Verbal stories, books and dramas, based on the theme of someone prepared to bargain with the devil, and ultimately selling their immortal soul in return for worldly treasure of one type or another, have been a part of the literature of almost every culture and religion since the dawn of writing - so it is inevitable that the cinema has its share. I will nail my colours to the mast right away - in my opinion none of these works surpass the classic play "Dr Faustus" by the early English dramatist Thomas Marlowe, either in well rounded dramatic appeal or theological relevance . For me, this play although not totally original towers above later and often better known versions of the Faust legends such as Goethe's dramatic poem or Gounod's opera. All of these however transcend Angel Heart. This popular film still carries a (for me) incredible IMDb users rating of 7.3; if compared with them it can be seen as the absolute trash that it was. Assuming the supernatural was what its makers wanted to feature they would have done far better to base their film on Marlowe's great out-of-copyright drama rather than to purchase rights to a twentieth century imitation set in New York, and then stiffen the content by stirring in a gratuitous mix of voodoo rites that had nothing to do with the book they were filming. But they appear not to have known or even cared, whether their aim was simply to create a horror film designed to appeal to impressionable young people or whether it was to provide some sort of morality linked message - ultimately they achieved neither. True the film has a certain superficial gloss which is initially attractive, but ultimately most of it is simply ludicrous and where its search for horror runs unchecked it becomes crude and disgusting.
If its makers aimed simply to create a horror film they needed to recognise that horror comes from showing ordinary normal people going about their normal days activities, and then to gradually make the viewer aware that these people are unknowingly only a hairbreadth away from some contingency that will change their lives for ever. Think not of imaginary monsters or supernatural events, but of such ordinary situations as 2,000 people following everyday activities on the Titanic when they were told that most of them were five hours away from spending their last five minutes battling the cold waters of the North Atlantic. Or think of the office workers in the twin towers carrying out their normal daily activities five minutes before the terrorist's 'plane struck and doomed almost all of them. Among films, few create such a sense of horror better than 'Naked Fear' where a young girl quietly trying to earn her living in a strange town suddenly discovers she is on the hit list of a maniacal serial killer. But Parker's films are always flamboyant and he is not the right director to produce such a film. Instead we have a film steeped in necromancy which can raise little more than a chuckle with its juvenile efforts to make our skin creep. Murnau did far better with his silent classic 'Faust', filmed in 1926 but still supporting an IMDb rating of 8. Did the makers of 'Angel Heart' ever watch this? I have not read their original novel but I understand its scenario was entirely set in New York. Parker has attempted to rake up the horror by shifting the scene to New Orleans and bringing in some lurid voodoo rites. Voodoo beliefs provide much of interest but I felt they were better featured in such simple low cost B movies as 'French Quarter' or 'Barravento' and I do not know what place they were supposed to have here unless it was to provide justification for some of the extremely crude and gross, but totally pointless images - often verging on the obscene - gracing this film. Ultimately for me the only real emotion these raised was extreme distaste. I can only hope that those responsible for the planned re-make are determined to avoid repeating Parker's fiasco.
If its makers aimed simply to create a horror film they needed to recognise that horror comes from showing ordinary normal people going about their normal days activities, and then to gradually make the viewer aware that these people are unknowingly only a hairbreadth away from some contingency that will change their lives for ever. Think not of imaginary monsters or supernatural events, but of such ordinary situations as 2,000 people following everyday activities on the Titanic when they were told that most of them were five hours away from spending their last five minutes battling the cold waters of the North Atlantic. Or think of the office workers in the twin towers carrying out their normal daily activities five minutes before the terrorist's 'plane struck and doomed almost all of them. Among films, few create such a sense of horror better than 'Naked Fear' where a young girl quietly trying to earn her living in a strange town suddenly discovers she is on the hit list of a maniacal serial killer. But Parker's films are always flamboyant and he is not the right director to produce such a film. Instead we have a film steeped in necromancy which can raise little more than a chuckle with its juvenile efforts to make our skin creep. Murnau did far better with his silent classic 'Faust', filmed in 1926 but still supporting an IMDb rating of 8. Did the makers of 'Angel Heart' ever watch this? I have not read their original novel but I understand its scenario was entirely set in New York. Parker has attempted to rake up the horror by shifting the scene to New Orleans and bringing in some lurid voodoo rites. Voodoo beliefs provide much of interest but I felt they were better featured in such simple low cost B movies as 'French Quarter' or 'Barravento' and I do not know what place they were supposed to have here unless it was to provide justification for some of the extremely crude and gross, but totally pointless images - often verging on the obscene - gracing this film. Ultimately for me the only real emotion these raised was extreme distaste. I can only hope that those responsible for the planned re-make are determined to avoid repeating Parker's fiasco.