A movie with an interesting concept--a second angelic war in heaven, brought down to earth--but bogged down with unnecessary elements. First, the idea that the offending angels needed a particularly dark human soul in order to win their war--and, further, that this soul turn out to be an unknown Korean War veteran living in a tiny western town--is ludicrous. The movie would have been better served had the "soul searching" been replaced with a more unique gimmick. Second, the film would also have benefited with the absence of the Indian "exorcists," who did nothing but shake feathers, chant mantras, and talk in that slow-paced, no-contraction English that Hollywood always has Native American actors speak in. And the "possessed" girl was totally unconvincing.
The angel characters were all excellent. But Lucifer could have done without his diminutive, hooded, white-faced imp-assistant, who, apparently offended his boss in some fashion at one point, and became the object of a short but ferocious growl. It gave Lucifer a chance to flex, but hey, why cart along a trouble-making imp? But apart from little Baron von Imp, ole Lucifer really helped this movie. At one point he informs the main character, a priest turned cop, that he, Lucifer, really WAS under his bed sometimes! And Walken was excellent as a bad angel.
But the ending, oh, the ending--not good! A regular god-in-the-machine cop-out. Watch the movie and count all the missed opportunities for good horror.
The angel characters were all excellent. But Lucifer could have done without his diminutive, hooded, white-faced imp-assistant, who, apparently offended his boss in some fashion at one point, and became the object of a short but ferocious growl. It gave Lucifer a chance to flex, but hey, why cart along a trouble-making imp? But apart from little Baron von Imp, ole Lucifer really helped this movie. At one point he informs the main character, a priest turned cop, that he, Lucifer, really WAS under his bed sometimes! And Walken was excellent as a bad angel.
But the ending, oh, the ending--not good! A regular god-in-the-machine cop-out. Watch the movie and count all the missed opportunities for good horror.