Avenging Angel

Plot synopsis:
Set a few years after the first 'Angel' film, teenage prostitute Molly Stewart (Betsy Russell) is off the streets and studying to become a lawyer at UCLA.Molly learns that Lt. Andrews (Robert F. Lyons), the person who helped her leave her past life, is murdered after witnessing a mob-related killing of a drug dealer. When Molly learns of his death, she goes back out on the streets to avenge his killing. She seeks to track down the only witness, a street performer named Johnny Glitter. Molly (as her street persona Angel) meets with her old street friend Yo-Yo Charlie for help who puts him in contact with her old landlady Solly (Susan Tyrrell). There, Molly learns that Kit Carson (Rory Calhoun) has had a nervous breakdown and is committed to the state mental hospital.The next evening, with the assistance of Charlie, Angel and Solly break Kit out of the sanitarium after a harrowing and funny chase through the building. Angel and her group find Johnny at his flophouse home right as the thugs who killed Andrews find him. Kit and Angel save Johnny in a shoot-out.Meanwhile, Angel discovers a scheme to buy up Hollywood Boulevard by intimidation and violence that a gangster named Gerrard is perpetrating. Gerrard's men corner Kit, Solly, Angel and Johnny in an alley. Kit shoots the car, causing it to crash, and they capture Gerrard's son. The son gets loose and threatens them with a gun, but the phone rings and Kit shoots him to death.The caller is Gerrard, who has kidnapped Solly's adopted baby, Little Buck, and offers to trade Buck for his son. They attempt to make the trade anyway. Upon discovering that the son is dead, a shootout ensues with Gerrard taking the baby. Kit takes out one thug and Johnny Glitter, shooting blindly, shoots the other and also himself.Angel confronts Gerrard on the top floor and Gerrard threatens to throw the baby down. Angel surrenders and Gerrard puts the baby down. But the baby is crawling to the edge, and Gerrard will not allow Angel to move. Solly sees what is happening and goes up to shoot Gerrard. Angel tries to get to the baby but the baby falls. Kit sees the baby fall and catches him. Angel and Solly come down with the baby safely wrapped in Kit's jacket. Angel, Kit, Solly, and the group then walks out of the building and into the night as the end credits roll.

Tags: cult

Review:
Karin Mani , Robert Tessier , Ossie Davis , plus Angel, YoYo, Kit Carson & Solly.
"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.
Heavens to Betsy—just look at Angel now!.
Wow, Molly Stewart, AKA former prostitute 'Angel', sure has changed in the three or four years since she quit hooking on the Boulevard: now played by Betsy Russell (replacing winsome Donna Wilkes, star of the first film), she's gained a couple of cup sizes, developed longer legs, sports an impressive perm, and is training to be a lawyer, thanks to the help of her guardian, Hollywood vice cop Lt. Andrews (Robert F.
Lyons).Molly's new life goes on hold, however, after Andrews is shot dead by gangsters; teaming up with her old pals, aging cowboy Kit Carson (Rory Calhoun) and lesbian landlady Solly Mosler (Susan Tyrell), she once again walks the sleazy sidewalks of Hollywood as Angel, this time looking for revenge.For this cheesy sequel to his 1984 exploitation movie Angel, director Robert Vincent O'Neill throws any sense of realism in the nearest side-alley dumpster, opting instead for a much campier approach, his eccentric misfit characters even more exaggerated than before, his villains ridiculously reprehensible, and the violence about as cartoonish as it gets.The film begins promisingly enough, with a car full of gangsters loading their weapons while heading downtown to 'off' a big-breasted undercover cop (who is busy taking a shower, natch!), a blaring Bronski Beat soundtrack giving everything that delightfully tacky 80s vibe.
When the killers make their move, they blast their victims in the guts, resulting in some messy squib-work.
Unfortunately, after this impressive opening, everything gets rather too comical for my liking (Rory Calhoun riding a gurney like a rodeo champ, as Angel and Solly bust him out of a sanitarium being the most cringe-worthy moment).Still, even though Avenging Angel lacks the gritty edge that I generally look for in my vigilante/revenge flicks, and gets really, really dumb towards the end, the ever present sight of the delectable Miss Russell in a series of tight-as-you-like outfits, including a very sexy nurse get-up, makes the film just about bearable (no nudity from the star, but hey, I've always got her 1983 film Private School for that!)..
Even lamer the second time around.
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!.
Like I said about "fighting female" movies....
As with THE SISTERHOOD, ALIENATOR, THE ASSAULT, LADY TERMINATOR, and this lame flick, they prove why you can never trust a box cover!
If you really want to get into deadly, lethal passion without the useless nonsense, my suggestion is for you to grab a one-way ticket to China on board the TWA.
There, you will find what you want.
Remember, your very life depends on it!Am I the only one trying to preach?
Never mind!
All of us don't even care!!!.
Angel takes on the mob.
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.
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?.
Mon dieu, quel sequel!.
I watched this briefly after the original Angel, and must say I liked it quite much, even a little better.
The heroine played by a different actress is justifiable, as Molly must have grown a foot in height over four years, and the face/hair is sufficiently similar.
Less social drama here (except for the girl sent to Houston), more thrills, and especially a big serving of comedy which sometimes is overdosed, but laugh-out fun at some instances.
Consider various mishaps with firearms (Derringer or John Wayne's rifle) in the middle of shoot-outs.
Or: the pet hearse is cool, but the sound effects associated with it are ridiculous.One commenter associated this film with China (especially the sexy but tough heroine).
I agree - but my strongest impression was that it felt like French.
A kind of careless style (caring less for a plausible plot, I mean), while delighting the audience with bizarre twists and turns.
And settings: The old high-rise with its caged elevators, the gigantic billboard in front of which Angel walks, initially small as an ant...Don't get me wrong, I like most Hollywood styles as well as off-Hollywood, Chinese, French, what have you.
I love a movie if it delivers memorable images and pleasant surprises, and this one often did.
A good sequel, that creates some welcome continuity with its forerunner, yet steps well out of its shadow.