Movie Review: DARK ANGEL: THE ASCENT (1994)

Hello again, ghosts and ghouls!  I’m so excited to review DARK ANGEL: THE ASCENT for you as it comes to Blu-ray from the masterminds at Full Moon Features.

As many of you may or may not already know, Full Moon is absolutely one of my favorite companies to produce horror films, headed by the man, the myth, the legend himself… Charles Band.  Yes, the same Charles Band behind Pupper Master, one of my favorite horror franchises of all time.  With that being said, of course, when I was offered the opportunity to screen and review this film for it’s re-release, I was THRILLED.

DARK ANGEL: THE ASCENT was released in 1994, but is getting its well-deserved re-distribution just in time for the fall season to roll around.  Let’s be real here, what better time to re-release a film about a beautiful demon living on earth than right around spooky season?!

It tells the story of Veronica (Alicia Featherstone), a demon in hell who is bored with her monotonous life, and wants to learn about the teachings of worlds other than her own…namely, Earth.  It’s entirely forbidden to leave the pit, but naturally, she doesn’t really care, and she takes her fabulous red hair and struts straight on out.

She finds herself here on Earth, where she slowly starts to realize that perhaps the teachings of the demons in hell were actually more level-headed and benevolent than the way humans treat each other.  In an attempt to make the world a peaceful, loving place, she starts murdering people that do wrong (two men trying to assault a woman late at night is a great example) by, you know, dismantling them.

I won’t lie to you when I say that this film, of course, has the typical level of Full moon cheesiness.  It comes with the territory.  With some visual effects that didn’t age to well, it’s definitely dating itself, however in a way, with all the stories we’ve been having on the news lately, it touches upon some major, modern issues.

The gore factor is fun, with a few great dismemberments (I do love myself a good spinal cord). It’s not over-the-top, something many 90’s films attempted to be overly-gratuitous with.  You can also assume that with gore, comes sex, but it’s so tastefully done!  I was pleasantly surprised!

Veronica is a strangely charming character; she fights for what she believes in, she’s beautiful, she’s independent, and she’s a total psycho.  The way she talks made me a little crazy, if we’re being honest, but I know it was intentional.  It was just a little too monotone for me… though for some reason she REALLY reminded me of Mia Farrow in ROSEMARY’S BABY (can’t complain about that).

All in all, I’m surprised I never got around to seeing this film!  It’s a fun twist on horror if you’re looking for something with demons, but not just demonic possession.  It’s an awesome story, and I’ve never really heard of a storyline anything like this one ever coming to fruition again – I think this really is a one-of-a-kind, demon-on-Earth-teaching-us-we’re-assholes movies.

As usual, I’m impressed with Full Moon Features.  I can’t say I’m surprised, because they made up such a large chunk of my horror life.  With that, I definitely recommend giving this a weatch when it’s released on Blu-ray on September 15th!

Thanks for reading, my spooky people…and if you see blood in your dog’s bowl, question who’s living with you.

Taylor Krauss
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