In summary, watch the movie. It has a good story line accompanied with hot, sizzling, sex scenes with gorgeous women. Jerry Butler will never win an academy award for this movie, but in my opinion, his acting was electrifying. I have seen him in other Adult movies, but his performance in "Star Angel" was captivating. Highly recommend.
3 Reviews
Cecil Howard's last great 35mm film, a mesmerizing classic
Casey-5219 November 2008
Warning: Spoilers
1985 found Cecil Howard producing exceptional films on film (SNAKE EYES) and video (DANGEROUS STUFF) mediums. He would continue pressing forth mixing the two mediums throughout the rest of the decade, but Howard's one film of 1986 is a 35mm offering, and it's perhaps his strongest dramatic work outside of the FIRESTORM series. The alluring poster and video campaign of a smiling Angel gives no hint at the dark, psychological power of STAR ANGEL, the last great film to emerge from the East Coast before the industry migrated almost completely to California.
Lola Rain (Chelsea Manchester, aka "Tigr", Sharon Mitchell's real-life lover) is the world's biggest female rock singer, but her frequent boozing and sex with groupies reflects a deep unhappiness with her fame and fortune. Her manager husband, Luke Frame (Jerry Butler delivering a typically intense characterization), fears the destruction of his business because of her unprofessional behavior, and has no choice but to murder her with a mix of booze and pills. Successfully fooling the public, press, and courts into believing she committed suicide, he becomes the music industry's hottest talent manager, raking in the clients and the cash, but finds himself persistently haunted by nightmares and visions of Lola wherever he goes. His assistant-turned-lover Kate Fredericks (Colleen Brennan in perhaps her greatest adult performance, and on her way out of the biz to boot) struggles to understand why his conscience continues to play tricks on his mind. Shapely hitchhiker Terry (beautiful Angel, given a chance to kinda act) hitches a ride with Luke, and ingratiates herself into the lives of Luke and Kate, hoping to become a superstar with Luke's help. But Luke sees in her the spirit of Lola, eventually sending him spiraling over the deep end. In an almost unnecessary subplot that provides for several sex scenes, Luke's chauffeur Mario (Ron Jeremy) ponders pursuing a commitment with his loud-mouthed girlfriend Franny (always endearing Taija Rae) while he desires a few more evenings with whore Phoebe (Bambi, as Tammy Lamb). {Note: The Jeremy-Bambi footage is padding created by scenes from Howard's 1983 masterpiece SCOUNDRELS}
Anchored by a solid script by Howard's muse Anne Randall (with a story provided by adult magazine writer/SEXCAPADES and GLITTER scribe R. Allen Leider), STAR ANGEL's one fault is that it's too short! At 73 minutes, the viewer is drawn into the drama easily and while the sex indeed sizzles, one wishes there was more time spent focusing on the fascinating characters and their individual neuroses. However, even with the short running time, this is an impossible to forget viewing experience. Shot in a high scale neighborhood in New Jersey, the film, as with many Howard films, establishes an unnerving atmosphere through the eyes of its main character, Luke Frame: isolated, haunted, schizophrenic, in danger of losing his mind and his soul. Even more unique about Luke is that he's really an anti-hero. He's unlikable from the get-go. His ambitious drive for success has destroyed the one woman he has ever loved, in mind, body, and soul. Luke isn't haunted by the crime he committed, he's haunted by the love he obliterated from existence, essentially losing his soul and ensuring he will never love again. As he so eloquently puts it, "You stick one finger in Hell and it sticks to you". The hero of the movie is really Kate. All she wants is to be loved. She even pursues a lesbian encounter to fulfill her craving for affection. But it is Luke she really wants, who she will do anything for, and who she will stick by even though there is no chance he will ever return her allegiance. In the film's especially potent finale, as Kate sits with her arms around an emotionally broken Luke, there is no hope promised for any of the characters. Lola gets the last laugh.
As Luke, Jerry Butler is given a great monologue detailing his struggles to become a success in the music business. He sits by an incoherent Lola and tells her the story of a young punk kid going after his dreams, but as he looks at the star he helped to create, he realizes she will in turn become his professional destruction. Butler won acclaim and awards for his turn in Howard's SNAKE EYES the previous year, and would receive equally deserved attention for his work in STAR ANGEL. On the flip side, Colleen Brennan, in her 16th year in the film industry, really nails a rare dramatic performance in a career made up primarily of comic roles. She handles the dialog beautifully here, portraying a complex character with apparent ease, and while she is perfect in her trademark sexually insatiable moments, she also conveys a vulnerable pain as she tries to understand the love of her life. Her heartbroken facial expressions as Butler berates her and she realizes there is no hope to save him proves that in addition to being a top-notch sexual performer who delivered the goods, she was an actress who was rarely given this kind of role to exercise her thespian prowess. It's no wonder she would retire from the industry within a couple of years. She probably realized it wouldn't get much better than this.
Seek out this rare Cecil Howard film without hesitation! It's a career highlight for sure.
Lola Rain (Chelsea Manchester, aka "Tigr", Sharon Mitchell's real-life lover) is the world's biggest female rock singer, but her frequent boozing and sex with groupies reflects a deep unhappiness with her fame and fortune. Her manager husband, Luke Frame (Jerry Butler delivering a typically intense characterization), fears the destruction of his business because of her unprofessional behavior, and has no choice but to murder her with a mix of booze and pills. Successfully fooling the public, press, and courts into believing she committed suicide, he becomes the music industry's hottest talent manager, raking in the clients and the cash, but finds himself persistently haunted by nightmares and visions of Lola wherever he goes. His assistant-turned-lover Kate Fredericks (Colleen Brennan in perhaps her greatest adult performance, and on her way out of the biz to boot) struggles to understand why his conscience continues to play tricks on his mind. Shapely hitchhiker Terry (beautiful Angel, given a chance to kinda act) hitches a ride with Luke, and ingratiates herself into the lives of Luke and Kate, hoping to become a superstar with Luke's help. But Luke sees in her the spirit of Lola, eventually sending him spiraling over the deep end. In an almost unnecessary subplot that provides for several sex scenes, Luke's chauffeur Mario (Ron Jeremy) ponders pursuing a commitment with his loud-mouthed girlfriend Franny (always endearing Taija Rae) while he desires a few more evenings with whore Phoebe (Bambi, as Tammy Lamb). {Note: The Jeremy-Bambi footage is padding created by scenes from Howard's 1983 masterpiece SCOUNDRELS}
Anchored by a solid script by Howard's muse Anne Randall (with a story provided by adult magazine writer/SEXCAPADES and GLITTER scribe R. Allen Leider), STAR ANGEL's one fault is that it's too short! At 73 minutes, the viewer is drawn into the drama easily and while the sex indeed sizzles, one wishes there was more time spent focusing on the fascinating characters and their individual neuroses. However, even with the short running time, this is an impossible to forget viewing experience. Shot in a high scale neighborhood in New Jersey, the film, as with many Howard films, establishes an unnerving atmosphere through the eyes of its main character, Luke Frame: isolated, haunted, schizophrenic, in danger of losing his mind and his soul. Even more unique about Luke is that he's really an anti-hero. He's unlikable from the get-go. His ambitious drive for success has destroyed the one woman he has ever loved, in mind, body, and soul. Luke isn't haunted by the crime he committed, he's haunted by the love he obliterated from existence, essentially losing his soul and ensuring he will never love again. As he so eloquently puts it, "You stick one finger in Hell and it sticks to you". The hero of the movie is really Kate. All she wants is to be loved. She even pursues a lesbian encounter to fulfill her craving for affection. But it is Luke she really wants, who she will do anything for, and who she will stick by even though there is no chance he will ever return her allegiance. In the film's especially potent finale, as Kate sits with her arms around an emotionally broken Luke, there is no hope promised for any of the characters. Lola gets the last laugh.
As Luke, Jerry Butler is given a great monologue detailing his struggles to become a success in the music business. He sits by an incoherent Lola and tells her the story of a young punk kid going after his dreams, but as he looks at the star he helped to create, he realizes she will in turn become his professional destruction. Butler won acclaim and awards for his turn in Howard's SNAKE EYES the previous year, and would receive equally deserved attention for his work in STAR ANGEL. On the flip side, Colleen Brennan, in her 16th year in the film industry, really nails a rare dramatic performance in a career made up primarily of comic roles. She handles the dialog beautifully here, portraying a complex character with apparent ease, and while she is perfect in her trademark sexually insatiable moments, she also conveys a vulnerable pain as she tries to understand the love of her life. Her heartbroken facial expressions as Butler berates her and she realizes there is no hope to save him proves that in addition to being a top-notch sexual performer who delivered the goods, she was an actress who was rarely given this kind of role to exercise her thespian prowess. It's no wonder she would retire from the industry within a couple of years. She probably realized it wouldn't get much better than this.
Seek out this rare Cecil Howard film without hesitation! It's a career highlight for sure.
Love Is a Dog from Hell
Nodriesrespect16 May 2009
Possibly the most ambitious adult filmmaker of all time, yet thankfully possessing the creative clout to back up his lofty aspirations, Howard Winters was according to popular myth likened by one harried hardcore performer to megalomaniac Hollywood mover 'n' shaker Cecil B. DeMille, a candid comparison he apparently appreciated to such an extent the moniker stuck and "Cecil Howard" saw the official light of day. His allegedly rambunctious on-set demeanor may also have been the reason that the controlling Cecil ended up naming his production and distribution company Command Cinema, exercising rigorous copyright protection in an industry where this was clearly the exception rather than the norm. Henceforth, his mostly magnificent movies are generally not as widely seen as indeed they should, longtime fans clamoring for DVD releases that have yet to materialize as of this writing, with the glorious exception of Media Blasters' R1 de luxe editions of his incomparable NEON NIGHTS and BABYLON PINK, the latter of which he only produced with the late great Ron Sullivan a/k/a "Henri Pachard" directing.
Arriving at the tail end of an awesome career, as the industry was shifting its focus from lavish theatrical releases towards the considerably more frugal – and therefore more commercially viable at this stage – shot on video medium (that Howard had just attempted and characteristically made his own with his groundbreaking DANGEROUS STUFF), it might be tempting to view STAR ANGEL as something of a last gasp for both director and genre. Though Winters continued till decade's end with well-received video sagas such as the three part SINNERS and the four part LAST X-RATED MOVIE, interspersed with the odd 35mm project released straight to VHS tape (his FIRESTORM sequels), a rapidly dwindling theatrical circuit forced him to seriously downscale his endeavors from now on. Truth be told, such can already be sensed in STAR ANGEL, with several recycled soundtrack selections (including an instrumental rendition of the FIRESTORM theme song) – commonplace among competitors but off limits to Howard until then – and, far more astonishingly, the use of a full sex scene between Ron Jeremy and already long gone fly by night starlet Tammy Lamb (best remembered for playing hulking Kevin James' diminutive girlfriend in Kirdy Stevens' TABOO II) from his prior SCOUNDRELS as flashback footage ! A limited number of sets, equally signaling the retraction of resources, separates the movie from the director's sprawling sexual epics like PLATINUM PARADISE, FOXTROT and FIRESTORM, placing it in a more seemingly subdued line-up with the likes of SCOUNDRELS and SNAKE EYES, cryptic carnality with profound psychological underpinnings courtesy of their excellent Anne "Randall" Wolff screenplays. She contributed extensively and with customary zeal to the STAR ANGEL script, her efforts streamlined by respected magazine writer R. Allen Leider, best known for his collaborations with Roberta Findlay on LIQUID A$$ET$, GLITTER and her low rent horror flick THE ORACLE. While operating on a more straightforward level than previous Howard/Wolff joint endeavors, the engrossing narrative combines with almost uniformly stunning performances to craft what is indeed one of the indisputable zingers of a Golden Age grinding down to its twilight years.
Jerry Butler equals the intensity of his award-winning SNAKE EYES performance as Luke Frame, downtrodden manager to his spiraling out of control rock star girlfriend Lola Rain, portrayed with a hauntingly dead-eyed Jennifer Jason Leigh kind of self-destructiveness by Chelsea "Tigr" Manchester. Her gargantuan drug habit making her a risky proposition at best, Lola has come to manifest herself as the thorn in Luke's side, tearing him up between unconditional love and disgust. One fateful night, he plies her with downers and booze in a twisted attempt at release and redemption fort hem both. Desperate and tearful, he makes love to her one last time. When he comes, she's gone. Flash forward several years. Living the life of a successful music producer, Luke shares a loving relationship of sorts with understanding assistant Kate, another standout turn by former nudie starlet turned dirty movie doyenne Sharon Kelly a/k/a "Colleen Brennan". Though deeply infatuated, she can't keep him from obsessing over gone but far from forgotten Lola, a poisonous presence whose accusing image spooks him at every turn. Into this diseased menage comes unwitting interloper Terry, a teenage tease hitchhiker prone to playing provocative pranks. Though clearly out of her depth in an ensemble that includes several of the finest fornication film thespians, adorable Angel really does try to act and Howard draws a performance out of her superior to anything fellow filmmakers ever managed. The scene is set for tragedy as Luke's swanky New Jersey abode transforms into a hothouse of emotional sickness fueled by the unfulfilled yearnings of all reluctantly involved.
With a swift one hour and a quarter running time, Howard rarely allows narrative momentum to slip, largely restricting sexual content to the bare necessities that propel the plot forward. Exceptions would be the frothy subplot involving Luke's chauffeur Ron Jeremy and his carping fiancée Taija Rae, unnecessary comic relief though expertly executed, and an artistic group sex fantasy with buck-toothed beauty Marita Ekberg accommodating Latin hunk Frank Serrone as well as Belgian Jose Duval (do the Old Country proud, Jose !) in a self-conscious effort to emulate the celebrated "red scene" from FIRESTORM. Still, this provides a rare opportunity for minor New York DoP "Sandy Beach", who worked on such minor Joe Sarno flicks like A TASTE OF PINK and TIGHT DELIGHT, to shine, temporarily disrupting the stifling stronghold of the minimalist melodrama played out between four walls.
Arriving at the tail end of an awesome career, as the industry was shifting its focus from lavish theatrical releases towards the considerably more frugal – and therefore more commercially viable at this stage – shot on video medium (that Howard had just attempted and characteristically made his own with his groundbreaking DANGEROUS STUFF), it might be tempting to view STAR ANGEL as something of a last gasp for both director and genre. Though Winters continued till decade's end with well-received video sagas such as the three part SINNERS and the four part LAST X-RATED MOVIE, interspersed with the odd 35mm project released straight to VHS tape (his FIRESTORM sequels), a rapidly dwindling theatrical circuit forced him to seriously downscale his endeavors from now on. Truth be told, such can already be sensed in STAR ANGEL, with several recycled soundtrack selections (including an instrumental rendition of the FIRESTORM theme song) – commonplace among competitors but off limits to Howard until then – and, far more astonishingly, the use of a full sex scene between Ron Jeremy and already long gone fly by night starlet Tammy Lamb (best remembered for playing hulking Kevin James' diminutive girlfriend in Kirdy Stevens' TABOO II) from his prior SCOUNDRELS as flashback footage ! A limited number of sets, equally signaling the retraction of resources, separates the movie from the director's sprawling sexual epics like PLATINUM PARADISE, FOXTROT and FIRESTORM, placing it in a more seemingly subdued line-up with the likes of SCOUNDRELS and SNAKE EYES, cryptic carnality with profound psychological underpinnings courtesy of their excellent Anne "Randall" Wolff screenplays. She contributed extensively and with customary zeal to the STAR ANGEL script, her efforts streamlined by respected magazine writer R. Allen Leider, best known for his collaborations with Roberta Findlay on LIQUID A$$ET$, GLITTER and her low rent horror flick THE ORACLE. While operating on a more straightforward level than previous Howard/Wolff joint endeavors, the engrossing narrative combines with almost uniformly stunning performances to craft what is indeed one of the indisputable zingers of a Golden Age grinding down to its twilight years.
Jerry Butler equals the intensity of his award-winning SNAKE EYES performance as Luke Frame, downtrodden manager to his spiraling out of control rock star girlfriend Lola Rain, portrayed with a hauntingly dead-eyed Jennifer Jason Leigh kind of self-destructiveness by Chelsea "Tigr" Manchester. Her gargantuan drug habit making her a risky proposition at best, Lola has come to manifest herself as the thorn in Luke's side, tearing him up between unconditional love and disgust. One fateful night, he plies her with downers and booze in a twisted attempt at release and redemption fort hem both. Desperate and tearful, he makes love to her one last time. When he comes, she's gone. Flash forward several years. Living the life of a successful music producer, Luke shares a loving relationship of sorts with understanding assistant Kate, another standout turn by former nudie starlet turned dirty movie doyenne Sharon Kelly a/k/a "Colleen Brennan". Though deeply infatuated, she can't keep him from obsessing over gone but far from forgotten Lola, a poisonous presence whose accusing image spooks him at every turn. Into this diseased menage comes unwitting interloper Terry, a teenage tease hitchhiker prone to playing provocative pranks. Though clearly out of her depth in an ensemble that includes several of the finest fornication film thespians, adorable Angel really does try to act and Howard draws a performance out of her superior to anything fellow filmmakers ever managed. The scene is set for tragedy as Luke's swanky New Jersey abode transforms into a hothouse of emotional sickness fueled by the unfulfilled yearnings of all reluctantly involved.
With a swift one hour and a quarter running time, Howard rarely allows narrative momentum to slip, largely restricting sexual content to the bare necessities that propel the plot forward. Exceptions would be the frothy subplot involving Luke's chauffeur Ron Jeremy and his carping fiancée Taija Rae, unnecessary comic relief though expertly executed, and an artistic group sex fantasy with buck-toothed beauty Marita Ekberg accommodating Latin hunk Frank Serrone as well as Belgian Jose Duval (do the Old Country proud, Jose !) in a self-conscious effort to emulate the celebrated "red scene" from FIRESTORM. Still, this provides a rare opportunity for minor New York DoP "Sandy Beach", who worked on such minor Joe Sarno flicks like A TASTE OF PINK and TIGHT DELIGHT, to shine, temporarily disrupting the stifling stronghold of the minimalist melodrama played out between four walls.
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