Angel Heart

It will scare you to your very soul.
Angel Heart (1987)
Timing: 1:53 (113 min)
7.3/10
203 389

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7.1/10
1764
7.2/10
103000
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Release date
Genre
Budget
$17 000 000
Box office
$17 185 632
Director
Scenario
Producer
Alan Marshall, Elliott Kastner, Mario Kassar, Andrew G. Vajna
Camera operator
Composer
Trevor Jones
Artist
Brian Morris, Maher Ahmad, Jeremy Conway
Audition
Risa Bramon Garcia, Billy Hopkins
Editing
Gerry Hambling, Simon Bosanquet
Whole Team (80)

Short description

New York private detective Harry Angel is hired by the mysterious Louis Cyphre to find a missing person. His routine failure soon leads to a bloody spar with himself, as he goes on a supernatural journey into his own soul.

What's left behind the scenes

  • Robert De Niro initially declined the role of Louis Cypher. He later changed his mind.
  • Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, and Al Pacino all turned down the role of Louis Cypher.
  • In the film, Harry Angel travels to Louisiana during the investigation, while in the original novel the entire story takes place in New York.
  • Part of the film was shot in New York, and director Brian Morris had to work hard not only to recreate a Harlem of the 40s and early 50s that matched old photographs, but also, according to his vision, to give the sets the desired color tone. The crew was partly lucky in Louisiana; many scenes with Lisa Bonet were filmed in the town of Thibodaux, which had changed little since those times. But in New Orleans, they had to rebuild a 1950s city street from scratch.
  • When working on the script, a significant change was shifting the timeline: instead of 1959, as in the novel, the film is set in 1955. The reason for this was the director’s belief that 1959 overlapped with the 60s, while 1955 still belonged to the 40s.
  • The scene of Harry and Cypher's conversation in the church was filmed in St. Alphonsus Church, but the real priest refused to help organize the mass, so they had to use the services of a former clergyman who had been defrocked.
  • According to director and screenwriter Alan Parker (1944-2020), Robert De Niro played his role so convincingly that during filming, Parker felt uncomfortable near him and tried to stay away from the actor.
  • During close-up shots, it can be noticed that the train Mickey Rourke's character travels on to Louisiana is a prop, meaning it is non-operational, and that a real locomotive is pushing the train from behind.
  • Harry Angel pours Epiphany half a glass of whiskey, but in the next shot, she has a full glass.
  • When the main character, Harry Angel, finds Margaret Kreuzmark murdered, played by Charlotte Rampling, a close-up of the victim’s face and neck is shown around 1:11:12, and if you look closely, you can see a pulsing heartbeat. The necklace around her neck clearly emphasizes the characteristic pulse beats. Afterwards, it becomes completely obvious that the actress is dead and a heartbeat could not be present, as the shot later shows her ripped-out heart.
  • For several years, the film rights to "Fallen Angel" changed hands, eventually with Elliott Kastner suggesting Alan Parker take on the project.
  • Shirley Stoler (1929-1999) was originally cast as the wife of the character played by George Buck, but she left the project after nearly drowning during the filming of a scene at Coney Island. She was replaced by Judith Drake, who impressed Parker even more than Stoler. Stoler's voice can still be heard at the end of the scene, singing "I Cried For You."
  • Robert De Niro initially turned down the role of Louis Cyphre. He later changed his mind.
  • Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, and Al Pacino all turned down the role of Louis Cyphre.
  • For several years, the film rights to Fallen Angel passed from hand to hand; eventually, Elliott Kastner approached Alan Parker to take on the project.
  • Part of the film was shot in New York, where production designer Brian Morris had to work hard not only to recreate the Harlem of the 1940s and early 50s as seen in old photographs, but also to give the sets the required color palette according to the creative vision. In Louisiana, the crew was partly lucky; many scenes with Lisa Bonet were filmed in the town of Thibodaux, which had changed little since those times. However, in New Orleans, a 1950s streetscape had to be rebuilt from scratch.
  • According to director and screenwriter Alan Parker (1944-2020), Robert De Niro played his character so convincingly that during filming, Parker felt uneasy around him and tried to keep his distance from the actor.
  • Shirley Stoller (1929-1999) was originally cast as the wife of George Buck's character, but she left the project after nearly drowning during the filming of a scene at Coney Island. She was replaced by Judith Drake, who Parker found even more suitable than Stoller. At the end of the scene, Stoller's voice can still be heard singing 'I Cried For You'.
  • In close-up shots, it can be noticed that the train Mickey Rourke's character takes to Louisiana is a prop—meaning it is non-functional—and that a real locomotive is pushing the train from behind.
  • When the protagonist, Harry Angel, finds Margaret Cruzemark (played by Charlotte Rampling) murdered, a close-up at approximately 71 minutes and 12 seconds (1:11:12) shows the victim's face and neck area. If you look closely, a beating pulse is visible, and the necklace on her neck clearly emphasizes the rhythmic pulse beats. Later, it becomes completely obvious that the character is dead and there could be no pulse, as the scene shows her removed heart.

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