Angel Heart

Life is a twisted mess when you sell your soul to the devil.

Angel Heart is a mysterious, dark tale that includes voodoo and satanism with a backdrop of New Orleans and Harlem. The film stars Mickey Rourke, one of my all time favorite actors in one of his very best performances. As always, he is able to create a character with multiple layers, through facial expression,  body language, inflections in his voice and complex delivery of his lines. Robert De Niro plays a supporting role. Although his screen time is rather short, his performance is extremely memorable and creepy. 

Angel Heart was directed by Alan Parker (Fame and The Commitments) who masterfully constructs a world that pulls the viewer in through intriguing visuals and strange clues. Parker causes the viewer to have an unsettling feeling; he creates intangible evil currents which wax and wane throughout the telling of the tale. 

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Coffy

Revenge is sweet, bitter and black like Coffy.

Coffy (1973) stars Pam Grier (Jackie Brown), along with Sid Haig (House of 1000 Corpses) and other seasoned actors. The acting in the film is sensational and  adds to the powerful script that is funny, action-packed and disturbing. Pam Grier believably portrays Coffy, a bad-ass woman that is sexy, smart and tough. 

Coffy is out to settle the score after her kid sister gets hooked on smack. Coffy hunts down the guilty drug pushers and takes the law in her own hands to get even. After a violent attack on her friend, she decides to infiltrate the mob in order to bring down the whole drug cartel. Coffy uses her seductive ways to earn trust within the tight circle. She is willing to stop at nothing to achieve her goal. 

The film contains great dialogue and outrageous costumes. The character King George, who is a pimp, looks the part in form fitting jumpsuits, platform shoes, hats, etc.  Coffy wears low-cut dresses, go-go boots, etc. The film is a wonderful time capsule of early 70's fashion. 

Coffy was written and directed by Jack Hill, who was also the man behind Foxy Brown and one of my all time favorite movies, Switchblade Sisters. 

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Duel

Terror on the road. After this movie you may never want to drive again.

Duel stars Dennis Weaver, who plays an average salesman that's just trying to travel from point A to B. However, what he didn't plan on was, between these points, the open road can be a dangerous place. He unwillingly becomes part of a cat and mouse game, where the terrorizer is an enormous truck. Dennis Weaver masterfully portrays his role with pure terror, confusion, comedy and lots of sweat.

Duel was Steven Spielberg's full length feature debut and has common threads to his later films. Even in this early work, Spielberg was able to build tension without showing too much. He offers us a character that we immediately can identify with, which draws us into the story and causes us to sit on the edge of our seats.

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Mommie Dearest

No more wire hangers, EVER!!! 

Mommie Dearest is based on the book of the same name, written by Joan Crawford's adopted daughter Christina. According to the book, Joan Crawford terrorized her two adopted children through horrific verbal, mental and physical abuse. The whole premise of a famous Hollywood legend, behaving in such a way, already laid the ground work for a larger than life story. Then to top it off, Crawford was a neat freak who wanted to control the world around her; which lead her to command all night cleaning and gardening sessions. The transformation of the written story to the big screen had the addition of heavy lipstick, big hair and sparkling evening gowns; therefore the camp meter was bound to go up. 

Faye Dunaway portrays Joan Crawford in an amazing, over-the-top performance that is pure camp. Her melodramatic performance is extremely rememberable, quite terrifying and down right hilarious. Dunaway just assume forget about this role, but the fans love her performance. 

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