Rating: ****
Director: Alan Parker
Cast: Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet
Here's a dark and creepy supernatural thriller that's definitely worth a second or third look. It's 1955 and Mickey Rourke is a scruffy and ill mannered private detective. He takes on a missing persons case from a very creepy and sinister client in the form of a delightfully wicked Robert De Niro. The deeper he gets, the more bizarre things become, and people related to the case start turning up dead. Black magic and voodoo start to play a prominent role when Rourke follows a lead to Louisiana, and things become even more strange and twisted. Someone's trying to frame Rourke, and all too late he realizes what the price is for solving the case. A well written and excellently directed film that constantly intrigues and challenges the viewer. Rourke and De Niro give excellent performances, and sexy Lisa Bonet heats up the screen with her fiery presence. The atmosphere is tense and moody like a good episode of "The Twilight Zone," and surreal dream-like imagery helps to deliver a real sense of the fantastic and mystical. Excellent stuff.