A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Rory Calhoun, Susan Tyrell, and Steven M. Porter are back in the roles they played in the first Angel movie. Moving into the title role because it's now years since the teen was hooking on Hollywood Boulevard is Betsy Russell. After going through college and law school Russell is back on the street with a vengeance because her savior and mentor from the first film now played by Robert F. Lyons is killed in a shootout with some mobsters. Even though it has only been one calendar year since the first Angel film and no disclaimer about this being sometime in the near future.Lyons was on to a scheme for the mob to buy with their usual tactics of persuasion for the owners huge parcels of real estate on Hollywood Boulevard. But the denizens there like their seedy street the way it is. Never mind that Russell and her posse are going to take matters into their own hands if the law doesn't do anything about a cop killing which I find hard to believe.Angel was a delicious and campy bit of sleaze and this one follows in the tradition. I have to give big kudos to Rory Calhoun who looked like he was having a great old time burlesquing his own western hero image. A lot of Rooster Cogburn in Calhoun's portrayal, all he needed was the eye patch.Avenging, sweet and fun trash.

"Avenging Angel" is a worthy, but different sequel to "Angel". The same seedy Hollywood Boulevard locations, are again used to great advantage. Betsy Russell plays "Angel" this time,and along with her street comrades, Rory Calhoun and Susan Tyrrell, they go after the mobsters who killed their friend, Lt. Andrews ( Robert F. Lyons). Karin Mani has a brief, but memorable nude shower scene, Robert Tessier is a helpful tattoo artist, while Ossie Davis plays a police captain. The movie has moments of welcome humor, especially relating to springing Rory Calhoun from a sanitarium. Sure the violence is cartoon-like, but "Avenging Angel" is entertaining, and that's really all that matters. - MERK

Molly Stewart(Betsy Russell)returns to the Boulevard after her mentor and guardian, a detective, is gunned down while trying to stop gangsters who had just shot dead an undercover cop and her parents in cold blood. Donning her "Angel" persona once again, this time a college graduate and skilled lawyer, she'll seek out those responsible with the help of some old friends.Director Robert Vincent O'Neill and writer Joseph Michael Cala do not duplicate the grit that made the previous film so arresting, and the tone(..despite the violence)is a lot goofier. The threat in this film, a mobster and his sadistic hoods, are rather bumbling when they aren't blowing innocent folks away with shot gun blasts. Russell(..known for her work in the SAW series and the silly slasher CHEERLEADER CAMP), in the titular role, is undeniably sexy and the camera(..and her choice of "street wardrobe")clings to her very tantalizing figure.After watching it, I'm not sure this sequel was necessary, this was obviously made by New World Pictures to cash in on the original entry. Three actors from the previous film return, Rory Calhoun(..as dependable, aging cowboy stuntman relic Kit Carson), Steven M Porter(..as Yo-Yo Charlie, the street comedian in Charlie Chaplin costume), and Susan Tyrell(..as profane "Jewish dyke" hotel tenant Solly Mosler, who carries a facial expression as if she sucked on a sour lemon)to assist Angel in getting revenge on those responsible for the murder of her detective friend, Andrews(Robert F Lyons). Ossie Davis, wasted in a rather thankless role, is Captain Harry Moradian, out to find the one on his force responsible for getting two good cops killed. Barry Pearl is a new street character added to the team of "misfit vigilantes", as Johnny Glitter, wanted by the mob for he was at the crime scene when Andrews was shot. Paul Lambert is Arthur Gerard, the mobster behind property corruption that's tearing apart the district around the Boulevard. Frank Doubleday(freakshow Romero of Escape from New York fame)is Gerard's son, Miles. Ross Hagen plays the nasty killer Ray Mitchell who enjoys his line of work and Hoke Howell has a funny cameo as a drunkard who "operates" a building containing an endless supply of bums.Despite a rather lackluster scenario featuring a team containing a former hooker, elderly retired cowboy stuntman, and sourpuss tenant against ruthless gangsters, cinematographer Peter Lyons Collistor offers some fine photography, capturing the bright lights of the streets especially well. The scummy atmosphere that made the original film more realistic and disturbing seems missing in AVENGING ANGEL. Furthermore, Russell looks nothing at all like Donna Wilkes(..Angel from the first film)and the authenticity is rather lacking..would those she hasn't seen in four years really believe Russell was the Angel they knew and love?

At the beginning there is some promise to this sequel - there's a little zip, some decent exploitation, and it seems there will be more of an actual plot this time. Alas, as soon as Angel swears vengeance and hits the streets again, all the positive stuff generated up to that point is quickly flushed down the toilet. The production values barely meet that of a television drama of the time, there is more blatant and utterly unfunny comic relief (Calhoun really embarrasses himself), and the story moves at a snail's-pace, with only occasional (and dreary) "action" sequences. And once again, street-life is portrayed as being not all that bad, so much so that it too promotes boredom. Don't bother!