Avenging Angel (1985)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Such a frustrating disappointment

A Major Disappointment

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Rory Calhoun, Susan Tyrell, and Steven M. Porter are back in the roles they played in the first Angel movie. Moving into the title role because it's now years since the teen was hooking on Hollywood Boulevard is Betsy Russell. After going through college and law school Russell is back on the street with a vengeance because her savior and mentor from the first film now played by Robert F. Lyons is killed in a shootout with some mobsters. Even though it has only been one calendar year since the first Angel film and no disclaimer about this being sometime in the near future.Lyons was on to a scheme for the mob to buy with their usual tactics of persuasion for the owners huge parcels of real estate on Hollywood Boulevard. But the denizens there like their seedy street the way it is. Never mind that Russell and her posse are going to take matters into their own hands if the law doesn't do anything about a cop killing which I find hard to believe.Angel was a delicious and campy bit of sleaze and this one follows in the tradition. I have to give big kudos to Rory Calhoun who looked like he was having a great old time burlesquing his own western hero image. A lot of Rooster Cogburn in Calhoun's portrayal, all he needed was the eye patch.Avenging, sweet and fun trash.

Wow, Molly Stewart, AKA former prostitute 'Angel', sure has changed in the three or four years since she quit hooking on the Boulevard: now played by Betsy Russell (replacing winsome Donna Wilkes, star of the first film), she's gained a couple of cup sizes, developed longer legs, sports an impressive perm, and is training to be a lawyer, thanks to the help of her guardian, Hollywood vice cop Lt. Andrews (Robert F. Lyons).Molly's new life goes on hold, however, after Andrews is shot dead by gangsters; teaming up with her old pals, aging cowboy Kit Carson (Rory Calhoun) and lesbian landlady Solly Mosler (Susan Tyrell), she once again walks the sleazy sidewalks of Hollywood as Angel, this time looking for revenge.For this cheesy sequel to his 1984 exploitation movie Angel, director Robert Vincent O'Neill throws any sense of realism in the nearest side-alley dumpster, opting instead for a much campier approach, his eccentric misfit characters even more exaggerated than before, his villains ridiculously reprehensible, and the violence about as cartoonish as it gets.The film begins promisingly enough, with a car full of gangsters loading their weapons while heading downtown to 'off' a big-breasted undercover cop (who is busy taking a shower, natch!), a blaring Bronski Beat soundtrack giving everything that delightfully tacky 80s vibe. When the killers make their move, they blast their victims in the guts, resulting in some messy squib-work. Unfortunately, after this impressive opening, everything gets rather too comical for my liking (Rory Calhoun riding a gurney like a rodeo champ, as Angel and Solly bust him out of a sanitarium being the most cringe-worthy moment).Still, even though Avenging Angel lacks the gritty edge that I generally look for in my vigilante/revenge flicks, and gets really, really dumb towards the end, the ever present sight of the delectable Miss Russell in a series of tight-as-you-like outfits, including a very sexy nurse get-up, makes the film just about bearable (no nudity from the star, but hey, I've always got her 1983 film Private School for that!).

"Avenging Angel" is a worthy, but different sequel to "Angel". The same seedy Hollywood Boulevard locations, are again used to great advantage. Betsy Russell plays "Angel" this time,and along with her street comrades, Rory Calhoun and Susan Tyrrell, they go after the mobsters who killed their friend, Lt. Andrews ( Robert F. Lyons). Karin Mani has a brief, but memorable nude shower scene, Robert Tessier is a helpful tattoo artist, while Ossie Davis plays a police captain. The movie has moments of welcome humor, especially relating to springing Rory Calhoun from a sanitarium. Sure the violence is cartoon-like, but "Avenging Angel" is entertaining, and that's really all that matters. - MERK

At the beginning there is some promise to this sequel - there's a little zip, some decent exploitation, and it seems there will be more of an actual plot this time. Alas, as soon as Angel swears vengeance and hits the streets again, all the positive stuff generated up to that point is quickly flushed down the toilet. The production values barely meet that of a television drama of the time, there is more blatant and utterly unfunny comic relief (Calhoun really embarrasses himself), and the story moves at a snail's-pace, with only occasional (and dreary) "action" sequences. And once again, street-life is portrayed as being not all that bad, so much so that it too promotes boredom. Don't bother!