Downward Angel (2001) Poster

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A decent B movie
erinmary26 March 2003
John Hunter (Matt Schulze) is a reluctant assassin tortured by self-doubt, self-hate, and guilt, and driven by an obsessive need to avenge his parents' deaths. He infiltrates the Guild, a society of assassins led by Herod (Jonathan Banks). John executes his first few assignments without any trouble other than endangering his own sanity. But then he meets Gillian (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick), Herod's `sister.' Each of the three main characters has a secret, which are revealed in the last act.

This film has potential, but it barely misses being a good movie. The story is told elliptically and therefore is hard to follow on the first viewing. The director tries so hard to keep John's secret a surprise that it's not well set-up and doesn't follow logically. Matt is the most convincing actor in the cast; a particularly wrenching scene is one in which John tries to pull the trigger on himself. The movie has deeply Catholic undertones and a couple of plot holes big enough to trip up even the most undemanding viewer. Even so, it is worth watching more than once.
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3/10
Put it down.
di5ciple12 June 2001
this movie was about as flat as an opened 2 liter bottle of, um, nuka-cola. i mean, i didn't expect much going in and i was unpleasantly unsurprised. the characters in the movie weren't too endearing and a lot of the dialog (all 6 or so lines of it) sounded pretty forced. the main character seemed to have this big hamlet thing going on throughout the movie and i totally didn't buy into it. also, you know how plot twists are supposed to make you think "wow, i totally didn't expect that!" and be shocked? well, in this movie when that stuff happened i just shook my head--most of the time they didn't have any diegetic justification for their plot twists--and rolled my eyes.
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9/10
An Outstanding Noir Thriller!
filmbuff197414 April 2006
John Hunter is an assassin who joins an underground organization called The Guild in order to get revenge on those who killed his parents.All is not what it appears to be and before you find out what really goes down you'll have been taken through a real thrill ride.This film does not disappoint!

I picked up this film in a 99 cent store in the Bronx.It was packaged cheaply and I thought it was some low quality film that might be worth a look to kill a evening. But the real mystery is why such an outstandingly written,acted and directed film was packaged in a cardboard sleeve and sold on a rack for a dollar?
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Catalina Larranaga Is Worth Watching!
jfn5thsfga14 July 2002
I enjoyed the movie because I am a huge fan of Catalina. She is exceptionally talented, very sensuous, and a joy to behold, no matter what role she portrays.

The movie is quite slow at times, but periodiaclly the tedium is interrupted by some excellent action scenes.
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