David Heavener is one of those names that I used to see all the time when I strolled through the action section of the neighborhood video store. A cover that always lept out from the section for some reason was Twisted Justice (maybe because he was sporting a wicked mullet). Although I had not actually watched any of Heavener's movies until now, I know that he usually wrote, directed, and starred in his films. I loved (and still love) these types of direct-to-video action movies because they were a cinematic gold mine where you could find actors you haven't in a long time and you were almost always treated to a sleazy and entertaining story. The heyday of the erotic thriller has been fading away since the new millennium began and but it seems as though people like Heavener are keeping the spirit alive.

The story of Angel Blade revolves around a cop named Bradley Cooper (Heavener), who has quit the force since his wife and unborn child died. He now lives in a sleazy Las Vegas motel where his life is wasting away until his old lieutenant asks him for help in a serial murder case that has been plaguing Sin City. It seems as though some nutjob is murdering pregnant (!) hookers and it is up to Cooper to put and end to the madness. Along the way, he encounters an asshole boss (Richard Moll), a rat-like social psychiatrist (Marc Singer), and a gorgeous sex shop worker named Sam (Amanda Righetti). Cooper and Sam eventually develop and relationship and Cooper tries to start his life again while also trying to solve the pregnant prostitute murders. In the process, we are given plenty of nudity (much of it courtesy of the extremely hot Righetti), weird sex flashbacks, a fight between Cooper and a big black dude with tight underwear in a hotel room, a naked desk clerk (Kathleen Pederson), and a lingerie fashion show.

While I can't say that Heavener was the finest actor in the world (he was like a cross between Anthony Perkins and Henry Silva), I have to recognize the fact that he was able to convincingly pull off the triple duty of acting, writing, and directing. Much of the time in low budget films, this type of ambition can end up leaving the film lacking in all three areas but Heavener seemed to know what he was doing and delivered a good movie while working with the budgetary constraints of an independent production. He obviously has made enough low-budget thrillers to know what works and what audiences of this type of movie want and he delivered. There were some fight scenes, the story didn't get overly ambitious, the music was terrible, some stars from the past including Margot Kidder (Superman), Marc Singer (Beastmaster), and Richard Moll ("Night Court", House) made appearances, and it was an entertaining 90 minutes that reminded me of all the movies I used to watch back when VHS was king, Gregory Hippolyte was the man, and Shannon Whirry was going to be my future wife. My only complaint was the climax that went on a bit too long but I can't be too down on that because it sticks with the formula of being a sleazy thriller in that they all seemed to have overlong climaxes!

I haven't seen Kidder in a movie since Superman IV so it was a bit of a shock to find her in an older body looking slightly confused. I felt kind of bad for her but she has been working steadily since and seems to be well on the way of getting her troubled life back together. As far as Marc Singer goes, I have not seen him since the Beastmaster movies so he looked quite different as well and his acting seemed a little 'off'. I was not sure if there was something wrong with him or if he just had a really strange take on the character. Moll was perfect as the imposing police commissioner trying to be a mayor but I couldn't get used to seeing the guy with hair. 90's heartthrob Costas Mandylor's brother Louis made an appearance as Cooper's partner. (Josh Pasnak, 1/3/07)

Directed By: David Heavener.
Written By: David Heavener.

Starring: David Heavener, Amanda Righetti, Louis Mandylor, Marc Singer.

Picture Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: Good for what it was. Low budget films do not always give us the best picture but this is usually due to the way it was shot, not the transfer.

Extras: On the screener, all I got was a lonely trailer. The retail version contains that as well as a commentary by Heavener, a bio on him, and a behind-the-scenes featurette.

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