Released in 1990, “Night Angel” has all the trappings of an 80’s horror film…big hair, pre-CGI effects, a synthesizer score, and a subtext about AIDS.

THE PLOT: A she-demon named Lillith rises from Hell and plots to get on the cover of a fashion magazine in hopes of seducing men to their deaths. Craig, an editor at the magazine (Linden Ashby-Mortal Kombat), teams up with his girlfriend and a voodoo priestess to stop Lillith before it’s too late.

Dominique Othenin-Girard (Halloween 5) shoots the film competently and adds some new wave style to the proceedings…but the film plays clichéd and there isn’t enough nudity to keep you interested. A solid cast of decent actors seem almost wasted in “Night Angel”. Doug Jones (Hellboy), Karen Black (House of a 1,000 Corpses), Gary Hudson (Roadhouse), and Mickey Rourke’s ex-wife Debra Feuer are entertainingly solid yet can’t elevate past the tedious material. Linden Ashby is solid as the leading man but the same can’t be said about the wooden and down-right terrible Isa Andersen. She isn’t scary or seductive…maniacally laughing during kills and only going topless in a reflection shot.

The death scenes are done well but aren’t too exciting. Lillith has a knack for ripping hearts out of her lover’s chests. The best death in “Night Angel” features a horny Gary Hudson getting seduced into falling down an elevator shaft and being impaled on a spring. There is also an odd “orgy in hell” scene featuring all sorts of oddities and sadomasochistic sex acts…including a monster raping a chick, a woman with faces on her breasts, and a midget. These two scenes are probably the best in the film.

If one would want to read deeper into the film’s subtext you could possibly see the film as a metaphor about AIDS…but that may be giving the writer Joe Augustyn (“Night of the Demons”) too much credit. “Night Angel” isn’t scary or sexy enough to be entertaining…but it isn’t horrible either. There are worse ways to kill 90 minutes…

“Night Angel” features an evil eclipse, exploding beverages, throats getting slashed, a laser light show finale, snakes that shoot out of mouths, pictures that come to life, and a end credits song by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.

GORE SCORE-2/5

Tit-O-Meter-2/5

Fries Home Video/90mins