Reviews (7)

God-worshipping demons in hell anybody?
Dark Angel: The Ascent is about a demonness from hell named Veronica who wishes to explore the world above. Born and raised in hell, she has never experienced the pleasures of life on earth. Against her father's wishes, she makes "The Ascent" to earth and finds herself naked in a dark alleyway. She soon gets hit by a car and finds herself in the hospital to be tended to by a doctor named Max. Max brings Veronica into his home and Veronica, by watching local news on T.V. realizes earth is filled with evildoers. Soon, Veronica goes on a murderous vigilante rampage to rid the city of scum, including the town's crooked mayor.

Another decent release by Full Moon, the studio that put out a plethora of quality straight-to-vid B-movie horror in the 90's. The budget here is limited but it is exactly this that helps lend the film its atmospheric and surreal feeling. Many scenes like those in hell, in dark alleyways, in graveyards are dark and chilling even though they often look too much like a set. It's a bit of a hard film to categorize, starts off with many elements of the fantastic while they're in hell, then switches to a gory horror film and towards the end in the last 1/3 of the film becomes a hokey love story that puts aside its horror elements completely. This is certainly not a film that takes itself seriously and capitalizes on this with an injection of clever humour and intentional puns.

Dark Angel does fall prey to its low-budget trappings eventually though. For one, isn't it odd that the city they're in is obviously Eurpopean in its architecture and style (it's actually filmed in Romania) yet all the actors have American accents? And strangely, the acting is actually decent except that is, for the title character, played by Angela Featherstone. You see, her looks are perfect for the role; shoulder-length red hair, blue eyes, clear skin, and a hypnotic gaze. Whenever she opens her mouth however it becomes absolutely painful. I understand that being from hell and not accustomed to earth she was expected to act robotically to a certain extent but that is not an excuse for her wretched performance in this film. If you want an example of this being well done then look no further than Natasha Henstridge in "Species", Featherstone's performance however is a disaster. I'm surprised she got any other film roles after this. Still recommended overall, it's a flawed film that certainly has many b-movie charms and interesting ideas.

She's an Angel....
Dark Angel was produced in 1994 by Full Moon Entertainment, a low budget horror house. I love this movie. Full Moon does a fair amount of crap, but sometimes - like this one - the lack of a serious budget forces the filmmakers to be really ingenious in compensation, and they turn out some surprisingly affecting work.

Dark Angel, subtitled The Ascent, stars Angela Featherstone. In case you're not familiar with the name, you might have seen her as Jess, Ben Stiller's girlfriend in The Zero Effect, or Nikki, the punked-out lesbian all over Eliza Dushku (and who can blame her?) in Soul Survivors. Probably best know as Chloe the "Xerox girl" who got between Ross and Rachel on Friends.

In Dark Angel, Angela plays Veronica, a teenaged demon from Hell who's always wondered about the world above. Her father is one of Hell's most fearsome torturers, and so impatient with her curiosity - demons have been forbidden by Heaven to ascend into the "real world" - that in a fit of rage he tries to kill her. She flees, ascends, and finds herself on the streets of a modern American city.

There are so many things to like about this movie. The view of Hell, and the demons' relationship to God and Heaven, is fascinating. The demons don't see themselves as being in opposition to Heaven, they have crosses in their rooms and worship God. Angels from Heaven visit Hell to give them orders. They have their place in God's plan, and their mission is to punish sinners.

And that's what Veronica, like any good demon, does in the world above. In one incredible scene she comes upon two police officers doing a Rodney King style beating on a black man. (Only, unlike Rodney King, this guy didn't have it coming, he was just some innocent guy out walking around.) The conversation between Veronica and one of the officers goes something like this:

"There's nothing to see here, miss. Just move along."

"And allow you to continue to abuse this man?"

"How would you like to spend the night in jail on a prostitution charge?"

"How would you like to die in a state of mortal sin?"

Veronica kills them both. She's a serial killer, her victims the sinners of the city, offed in various gory fashions. The sort of stuff that makes front page news. This, of course, attracts the attentions of the police. Two good cops, interviewing local residents in the course of their investigation, question Veronica. It goes something like this:

"We're just questioning everyone in the neighborhood. There were a couple of murders that occurred last night..."

"Good."

"What do you mean, 'good?' We're talking about men being murdered."

"How do you know they were not sinners?"

"These men were ripped apart. No one deserves to die like that."

"You have no idea how ugly sin is in the eyes of God."

What makes this scene simultaneously hilarious and creepy as hell (pun intended) is the reaction of the cops and the total calm certainty in Veronica's voice. Because while she sounds like the Son of Sam killer and the cops are looking at each other, thinking dee-doo-dee-doo-dee-doo-dee-doo, we know she's speaking the absolute literal truth. When Vernoica says these men died because sin is ugly in the eyes of God, she KNOWS.

And yet, for all this, Dark Angel is, at its core, a really sweet love story. I kid you not. There are moments in this film that are just beautiful, both visually and emotionally.

Angela Featherstone in the role of Veronica is the linchpin of the movie, and she carries it off wonderfully. Her normally blond hair is dyed red for this role. Combined with her pale skin and blue eyes, she's amazingly striking. Her eyes are so blue - and I have no idea if this was accomplished with contact lenses or it's her natural eye color - they really play that up in the movie. When Veronica is feeling angry or amorous, with absolutely no special effects other than expert lighting, her blue eyes seem to glow.

I give this movie my highest recommendation. If you have any liking at all for the genre, you will love it.

Dark Angel ROCKS!!!!!!!!
Life is hell for Veronica Iscariot. Unlike her underworld brethren, the sultry demon takes no pleasure in tormenting the eternally damned. However when Veronica leaves Hell in search of salvation, things take an evil turn. The land of the living is polluted with corruption, and the self-righteous she-demon feels compelled to put things right.
Along with her bloodthirsty hound Hellraiser, Veronica delivers powerful retribution, unceremoniously tearing the wicked and the unforgiven limb from limb.
Only one person stands in the way of the rising body count-Dr. Max Harris, a handsome young surgeon with a pure heart. When he and Veronica fall in love, their innocent romance quickly turns into a sinful adventure as the couple becomes intwined in a supernatural struggle for Veronica's very soul.

Dark Angel:Ascent - Spellbinding
I've seen this movie several times and it always spellbinds me. The beauty of Veronica, the characterizations of the police officers and the reactions of those who realize who she is make you want to see what happens next. She is a dark angel, but what she does really is deserved by the "victims." I am sure there are lots of religious issues here and have sent the review to a former priest friend of mine to get his reactions !

An oddity that stands out
DARK ANGEL: THE ASCENT stands out as one of the few really good demon films on the market, not to mention one of the better Full Moon films available.

The movie stars Angela Featherstone as Veronica, a late teen (how old is that in demon years?) she-devil who sneaks out of the Underworld to check out Earth. Once there, she meets a wormy doctor named Max, whom she falls in love with on her time off from punishing sinners. There are lots of cheesy moments in this filck. At one point in the movie two men are trying to steal a woman's purse; one of the attacker's outfits changes between frames (I guess he spilled coffee on himself during a shooting break). Some slow comic relief attempts are made when an oddly dubbed police chief sends two bumbling detectives after Veronica. Following her is easy, of course, since her Sasquach-size footprints are hard to miss (I always thought demons had hoves or bird-like claws). Other visual treats include Veronica's grouchy demon father who has really bad table manners and brings home the bacon by chopping off the the tongues of liars in the Pit. The Pit itself is well-depicted. There's lots of fire, plus the ocassional whip cracking in the background, followed predictably by screams of agony that come off as humorous rather than horrifying.

This Full Mooner would have been great material for Mystery Science Theater 3000, because it's corny at times yet enjoyable enough to watch on its own. My main complaints about this film are the woodeny acting and the dry, Star Wars-quality script. That said, it has some redeming qualities that make up for its shortcomings. The soundtrack befits the movie and adds emotion to the scenes, many of which are extremely well-shot (director Linda Hassani did a nice job directing this flick). The Romanian city that serves as the film's set adds the final touch by giving the movie a slightly gothic, artsy atmosphere.

So, even if you are not an unfortunate guy stuck on a satellite with nothing to do besides watch bad movies with your robot pals, DARK ANGEL is likely to be worth your time. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Playboy - Inside Out 1
This is worth it, if only for the short directed by Alexander Payne (Election). It's hysterically funny! In it a woman drifts into sleep while fantasizing about numerous oddball men coming into her room and doing things to her (such as pouring cream corn over her body). Great work! If you're only into the "erotica" though, you may as well look elsewhere. The only originality here comes from Mr. Payne's sharp wit. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Playboy - Inside Out 1
This is worth it, if only for the short directed by Alexander Payne (Election). It's hysterically funny! In it a woman drifts into sleep while fantasizing about numerous oddball men coming into her room and doing things to her (such as pouring cream corn over her body). Great work! If you're only into the "erotica" though, you may as well look elsewhere. The only originality here comes from Mr. Payne's sharp wit. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Playboy - Inside Out 1
This is worth it, if only for the short directed by Alexander Payne (Election). It's hysterically funny! In it a woman drifts into sleep while fantasizing about numerous oddball men coming into her room and doing things to her (such as pouring cream corn over her body). Great work! If you're only into the "erotica" though, you may as well look elsewhere. The only originality here comes from Mr. Payne's sharp wit. ... Read more