An ancient evil entity named Lilith is reborn and assumes the shape of an incredibly sexy young woman (German-born Isa Jank, "The Wrong Guys"). Lilith proceeds to aggressively contrive her way towards being the cover girl for a fashion magazine called "Siren"; meanwhile, she goes about seducing and destroying various horny and mindless men. A virtuous employee named Craig (Linden Ashby, 'Melrose Place') doesn't like what she does to the office, so he teams up with a savvy old woman (Helen Martin, '227') to vanquish the demon. He also takes the time to romance Kirstie (Debra Feuer, "To Live and Die in L.A."), the sister of his boss Rita (Karen Black, "House of 1000 Corpses")."Night Angel" is acceptable cheese ball fare, no more and no less, yet it does still hit the spot fairly well for anybody who's got a soft spot for this kind of thing. It's got plenty of lovely ladies and sex scenes to keep the audience satisfied, as well as some wonderfully garish makeup FX by Steve Johnson ("Night of the Demons"). It does improve as it goes along, leading to a major set piece of atmosphere and effects; the most memorable bit of business takes place around the 56 minute mark. Dominique Othenin-Girard ("Halloween 5") directs adequately, giving us enough "good" stuff to prevent our minds from wandering too much.The delectable Ms. Jank, most of whose acting credits consist of TV appearances in her native country, does seem to be enjoying this moment in the spotlight. The rest of the cast is passable, if not inspired, although it's nice to see veteran character actress Martin in an actual heroic role. (At first, you think she's just some sort of pest.) Notable creature performer Doug Jones ("The Shape of Water") has his second credited acting role as shameless horndog Ken. Also appearing are Gary Hudson ("Road House"), Sam Hennings ("Seedpeople"), Twink Caplan ("Clueless"), and Phil Fondacaro ("Troll"). Roscoe Lee Browne ("The Cowboys") does the opening narration. Hennings bares enough of a resemblance to Klaus Kinski to be good for some chuckles.All in all, an agreeable watch. It's worth sticking with just to hear that end credits song belted out by none other than Screaming Jay Hawkins!Six out of 10.
... View MoreLovely and lethal succubus Lilith (a spot-on smoldering portrayal by gorgeous brunette knockout Isa Jank) poses as the cover girl for a popular fashion magazine as means of seducing and destroying men. It's up to nice guy art director Craig (a solid and likeable performance by Linden Ashby) to stop her. Director Dominique Othenin-Girard relates the original and absorbing story at a brisk pace, ably crafts a strong sensual'n'spooky ooga-booga atmosphere (a descent into a deliriously lust-crazed hell in which a wild anything-goes orgy occurs rates as a definite trippy highlight), and delivers several startling moments of nasty gore. The clever and inspired script by Joe Augustyn and Walter Josten makes nice use of the fiercely competitive world of fashion modeling. The bang-up cast keeps this movie humming: Debra Feuer adds plenty of winning spark as the sassy Kirstie, Helen Martin contributes a spirited turn as feisty voodoo lady Sadie, Karen Black does her usual fine work as agency head Rita, Doug Jones amuses as geeky horndog Ken, and Gary Hudson jerks it up well as the smarmy Rod. The glossy cinematography by David Lewis provides a striking stylish look. Kudos are also in order for Steve Johnson's marvelously grotesque make-up f/x. An unjustly neglected sleeper.
... View More"Night Angel" is an okay horror film.**SPOILERS**Lilith, (Isa Andersen) an ancient demon, is reborn in the present as a young woman. She starts going on a killing spree, which worries the head of a fashion magazine, Rita, (Karen Black) as all the victims are employees. Craig, (Linden Ashby) the staff photographer, caught between Lilith and Kirstie, (Debra Feuer) Rita's sister, and as the murders of the magazine's staff turn to the various models on staff, he can't help but notice that Lilith is always close to the murders. When she starts dictating staff policies and directions, he fully believes that Lilith is something else and tries to stop her.The Good News: I was actually surprised to find a few things in here that were really good. The film has some gore effects in here, including a nifty slit throat, a heart pulled out, and some glass shards slicing up the leg. There are some other kills in here, but those are the ones that feature the best effects on display. The finale also has some great moments in it, including the final incarnation of Lilith, who looks quite impressive and the design is pretty well-executed. The lead-up is excellent, with an extended series of chases inside a forest. These are the highlights of the movie, as it features some nice deaths, effects, and even a couple moments of mild suspense thrown in as well. One provides a cheap jump, as we focus on one person, running around in the dark, with it being silent as well, until a character jumps out and grabs them. It's quite a nice scene, and the set-up for a pretty entertaining finale. The frequent hallucinations and dreams throughout are pretty inventive and quite creative. The middle one, with a series of freaky images that meld perfectly into the tone of the movie, borders slightly on the comical but is capable of getting some small creeps in. It's a pretty nice sequence.The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot of convincing elements in here that indicate this would really happen. It doesn't make any real sense as to why a creature of such power as Lilith demonstrates in the film would chose to take the route she takes. It's basically just a series of events strung together to see how much nudity they can get away with before they're required to kill someone off. As usual with these kinds of films, when there's no kills or nudity on screen, it can be taxing to keep interested in what's going on at times, due to the nonsensical happenings on display. A demon with unlimited powers in the universe takes over a glamor magazine to take over the world? It's quite a stretch to believe that, and as such, there's not a large amount done to make it believable. It sort of happens, and the characters have to deal with it when they finally discover what's going on. Aside from the finale and a key sequence in the middle that is pretty nice, there's next to no action in here, and that leaves the film with another strike against it. Add to that the fact that most of the technical merits here are questionable at best and it's a little more than below average.The Final Verdict: It's not a total waste, but most of it's good parts is towards the end, so the beginning can be quite the pain. It's an all right film, but not that special. Worth a look for fans of the genre, but others should exceed with caution.Rated R: Full female and rear male Nudity, Graphic Violence, some language and a couple sex scenes
... View MoreA demon assumes the guise of a woman and becomes an editor at a fashion magazine. She lures men into her spell and then kills them. Not much of a premise and with rather poor acting, but the director makes this work. The effects have style and look rather good, the sets are creative, and the photography is inventive. The lead looks her part very well, but just can't act to save her life.Rated R; Violence, Nudity, and Sexual Situations.
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