Absolutely brilliant

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The film Angel is one of those guilty pleasures one never gets tired of. So popular was it that a sequel was made. Unfortunately some of the cast of this one were killed and they couldn't come back.The title role is played by Donna Wilkes who is a straight A student in school and kind of reserved, but by night she's working Hollywood Boulevard as a teenage hooker. She has an interesting but dubious reason for doing it which I cannot reveal.She comes to the interest of LA homicide cop Cliff Gorman because he's looking for a serial slasher killer of young women on the stroll. The killer is John Diehl who likes prostitutes, but who likes them dead before he gets down to business.This film is delicious god awful trash, but delightful because of some of the outrageous performances by some players who get a chance to really overact and strut their stuff. Susan Tyrell as a foul mouthed lesbian landlord, Dick Shawn as an aging drag queen, and Rory Calhoun who plays an old time western performer who is completely burlesquing his former western stardom in his prime, they're all just having a ball and you enjoy seeing them.I can't rate Angel more than what I have, but if you watch it you're in for a treat.

One of the best films I've ever seen. The film takes inspiration from some of the world's most macabre psycho murders cases and combines it with an A class script. The results is a cinema masterpiece that you don't see very often. The acting is stunning. It is very interesting and enjoyable to see the sickening mind of a demented serial killer brought to life with such a life like performance. Donna Wilkes, being one of the actors I've never heard of before, delivers one of the most touching performances I've ever seen. It is a very dark film and that is a good thing. I love films that takes its root from reality showing everything as they would in real life with all its tragedies instead of trying to create a cliché happy ending. The film is brutally honest, and that's a good thing. Everything is perfect about this film. I'm glad I've come across it. I wish every film I see is of this caliber. After watching this, I realized this is part of a trilogy. I can't wait to see the rest.

"Angel" is a classic of its era, a trash favourite with an effectively exploitative concept, of a 15 year old honour student, Molly Stewart, played by the lovely Donna Wilkes, who walks Hollywood Boulevard at night as a hooker named Angel. She DOES want more out of life, and actually is just doing whatever she can to support herself with her actual parents nowhere in sight. She still has a loving family of sorts, albeit a highly unconventional one made up of colourful characters like drag queen Mae (Dick Shawn), faded cowboy actor Kit Carson (Rory Calhoun), and butch lesbian landlord (the inimitable Susan Tyrrell). She will need to rely on these people when an extremely creepy necrophiliac killer (a pre-'Miami Vice' John Diehl) is butchering Angel's fellow prostitutes. "Angel" may not be exploitative as some fans may wish it to be, but it's still awfully hard to resist, especially with those striking scenes set on the Boulevard and a soundtrack featuring a theme song, "Something Sweet", performed by The Allies. There's a fair amount of comedy, often thanks to Shawn and Tyrrell; however, while Shawn camps it up a bit, he does invest the character with some dignity and appeal even while so outrageously attired. In fact, the movie hits its emotional peaks quite well. The theme of abandonment by parents gives the movie some poignancy and Wilkes really scores in the scenes where she's required to give the exposition / back story, and one can really sympathize with the Angel character. She actually does a pretty convincing job of playing about a decade years younger than she was at the time. Cliff Gorman is likewise engaging as Lt. Andrews, the compassionate detective who develops a concern for Angel's welfare. Calhoun is an absolute hoot, as is Tyrrell. A number of familiar faces appear in other roles big and small: Elaine Giftos ("Gas!", "The Student Nurses") is the kindly school counsellor, John Carpenter regular Peter Jason the jovial john, Steven M. Porter is the street entertainer Yo-Yo Charlie, Gene Ross ("Don't Look in the Basement", "Halloween 4") is the vice cop, and Ross Hagen an urban cowboy. Diehl is memorable as the psycho, uttering not a word until his final scene. Viewers will appreciate the breast shots, although the shower sequence where we see some full frontal nudity is awfully fleeting. Generally agreeable and entertaining, "Angel" moves along very well to its inevitable ending; it would be followed by a few sequels in the years to come. Eight out of 10.

*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*I bought this video for three bucks. You don't know how long I've been staring at the video box cover of "Angel" and wondering when I was going to get around to watching it. The front cover of "Angel" is pure exploitation. It has Angel on the left side of the cover wearing pigtails and holding some schoolbooks. The right side of the front cover has Angel in high heels and a short red skirt. The tag line is "High School Honor Student by day. Hollywood Hooker by night." Classic! This is a film that no sleazy film lover could possibly resist.One thing you can say about the tag line for "Angel": It didn't lie. So Angel is a high school honor student by day and a Hollywood hooker by night. She hangs out with other ladies of the night and tries to earn some money. A mad killer is stalking Hollywood Blvd. and wants to slice and dice some hookers. Angel won't stand for it. She's got a gun that's bigger than she is and she can't wait to use it.Well, I wanted to love this movie but it just wasn't sleazy enough for me. I should have known the video box cover was too good to be true. The main problem with "Angel" is that Angel does not get naked. Does NOT get naked. I found this to be troublesome since she was supposed to be a Hollywood hooker. Not only that, she doesn't have any sex scenes in the entire movie. No sex scenes for a Hollywood hooker movie? She even says at one point, "I've had sex with hundreds of men…" When was that Angel? Was that in a different movie? Why is Angel being so shy?That's the basic problem with "Angel". It's trying to be a real movie when it should have been sticking to being extra sleazy. "Angel" gets pretty emotional for a Hollywood hooker flick. Angel tends to cry a lot about her family life or lack thereof. Not to seem heartless but I don't really want to see Angel weeping uncontrollably. There are a few scenes of gratuitous female nudity at the high school locker room and some decent fight scenes but overall "Angel" was kind of a letdown.Great video box cover. So-so B-flick.