Customer Reviews

Angel of Death [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Mira Sorvino and Olivier Martinez star in 'Angel of Death' (origianally called 'Semana Santa') produced by European film companies from as many as six countries -- Germany, Italy, England, France, Spain, and Denmark. The film was theatrically released back in 2002 in France. Since then three years have passed, but probably you still never heard of the film. No wonder, because the film is so bad, so dull, and so sleep-inducing.

While all the dialogues are spoken in English, 'Angel of Death' is set in Spain, and Mira Sorvino plays Maria, detective transfered from Madrid to Seville. During the celebration of Semana Santa, she is given a case of brutal murders, committed by a serial killer in red robe. With chauvinist cop Quemada (Olivier Martinez, 'Unfaithful' 'Taking Lives'), Maria starts the investigation, picking up the clues, and confronting the uncorporative section of the ... are you still listening?

The clithe-ridden script is no help when director (or whoever involved in this film) does not know how to show thrills and suspence on screen. When you see the killings on screen, they are all shown in the most banal way; you watch, 1) a victim; 2) a killer; 3) the former is attacked (with no preliminary part to enhance the tension, in the same fashion as cheap TV games), and 4) dead body or injured character. The film refuses to scare us, or even the victims themselves, and the results are utterly thrill-less thriller. That's surely achievement, sort of.

But what Mira Sorvino is doing here? Detective Maria Delgado, wearing tailor-made suit and skirt? She sports curious Spanish accent (which suddenly vanishes at times), but that is not the worst part of it. Her acting itself is probably the worst in her career, and she literally sleepwalks, and sometimes looks as if she knew this film would be a flop. Olivier Martinez, always oceracting, is no better, and I thought, isn't he a French? Only special appearance by Alida Vali ('The Third Man' and Dario Argento films like 'Suspiria') offers some dignity, and her character's flashback sub-plot is more interesting than the main one.

The director fails to show any clear motive of the killer. Consequently we see dead bodies, but have no opportunities to understand the reason for the killing. The police do not know even the rudimentary procedures of investigation, and are often so stupid that one of them does not do anything useful until the story comes nearly to the end, but all of a sudden he becomes wise, and gets the answer!

I give two stars simply because I like Mira Sorvino, who is Oscar winner (just in case if you forgot it). She's the only reason for two stars, and no other. Not that her acting is great. Don't say that I didn't warn you.

Well, I have officially just wasted an hour and a 1/2 of my life on a movie that is quite possibly the worst I have ever seen. Do not waste your hard earned money on this sorry excuse for entertainment. It was horrible!!! Even with the hottie from Unfaithful, it wasn't worth it. Do yourself a favor, and pass this one up!

Fine mystery movie DVD from a VERY fine and speed seller who rates triple A+++.

ANGEL OF DEATH would be a good movie for insomniacs. It's incredibly slow and the plot is so convoluted and confusing, it's hard to keep up with it, if you even stay with it to the end. Mira Sorvino and Olivier Martinez sleepwalk through their roles, and it is only the glorious presence of Italian screen legend Alida Valli that induces me to give it two stars. She is marvelous as the elderly lady whose story is at the heart of the picture. She commands the screen with gentle elegance and she deserved a better movie than this.

I really wanted to give this movie a chance, because I am a Olivier Martinez fan, and speaking of him specifically, and not really the movie, he didn't have his usual French accent. I guess that's a small thing to focus on, but I ended up yelling at my tv screen for Olivier to bring back the French accent. And if you like his accent, which I do, he sounds like a completely different person, and not in a good way, I hate to admit. It's an awful movie, I hate to say, there's no positive spin I can put on it. There is one cute line that Olivier says, and it's funny but, I can't remember what it is, I guess that should be an indication of how awful this movie is.

I like what another revioewer said to described the "sleepwalking" acting in this movie. I got the movie in the bargain bins at a Blockbuster basically because Mira Sorvino is in it and I like many other things she has done, even the ditsy Romy and Michelle. But this movie really goes nowhere, slowly.

I expected more from Mira Sorvino in this film. I know she is an "Academy Award" winner, so I expect great films from her. This is an ok made for cable movie. I have seen thousands of these type films on cable and this will probably end up another lost in cable movie. Oliver Martinez looked like he was forced to be in this film. There was no chemistry between Sorvino and Martinez. They seemed like they hated each other and couldn't co-exsist together in this film. There was also really no suspense since the characters didn't make it interesting. I know these actors are good actors, but they were acting like typical B-actors if even that. Now I know why this movie has stayed away from American theaters. This was a hard to swallow film that moved very slowley and the actors didn't help. If this movie is on cable give it a try. I wouldn't waste my money buying this movie or renting it either. You will waste your money. If you want to see a great movie with religious themes try "The Da Vince Code" or "Angels and Demons" these movies are a lot better and in the same genre. If you wondering why the three star rating? It's because I'm comparing this film to other made for cable movies. If I was comparing it to "The Da Vince Code" then it would get a one star rating. This movie isn't even close to being compared to those films.

A killer is loose in Saville, Spain. He's hard to spot, due to his ingenius red robe / pointy hat disguise. He blends into the easter celebration crowd, where several of the devoted also wear the same religious attire. An almost life-like cop named Maria (Mira "I really did win an oscar® you know!" Sorvino) must stay awake long enough to earn her paycheck...er, catch the murderer. The first 40+ minutes of ANGEL OF DEATH are nearly insufferable. Like being waterboarded w/ jell-o. Sorvino drifts from scene to scene, bravely holding back the yawns that must have been fighting for release. Now, I know this gal can act (she was fantastic in MIMIC). What happened?? The rest of the cast seem furious about their being involved w/ this putrid project. Olivier Martinez's angry, chauvanistic character is so overblown and annoying that I wanted to whip him w/ a bundle of porcupines! Amazingly, the movie actually gets better in the second half, but by then I was numb and could not feel my legs. On the brighter side, the great Alida Valli (Suspiria, The Antichrist) is brilliant, and tries to give the rest of the crew a crash-course in acting, but alas, her time is wasted...

Great I liked It so much I had forgotten that I had already bought it so I gave It as a gift.

I'll put it simply: 'Angel Of Death' is a movie that should never have been made. Its embarassing.

Watching this borefest you will find it extremely hard to believe that Mira Sorvino once won an Oscar. My how she has fallen. She preens around Spain talking in the worst Spanish accent ever. In fact, its probably the worst accent ever done in any movie ever made. She plays some super-agent on the trail of some killers, who happen to look like KKK members only wearing red with hoods literally standing five feet straight up in the air. They're completely retarded looking. Helping Sorvino out is some hunky Spaniard who can barely complete a sentence(I'm sure he needed help finding his way home each night after shooting). The entire cast is pathetic, the dialogue supremely clunky, and the script is convoluted, confusing, and filled with gaps in logic.

The only decent thing in the film is the cinematography. The film is shot very well with a beautiful look. Too bad the rest of the movie sucks so much rectum. Obviously the cinematographer has some real talent but how he/she got roped into this bomb is beyond me.

So if you're in the video store and see 'Angel Of Death' on the shelf, nonchalantly open the case and break the disc in half so no one else has to suffer through this piece of trash. Ugh.