I was excited when this film came out in 1987 as I was a major fan of Mickey Rourke and I liked The Cosby Show too so the combination of Rourke and Lisa Bonet was going to be interesting. Not to mention Robert De Niro playing a mean part. The great jazz and blues soundtrack, suitable as much of the film is set in Louisiana in the 1950s, is so good I bought it on vinyl. I always enjoy a Faustian story anyway. Rourke plays a private detective called Harold Angel who is hired by De Niro’s character, Louis Cyphre – the clue is in the names! – to search for a man who owes him something, called Johnny Favorite. The film starts in Brooklyn but as favorite was a famous singer from Louisiana, Angel has to head off down there.

In Louisiana, he finds out that behind the religious façade of Catholicism, Voodoo is prevalent and the atheistic Angel is plunged into a frightening and unfamiliar world. He also gets freaked out by the fact that everyone he talks to about Angel seems to wind up dead. Angel Heart involves a very raunchy sex scene involving lots of blood and Lisa Bonet managed to break free of her cutesy Cosby family image as a result. Directed by Alan Parker, the music is appropriate and the sound of the heart beat that reverberates throughout is effective. There is much symbolism as we witness scenes and we are not sure what is reality and what is Angel’s mind, although things are revealed at the end. Rourke’s acting is fantastic and he really shows how great he is here as he starts off as a cocky private investigator from Brooklyn and ends up losing his mind. Everyone’s acting is great and this film is a joy to watch.

Rating: 9