Angel Heart

Angel Heart is a 1987 psychological mystery-horror film written and directed by Alan Parker and starring Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, and Lisa Bonet based on the 1978 novel Falling Angel.

Plot
In 1955, private detective Harry Angel gets a strange assignment one day, a strange man named Louis Cyphre offers him a large sum of money to track down John Liebling, otherwise known by his stage name Johnny Favorite, who disappeared mysteriously on New Years Eve 1943. As he investigates this case, Harry finds himself plagued by bizarre nightmares, witnessing strange, brutal murders, and aspects of the disappearance that can't quite be explained logically.

Why it Rocks

 * 1) Great acting all around, especially from all the names mentioned above, with Mickey Rourke selling his character's uncertainty very well.
 * 2) Interesting storyline, one that goes from realistic to partially supernatural as it goes along, which is pretty interesting to witness.
 * 3) A well done unnerving atmosphere throughout, helped by the dark lighting, often grungy environments, and soundtrack that's both reminiscent of the time and legitimately disturbing. Playing heartbeats throughout might sound cliche, but it's quite useful in this context and makes the atmosphere more disturbing.
 * 4) Great production value that shows both 1950s New York and New Orleans quite well and realistically.
 * 5) The depictions of Hell, though few and far between, are pretty unique and interesting.
 * 6) Beautiful cinematography that, though they had to simplify it a little at times, still looks great and does a good job setting up the environments with a wide variety of different sets.
 * 7) A shocking twist near the end that makes sense as you go back and examine both Harry's actions and the bizarre happenings of the movie, as well as making the movie even more supernatural.
 * 8) A disturbing examination of religion that helps to set up the tone of the film and the supernatural aspects.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) While the story is interesting, the screenplay is kind of off-balance, having the story build up a bit too slowly and having some major aspects happen a little too suddenly. It has some convoluted parts and some parts with a lot of exposition.
 * 2) Spoilers: Plenty of plot holes throughout.
 * 3) Who was the dead man in the beginning?
 * 4) How and when did Margaret die?
 * 5) How was Ethan murdered when the killer wasn't in the same room? Unless he killed him and then went back?
 * 6) Did a 9-month period pass between the last time Harry saw Epiphany and her death? Because she had a child by then, though everybody behaves like it was within the same day.
 * 7) A sex scene between Harry and Epiphany feels pretty unnecessary and gratuitous, especially considering it had to be significantly cut to avoid an X rating.
 * 8) The violence can also feel unnecessary and gratuitous at times.