Dark Angel: The Ascent

This film makes me appreciate B films as an art form in themselves. Not trying to compete with personalities, fx and budget, but shining with soul and force of character.

I am somewhat of a B Movie junkie. I've seen this film about 4 times. The first time I saw it I was 15(Late Night Cable). I was hypnotized by the innocence of a demonic being and the depth of the story line. It was one of the best B movies I had ever seen even now 7years later. Featherstone wasn't playing apart she was the part of a beautiful demonic angel full of innocence and bloody justice. Her character made the movie and having a good script to work with didn't hurt either.

Is it so hard to believe that God runs Hell, Demons are God fearing, and we suffer for our sins until we realize and repent. If I wasn't such a sinner I'd ask God for a job.

If you haven't seen it see it, if you didn't like or even appreciate it for what it was you weren't really watching it.

Here's a concept for you, Hell is run by God. In this movie Hell is a place where sinners are punished by "demons" who worship, and work for, God. Our heroine, Veronica, is a demon born in Hell and raised by God fearing parents to punish sinners until they repent. As she comes of age she wonders why people are only punished after they die, she wants to know why the wicked are not punished before they can do more evil, thus lessening the sins upon their souls and reducing the pain and suffering of others. Veronica slips out of Hell and ascends to the mortal realm only to find it is literally brimming with sinners of the worst kind. Upon learning that sins are not only ignored but often encouraged in the mortal realm she sets out to set people back on the straight and narrow, with appropriately gory results.

What could be considered the typical occult, horror, monster movie actually transforms itself into something quite different and with positive outcomes. Certainly not a classic, what might easily have been a four- or five-star movie at best, turns out to be a decent seven-star movie that is worth viewing for its story and the singular fascinating performance by its leading actress Angela Featherstone as Veronica, an angel-like creature from Hell. Starting with the movie's problems and then a description of some the movie's strengths follows in the progression of the movie's overall qualitative tenor, except for its questionable special effects later in the movie.

A good part of the movie especially the first half, presents some pretty dead, stunted performances likely attributable to the director. The movie also has a very brief heavenly angel scene that is so cheesy even though it's a sincere attempt to add a tantalizing twist to the concept of an avenging creature hell based on Biblical sin. The poor special effects especially later in the movie of fire and brimstone is a huge unfortunate weakness at that point in the movie, diminishing its intended impact, though the consequential and relatively effective psychological performance of its aftermath partially makes up for the low-budget lapse in film quality. Other minor weaknesses include the use of a manual typewriter in 1994 when the IBM's Selectric typewriter was available by 1961. There's the odd use of a taxi when it's more likely a car would be available. There is also a bodily injury that is from a human medical perspective appears to be potentially lethal based on arteries that may have been severed or internal organs damaged so that a doctor's response in the movie might be reasonably suspect. And the many, many candles while very romantic also seems a bit unrealistic.

Yet this low-budget, B-movie, has the fortune to be based on a somewhat distinctive script that consists of a serious attempt to use the avenging angel from Hell concept based on the Old Testament which by the end of the movie offers up a reasonable and tantalizing movie arc. The music track is adequate with interesting ethereal strains and an enhancing if not specular accompaniment. Angela Featherstone, as Veronica's adjustment to earth seems surprisingly too smooth at first but there are suggestions of a more difficulty accommodating to a non-Hell world. But the script continues to evolve beginning to present Veronica's cultural challenges and even more tantalizing and captivating one, including her choice of eating utensils. Later Featherstone really ups her performance thanks to the script and her ability to capture its tangible and intriguing paradoxes in behavior. Surprisingly, Veronica is given to acting out realistic snoring, often omitted in most movies which by itself is both quite refreshing and yet at the same time quite repulsive. The brilliance of the script is Veronica's behavior as a hellish angel from the Old Testament. There's a fascinating brief encounter between Veronica and two nuns that offers up a striking and distinctive appeal in the movie.

Angela Featherstone does a credible acting performance in what is typically a rather ironically a black and white character presentation by most actors in other movies. Considering the script she has to work with, her performance comes across impressively consistent with the movie's biblical basis and the sharp cultural differences, almost alien in nature to the actual humanity that Featherstone grew up from in real life. In contrast to the remarkable stylistic performance from Brad Pitt who plays death in Meet Joe Black (1998), Featherstone actually seems more convincing. Her acting is more is relatable to the superlative eerie sci fi/horror movie Under the Skin (2013) in which Scarlett Johansson dazzles with her disguised alien presence among humans.

What's commendable about the film direction is its nice balance between horror, drama, romance, and comedy. The humor usually comes in the form of the detectives' impertinent remarks or physical fumbles which are rarely overly done, to their credit. And after a while, either the dull acting parts are either significantly reduced or the movie's decent storyline allows the audience to ignore the performances to some extent, making this movie more watchable overall.

I discovered this film a few years ago, and having happily given in to the sleazy heavy metal/custom van mural cover art on the box, was floored to realise that there was a perfectly serviceable piece of B movie fun here. I showed it to a friend, and he remarked " I know what my next dungeons and dragons character is going to be..." So there you have it, as far as love stories between hunky doctors and lawful evil demonic assassins go, this is the best of the genre.