Customer Reviews

The Dark Angel [VHS]

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

 

 

This is very well done and well acted. It is much scarier than the book, which was written by the "father" of the horror novel, J.S. LeFanu. There is a real sense of menace and danger, a young, innocent heroine, a charming and evil uncle, and a decaying, remote estate. Need I say more? This is classic suspense, and Peter O'Toole is fabulous as the decadent and devilish Uncle Silas.

This is an exquisite dramatizaton of J.S.Le Fanu's gothic masterpiece, Uncle Silas. Although there is some variation between the two, I recommend both the book and the film. Jane Lapotaire(Madame de la Rougierre) and Peter O'Toole(Uncle Silas) are probably the most depraved villains on film! All the roles are very well-acted, which helps suck the viewer into this sinister tale. The sets and cinematography are also fantastic! For those who crave more gothic period works, I also highly recommend The Woman in White and a Sherlock Holmes episode The Eligible Bachelor, also produced by Peter Hammond and starring Jeremy Brett(The Brilliant!) They have the same malignant flavor as The Dark Angel.

I first saw this movie on PBS mystery several years ago and fell in love with it. Peter O'Toole plays a sinster uncle who is in charge of Maud until she is an adult at which point she will inherit a fortune.
Peter O'Toole gives his usual outstanding performance, but its Beatie Edney who steals the show. Another performance of note was that of Jane Lapotaire who potrayed Madame LaRougierre. Lapotaire is even scarier than Silas and you wonder what her plans are for Maud.
This movie has a great plot but, it does drags on. Overall, I would recommend this movie to anyone who is into gothic horror.

O'toole's emotionally layered five stars performance as the evil Uncle Silus is simply phenomenal. Over the years critics have praised and described his duality ,or triplicity, in all sorts of ways: "spewing elegant paragraphs", "wonderfully rackety and fastidious", "elegantly raddled like a disreputably unmade bed". Yet never more strikingly in The Dark Angel, O'toole's embodies contradictions and paradoxes. Notably in the seductive scenes, he skillfully deploys a seductive languor that reaches successfully target, and ...audience, even though aiming at destruction, while arresting a glare oozing with seething longing on the curls of the prospective victim. When o'toole leaves the screen, one lurks in the dark awaiting patiently or not so patiently his next scene only.

Peter O'Toole gives an eerie, riveting performance and is certainly the highlight of the movie. The rest of the cast does a good job as well in evoking the mounting tension of rising danger. The great old halls and keeps make a wonderful setting for unfolding tale of terror. Any gothic lover should see it!

An excellent adaptation of this atmospheric tale.Plaudits richly deserved by Peter O'toole but credit also goes to Beatie Edney as the heroine Maud, an underated actress indeed.

The mood of the film is richly put. Peter O'toole is deliciously wicked. The film is definetely for the artsy/Masterpiece theater types.

Great movie- I'm hopeing this is available on DVD someday. Watching it on VHS now isn't that cool. One of my favorite movies!!

A bit long and drawn out. O'Toole does a fine job as a creepy dude. But...long and drawn out. The girl is beautiful and charismatic, though. I saw her in the Pierce Brosnan movie "Mr. Johnson" and fell in love with her there. I thought she might be a big star...but this movie is the only other time I've seen her. And bland, so-so looking women like Julia Roberts become big stars. It's all a crap shoot. If you watch this movie in a big, dark house, all alone, you'll probalby get nightmares!