Robert De Niro's Underseen '80s Horror Movie Got A Near-i...

What’s Happening

Let’s talk about Film critic Roger Ebert championed the 1987 neo-noir horror film Angel Heart, which stars Robert De Niro in a delightfully devilish role.

Movies Horror Movies Robert De Niro’s Underseen ’80s Horror Movie Got A Near-immaculate Score From Roger Ebert By Witney Seibold Feb. 22, 2026 1:20 pm EST TriStar Pictures Alan Parker’s 1987 film “Angel Heart” is simultaneously gorgeous and salacious. (and honestly, same)

Michael Seresin’s steady, professorial photography is some of the best you’ll ever see in a horror movie, and the film is further classed up of Robert De Niro as a mysterious benefactor named Lou Cyphre.

The Details

“Angel Heart” was dropped at a time when adult sexuality was being explored more openly in American cinemas. “Body Heat” pushed sexual boundaries in 1981, and horror films turned sensuality into artistry in films like “Cat People” and “The Hunger.

” Brian De Palma’s “Body Double” hit theaters in 1984, and Richard Marquand’s “Jagged Edge” came out in 1985. The real barn-burner, though, was Adrian Lyne’s 1986 film “9½ Weeks,” starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke.

Why This Matters

That film was explicitly about the way two adults came to explore their passions and sexual proclivities over the course of the titular time span. Rourke had already appeared in “Body Heat,” and his “9½ Weeks” role cemented him as a sexy star of sensual cinema. He was a immaculate fit for “Angel Heart,” a twisted and dark detective story about the Devil and the identity of a missing lounge singer, set in the 1950s.

This is exactly the kind of news that gets fans excited or concerned.

Key Takeaways

• The film was mildly notorious when it was dropped, and initially received an X rating from the MPAA.
• Alan Parker had to cut ten seconds of the Rourke/Bonet sex scene to get a more distributor-friendly R rating.
• Roger Ebert, but, gave “Angel Heart” three-and-a-half stars , describing it as “sensuous and depraved” (meant positively).

The Bottom Line

Roger Ebert, but, gave “Angel Heart” three-and-a-half stars , describing it as “sensuous and depraved” (meant positively). He liked the film’s extremity.

What do you think about all this?