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Cliff Gorman, Susan Tyrrell, Dick Shawn, Rory Calhoun, John Diehl ... see more see more... , Donna Wilkes , Donna McDaniel , Graem McGavin , Elaine Giftos , Mel Carter , Steven M. Porter , David Underwood , David Anthony , Ronnie Barron , Joshua Cadman , Marc Hayashi , Todd Hoffman , Peter Jason , Dennis Kort , Greg Lewis , Ken Olfson , Gene Ross , Joseph Michael Cala , Ross Hagen , Donna Fuller , Vincent J. Isaac , Dick Valentine , Chuck Lyles , Laura Sorenson

The original "honor student by day, hooker by night" melodrama, Angel stars Donna Wilkes in the title role. During the daylight hours, the 15-year-old Angel is known as Molly, a model prep school stud... read more read more...ent. Devoid of parents, Molly must find some way to keep up the cash flow, so she hits the Hollywood mean streets as a prostitute. While we thankfully don't see Angel "in action", as it were, the film makes up in violence what it lacks in raw sex. Psycho John Diehl is on the loose murdering prostitutes; detective Cliff Gorman tries to stem the murder spree, but soon the hooker ranks are sorely diminished, leaving Angel the next likely target. With the help of such friends as ex-cowboy star Rory Calhoun and transvestite Dick Shawn, Angel manages to avoid becoming a statistic. We're not giving anything away here: after all, there was a 1986 sequel, Avenging Angel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Flixster Users

48% liked it

716 ratings

R, 1 hr. 34 min.

Directed by: Robert Vincent O'Neill

Release Date: January 13, 1984

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DVD Release Date: January 1, 1998

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Stats: 71 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (71)

  • ajv2688
    April 27, 2011
    ajv2688
    I really liked this movie, it's exciting, dramatic, and quirky. The story is good, and the characters interesting. On the technical side, it could be better, like some good music could be added, but it's low budgetness makes is kinda cool too. Anyway I enjoyed it.
  • shitfaced8
    November 7, 2011
    shitfaced8
    Meh, this was alright, but I can't help but feel like they weren't sure if they were trying to make an 80's teen sex / dramedy or an exploitation slasher flick. The movie doesn't really suceed at doing either, but a rather enjoyable balance is met regardless. Angel is an A studen... read moret by day, but a hooker by night. When a maniac necrophiliac begins brutally murdering prostitutesm Angel takes it upon herself to seek justice. In the end not funny enough to be a comedy, not risque enough to be exploitation, to little nudity to fit properly into the teen sex genre, virtually no gore so it's not a horror movie. Really just a bizarre little footnote in the cannon of 80's cheese, but a pretty enjoyable one regardless. Definently worth a watch if you want something different, just not as good as I think it could have been . Was definently expecting a much darker comedy, and much more sleaze.
  • cacutshaw
    April 16, 2010
    cacutshaw
    Eighties cheese combined with eighties sleaze.  A terrible, but wonderful lead performance from Donna Wilkes as Angel/Molly, a student by day, prostitute by night that you never belive for one second.  Dick Shawn as her cross dressing maternal/paternal figure is excellent, though... read more I?ll always see Lorenzo Saint Dubois whenever I look at him with or without a dress.  An insanely entertaining insane killer has begun slicing up Angel?s workmates, and it?s up to her to take him down.  Loaded with great character actors (Rory Calhoun, Susan Tyrrell, Cliff Gorman) and awful dialogue, this is a great watch.
  • threefolddado
    July 9, 2008
    threefolddado
    Given the cast and subject matter, you think it would suck, but the original Angel is actually perverse fun.
  • fb137801577
    April 22, 2012
    fb137801577
    By 1984 Roger Corman had sold his company New World Pictures in order to start his other film company Concorde Pictures. Even with his presence and infinite wisdom gone the remaining team at New World had enough experience making entertaining cult exploitation pictures to still ... read moreproduce likeable cult ventures, without the guidance of Corman, proved by the 1984 sleeper hit "Angel".

    The name angel refers to the street name of our main character Molly Stewart (Donna Wilkes). Honor student by day, she hustles the streets of Hollywood Blvd by night to pay the bills after being abandoned by her parents. Shit turns worse when a serial killer starts brutally murdering her friends and she goes all Charles Bronson to take her revenge. Can a vice cop help her catch the killer while at the same time convincing her to get off the streets for good?

    For an exploitation picture, "Angel" is relatively well made with some good actors well handled by director Robert Vincent O'Neill. Sure the dialogue and gratuitous nudity can get in the way of its story telling (imagine an exploitation film doing that?!) but O'Neill is still able to craft empathy for our main character and her questionable moral decisions to get by.

    For me the best part of "Angel" is the colorful secondary characters that aid Angel in her goals and ambitions. We get Dick Shawn as the witty transvestite Mae, Susan Tyrrell as the Jewish dyke apartment manager Solly, Cliff Gorman as the respectable empathetic vice cop (with a crazy eye) and Steven M. Porter as yo-yo street entertainer Charlie. The real winner though is Rory Calhoun as Kit Carson, a loveable snile ex-western actor turned street entertainer. He totally owns the scenes that he is in.

    What helps "Angel" is that it strives to be more than just merely another exploitation picture by providing the audience with empathy for our lead character, a suspenseful killer and even some good old fashioned vengeful action with likeable secondary characters. At it's heart it's still an exploitation picture with some silted dialogue and a few subplots that go nowhere (what happened to Angel's guidance counselor?) that keep it from being better. "Angel" really struck a chord with the grindhouse audiences who in turn made the film a modest hit, paving the way for four sequels: "Avenging Angel", "Angel III: The Final Chapter" and "Angel 4: Undercover".
  • Sburt4
    December 21, 2007
    Sburt4
    There are two versions of the movie Angel. the theatrical
    release ( release on DVD and VHS) and the TV (cable)
    version - the one i am looking for - and which has never been released
    on video or dvd, but has been shown on cable.

    The TV version has new scenes .The version som... read moreetimes shown on commercial televison contains footage omitted from the theatrical release, most notably the epilogue sequence. In this scene, Lt. Andrews is driving Molly to his parents' house, where she'll now be living. Another scene that takes in the police station has Molly returning to Lt. Andrews' office to apologize for a rude remark ("You're just a damn cop!") she made earlier.

    anyone has this version recorded from TV and is willing to make me a copy of it
    on a dvd or vhs i will be grateful!! I am willing to trade for it. E-mail me at Sillygirl3452001@yahoo.com. thanks!
  • serena2u2
    May 17, 2007
    serena2u2
    a really great movie I watched as a teenager that shows you that you dont have it as bad as most.. really good movie

View All Angel Reviews

Critic Reviews

Scott Weinberg
July 25, 2002
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

Low-rent exploitation cheesiness ... but still fun in a dirty sort of way.

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
August 12, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Philip Martin
January 31, 2003
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

No review available.

David Poland
July 26, 2002
David Poland, Hot Button

No review available.

Geoff Andrew
June 24, 2006
Geoff Andrew, Time Out

Click to read the article Full Review

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