Getting an X rating on the movie Angel Heart with no appeal in a very rushed manner delivered a strong blunt message to director Alan Parker and his lead, Mickey Rourke. They didn’t like the type of movie they were making and the spats that defined Rourkes early career could well have played in (if you believe that his arguments where not a cover for something else that is) so it didn’t find an audience which is a huge shame. It’s excellent.

Mickey Rourke, the Angel Faced star who was often compared to Brando became the ultimate Hollywood fall from grace and the redemption.

Just like The Wrestler, Angel Heart mirrors the life of Mickey Rourke. With speculation that Rourke has undergone surgery as complex as a face transplant, the alchemy involving the shifted identity in Angel Heart is all the more baffling all these years later.

Lisa Bonet (also known  as Lilakoi Moon) who plays a very young love interest to Rourkes  effectively ended her family friendly image which manifested in the terminating of her Cosby Show contract.

“No matter how cleverly you sneak up on a mirror, your reflection always looks you straight in the eye.”, Louis Cyphre (Lucifer)

The above line is one of a hoard of philosophical canon decreed by Robert De Niro’s progressive puppet master Louis Cyphre to scruffy P.I Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke). Wrapped up in these cryptic statement is the hidden key to director Alan Parker’s perfect grimy marriage of noir, authentic modern witchcraft, horror and the start of a covertly planned 20 year journey for Mickey Rourke.

Angel Heart took its inspiration from many movies before it in ways not imagined. The themes in Angel Heart were a precursor to what only a handful of insiders will have been aware of, Mickey Rourkes 20 year secret journey home.

The billing of Robert De Niro as “Special Appearance” is just one of the many oddities with a movie that’s as much a delightful conundrum as it is a masterpiece.