Angel (1984)

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

A fifteen year old high school student with great grades is also a hooker at night on Sunset Blvd. The fact that she is played by a 25 year old woman is besides the point, I guess. There is a nut case out killing whores and so she is on the list of course. The creep kills one of her fellow pros. So there is fear on the streets. Dick Shawn plays a transvestite who also works the streets, loves Angel like a sister, and ends up getting killed by said psycho. This sets Angel off and she gets a gun and goes looking for the killer. He attacks her, she gets rescued and starts stalking him. Running him down she takes a couple of shots at him but he ends up getting gunned down by a street performer played pretty well by of all people Rory Calhoun.

Just one look at the poster for this film, which depicts its winsome star Donna Wilkes both as pig-tailed, 15-year-old high-school student Molly and hot-pants wearing Hollywood hooker Angel, and it is clear that the film has bags of sleazy potential: after all, isn't under-age prostitution always a winner? Factor in the film's vicious serial killer angle, the seedy locale, and a whole menagerie of LA weirdos, and this could easily have been an essential slice of hard-hitting 80s exploitation. Sadly, this is not quite the case...If one is to believe Angel's writer/director Robert Vincent O'Neill, Hollywood Boulevard circa 1984 was a gaudy wonderland where, even if one's dreams didn't come true, there was still friendship to be found among the kind-hearted hookers and lovable oddballs who walked the streets at night; psycho killer aside, everyone in the film is essentially a good soul despite their outwards appearance or dubious life choices. While O'Neill's rather rose-tinted view of Hollywood and his affection for his characters gives the film heart, it also seriously undermines its ability to act as a truly gritty shocker.Particularly notable is the reluctance to depict Angel actually plying her trade, as if doing so might make the viewer less sympathetic towards her plight; she spends most of her time chatting to friends, and the one time she actually picks up a john, the scene is cut short before any hanky panky can take place (in fact, virtually all the nudity in this film occurs in the girls locker room at Angel's high school, and none of it is from Wilkes!). O'Neill also kindly spares his viewers the pain of seeing any of the oh-so-undeserving murder victims dispatched in detail, meaning that the film is disappointingly light on gore.The good news is that, even though Angel frustratingly wimps out on the stronger stuff, thereby denying it legendary status, the film still offers plenty for it to warrant a viewing: John Diehl makes for a convincingly deranged killer; Susan Tyrrell, Dick Shawn, and Rory Calhoun give strong supporting performances; cinematographer Andrew Davis effectively captures Hollywood's seamy vibe; and last but not least, there's the undeniable appeal of Donna Wilkes who, whether in school uniform or slutty work attire, looks gorgeous throughout.

*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*I bought this video for three bucks. You don't know how long I've been staring at the video box cover of "Angel" and wondering when I was going to get around to watching it. The front cover of "Angel" is pure exploitation. It has Angel on the left side of the cover wearing pigtails and holding some schoolbooks. The right side of the front cover has Angel in high heels and a short red skirt. The tag line is "High School Honor Student by day. Hollywood Hooker by night." Classic! This is a film that no sleazy film lover could possibly resist.One thing you can say about the tag line for "Angel": It didn't lie. So Angel is a high school honor student by day and a Hollywood hooker by night. She hangs out with other ladies of the night and tries to earn some money. A mad killer is stalking Hollywood Blvd. and wants to slice and dice some hookers. Angel won't stand for it. She's got a gun that's bigger than she is and she can't wait to use it.Well, I wanted to love this movie but it just wasn't sleazy enough for me. I should have known the video box cover was too good to be true. The main problem with "Angel" is that Angel does not get naked. Does NOT get naked. I found this to be troublesome since she was supposed to be a Hollywood hooker. Not only that, she doesn't have any sex scenes in the entire movie. No sex scenes for a Hollywood hooker movie? She even says at one point, "I've had sex with hundreds of men…" When was that Angel? Was that in a different movie? Why is Angel being so shy?That's the basic problem with "Angel". It's trying to be a real movie when it should have been sticking to being extra sleazy. "Angel" gets pretty emotional for a Hollywood hooker flick. Angel tends to cry a lot about her family life or lack thereof. Not to seem heartless but I don't really want to see Angel weeping uncontrollably. There are a few scenes of gratuitous female nudity at the high school locker room and some decent fight scenes but overall "Angel" was kind of a letdown.Great video box cover. So-so B-flick.

Pure 80's exploitation, I remember (sadly) at the age of 9, after seeing this film that being a hooker might be fun, as this movie so plainly tries to make it out to be, as long as you dodge knife-wielding psychos & make sure you get straight A's & make sure your "two worlds don't collide"! Yes,I'm being sarcastic but i truly love this & the other great hookers-in-peril 80's film Vice Squad (which is a way more serious film). Donna Wilkes ( who in my opinion should have stayed in the business, she was a very good actress.) is in fine form as the main character Angel, the high school honor student by day, Hollywood Blvd hooker by night whose 2 worlds start to collide as a psycho with a knife starts to target her hooker comrades (one who is played very well by another underrated B-movie actress from the 80's & also one half of the Motley Crue backup vocalist group named the Nasty Habits, that toured with the Crue in the late 80's on their Girls Girls Girls tour, Donna McDanel)& as she's the only one to witness the guy picking up her soon to be murdered friend, the police want to her to identify him.Also, great is the late actors Rory Calhoun & the truly wonderful Dick Shawn (in one of the truly greatest drag queen performances of all time)as her friends from the street who think her mom's an invalid & she hooks to help them both survive. Also great is Susan Tyrell as Sally the landlady. The only thing that disappointed me about this films( as their were like 4 or 5 more sequels) is that they always replaced the actress to play the character of Angel with a different actress each time. Why didn't they just get Donna Wilkes? Betsy Russell, nor Mitzi Kapture did her justice not the way Ms Wilkes did. If you like 80's cult films this is a must-see. I must say though when I moved to Hollywood for a brief period in 2000 & in 2001, I never saw any prostitutes on Hollywood Blvd not like all of the ones i saw in 80's films?????? **** out of *****