Angel Heart (1987)

Day 21 of Sobriety.

The last time I saw Alan Parker’s Angel Heart was as a teenager back in the 80s, shortly after it came out. I enjoyed it a lot back then, and it has been on my subconscious “must rewatch” list for a while now. Fortuitously, a friend’s son was kind enough to lend me his blu-ray of the movie while I was visiting their house a few days ago.

As an aside, that visit to my friend’s house was the first time have really been out socializing since I stopped drinking. There were a few people there and most others were having a few beers or whatnot. Drinking normally—not to excess or getting intoxicated. I was sticking to my alcohol-free lager. I enjoyed myself, but I can’t say it was a breeze, exactly, and thoughts of caving in and having drink crossed my mind several times, but it was more like, “Imagine if I did that...” rather than a real craving, so that, at least, is encouraging.

 

I remember also being encouraged when my friend’s son came home part way through our visit. He’s in his early thirties, and generally hangs out with us if he is around. He’s a cool young guy who loves music and horror movies, so I always have something to talk to him about. But what impressed me was that when he came home, he made himself a cup of tea and asked if anyone else wanted one. I remember thinking, “Damn—if that was me, and I came home to find everyone drinking and chatting, I would immediately have reached into the fridge for a beer.” But he just made tea. I remember thinking, “Wow—that’s what normal people do. They can take it or leave it. He probably just didn’t feel like drinking alcohol—imagine that!”

Anyway, despite my friend's well-stocked fridge, I returned home sober, and with a borrowed copy of Angel Heart in my bag to boot.

I’ll not go into the plot of Angel Heart, (1) because it’s such a well-known movie, and (2) because the less you know about it going in the better. I will say this: in addition to being a horror movie, it’s also a gradually unfolding mystery, so if you haven’t seen it, you’ll enjoy it more if you avoid reading anything about it before you do.

It’s an impressive movie in so many ways—the photography, the locations, the cast and acting, and the story itself. Right from the opening scene the movie evokes a dark urban gothic atmosphere—very much in the neo-noir style. The story begins in New York and then moves to Louisiana. America’s deep south is very evocatively depicted with oppressive semi-tropical rain hammering down almost constantly.

Watching the movie put me in mind of John Connolly’s heavily occult/horror-infused novels featuring the private detective Charlie Parker. I’ve only read the first few books in the series, but they also often seem to be set in America’s deep south. Highly recommended for fans of Angel Heart, which, of course, is itself an adaptation of a well-regarded novel.

I could be wrong, but don’t think there is a single jump-scare in Angel Heart. The horror comes from a sense of gradually encroaching dread, and of creeping inevitability. Without giving too much away, there is a lot premonitionary imagery in the movie. Several of the more shocking developments are foreshadowed by subtle hints that would not be  so conspicuous on a first viewing. In that respect, it put in me in mind of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now (1973).

There was, however, one small aspect of the film’s climax that I thought was a bit cheesy—and it was repeated twice. As I said, I want to be careful about putting any spoilers here, but lets just say it’s a gimmick that you see frequently in many conventional horror films of 80s, and it seemed jarringly crass and out of place here, given the refined quality of the film as whole.

So ended my third week of sobriety. So far, so good.