its horror leanings, its sumptuous cinematography, its sparse and oddly dissonant piano score by Trevor Jones, and two superb performances from Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro.

William Hjortsberg wrote the novel upon which AH is based, which is interesting because the film reminds me of director Alan Parker's (Birdy (1984), review) contemporary Ridley Scott, and one of Hjortsberg's only screenwriting credits is Scott's Legend (1985) (theatrical cut review, director's cut review). AH's style is also reminiscent of Ridley's brother Tony’s excellent 1983 film The Hunger (review).

Recommended for fans of Jacob's Ladder (1990) (review), The Silence Of The Lambs (1991) (review), and Se7en (1995).