On A List of Movie Reviews
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Angel (1984)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
4/20
4/20:
Angel is a film that caught my attention during the 80's but didn't persuade me enough to see it in spite of
the tagline: "High School Honor Student by Day. Hollywood Hooker by Night."
After seeing it, the hooker part is definitely way off because Angel is never shown naked, turning tricks for "hundreds of
men," or doing anything of that kind. And strangely, at the same time, a score of high school females appear fully naked
in locker rooms and showers. So, what gives?
Donna Wilkes was obviously too old to play a fifteen-year-old girl when she was 25. Or is it 24? or 23? It's one fact
that nobody got straight. The copious amounts of makeup on her sandpaper face are bad enough to look at, hence the
overall lack of believability.
John Diehl is the killer. He's well known for Miami Vice but left the TV show at its peak for Hollywood (or is it
theater?). If it's the former, John Diehl should've learned his lesson that if he can't make his villain be at least
memorable, then he just doesn't have the goods.
The weirdest is the sight of two ugly drag queens who are played by Dick Shawn and Susan Tyrrell. Added into the mix is Rory
Calhoun, a washed-up 20's-40's Western actor. So, I guess they give the film energy to be passable enough which did
surprisingly well at the box office by taking in $17.5 million against a budget of $3 million and therefore spawned three
sequels with a different actress for Angel each time.
All in all, the tagline did a lot for Angel which is otherwise a cheap, mediocre "sex"ploitation picture.