# Angel (1984 film)
**Angel** is a 1984 American crime thriller directed by Robert Vincent O'Neil, written by O'Neil and Joseph M. Cala, and starring [Donna Wilkes](https://www.edgepedia.org/donna-wilkes) as Molly Stewart, a fifteen-year-old honor student at a private school who works at night as a [Hollywood Boulevard](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-boulevard) prostitute under the name Angel. When a serial killer begins murdering the streetwalkers she knows, she becomes an eyewitness and a target, and the film turns into a revenge story.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003) • [2](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/angel/umc.cmc.4eo30z7stasd9q24tqw9l5tux) Produced for $3 million by [New World Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-world-pictures) and Adams Apple Productions, it earned $17,488,564 in the United States and spawned three sequels.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003) • [3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0086896/credits/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 13 January 1984, Los Angeles and New York openings; distributed by New World Pictures[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003) • [3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0086896/credits/) |
| Director and writers | Robert Vincent O'Neil, with Joseph M. Cala as co-writer[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003) |
| Budget and gross | $3 million budget; $17,488,564 domestic gross on a $2,214,824 opening[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003) • [3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0086896/credits/) |
| Lead cast | Donna Wilkes (Molly "Angel" Stewart), Cliff Gorman (Lt. Andrews), Susan Tyrrell (Solly Mosler), Dick Shawn (Mae), Rory Calhoun (Kit Carson), John Diehl (the killer)[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086896/fullcredits/) |
| Tagline | "High School Honor Student by Day. Hollywood Hooker by Night."[5](https://bloody-disgusting.com/db/film/angel-1984) |
| Rating and length | MPAA R; AFI lists 100 minutes, while other listings give 93 to 94 minutes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003) • [6](https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt0086896/) |
| Sequels | Avenging Angel (1985), Angel III: The Final Chapter (1988), and Angel 4: Undercover (1994), each with a different actress in the title role[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Molly Stewart attends North Oak Prep, a private school in the Los Angeles area, where a classmate asks her on a date and she blames an overprotective mother. At night, dressed in a miniskirt, she works Hollywood Boulevard as a prostitute called Angel; in one early scene she correctly guesses that a middle-aged client is an undercover police officer.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003) Her only family and friends are the people she works with on the streets: the aging movie cowboy [Kit Carson](https://www.edgepedia.org/kit-carson) ([Rory Calhoun](https://www.edgepedia.org/rory-calhoun)), the street performer Yoyo Charlie (Steven M. Porter), the drag performer Mae ([Dick Shawn](https://www.edgepedia.org/dick-shawn)), the prostitutes Crystal and Lana, and her landlady, the painter Solly Mosler (Susan Tyrrell).[7](https://www.netflixmovies.com/angel-1984) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086896/fullcredits/)
A deranged serial killer, played by [John Diehl](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-diehl), begins stalking and murdering prostitutes on the boulevard, and two of Molly's friends are slain.[2](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/angel/umc.cmc.4eo30z7stasd9q24tqw9l5tux) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086896/plotsummary/) She briefly glimpses the killer, cooperates with the police investigation led by Lt. Andrews (Cliff Gorman), and becomes a target herself; the synopsis describes her taking off on a personal quest for vengeance.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086896/plotsummary/) • [2](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/angel/umc.cmc.4eo30z7stasd9q24tqw9l5tux)
### Sequels
The film's profit produced three sequels: *Avenging Angel* (1985), also directed by O'Neil, and the straight-to-video productions *Angel III: The Final Chapter* (1988) and *Angel 4: Undercover* (1994). Each film featured a different actress as the title character; the role of Angel/Molly was recast in the sequel to account for the character's aging.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003) • [12](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55739-AVENGING-ANGEL?cxt=filmography) *Avenging Angel*, budgeted at $2 to 3 million, was released to fourteen markets with 550 prints, but neither it nor the later sequels matched the first film's financial success.[12](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55739-AVENGING-ANGEL?cxt=filmography) • [11](https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/angel)
## Production
A 10 May 1983 Daily Variety article announced a $3 million budget, and principal photography began 1 June 1983 in Los Angeles.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003) Locations included Hollywood Boulevard, the Hotel Roosevelt, the Hollywood Pacific Theatre, and the El Royale Motel in Studio City.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003) Location shooting on Las Palmas Avenue was interrupted when police chased an armed robbery suspect through the set; the production's transportation coordinator Timothy Sheehan and driver Gary Claridge tripped, tackled, and detained him.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003)
The crew included cinematographer Andrew Davis, who later directed films such as *[The Fugitive](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-fugitive-1993-film)*, editor Charles Bornstein, and composer Craig Safan.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003) • [9](https://eiga.com/movie/42880/) According to one account, the film began as a treatment called *Hollywood Starr* by O'Neil, author of *Vice Squad*, and Joe Cala, about a girl abandoned by her father who becomes a prostitute and faces a serial killer dressed as Santa who turns out to be her father.[7](https://www.netflixmovies.com/angel-1984) Donna Wilkes was in her twenties when she played the fifteen-year-old Molly.[10](https://www.edwardtrimnellbooks.com/angel-scandalous-action-films-of-the-1980s/)
## Release and box office
The film opened in Los Angeles and New York on 13 January 1984, and its copyright was registered by The Angel Venture on 18 January 1984.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003) Against its $3 million cost it grossed $2,214,824 in its domestic opening and $17,488,564 overall, all of it domestic; the critic James Berardinelli of ReelViews notes that it made back its costs within its first couple of weeks in theaters and accrued a tidy profit.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0086896/credits/) • [11](https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/angel) In Japan, where it opened on 9 June 1984, the film is noted for having won the audience award for best film at the 1984 San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.[9](https://eiga.com/movie/42880/)
## Reception
Contemporaneous reviews were dismissive. The New York Times review of 13 January 1984 wrote that Angel "comes very close to being so consistently ridiculous that it's not unentertaining."[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 45 percent Tomatometer from five reviews, and James Berardinelli rated it 1.5 out of 4 in 2024, calling the storyline tedious and noting that the film follows exploitation tropes while belonging to the low-budget exploitation thriller genre that thrived in the 1980s and did not survive past the mid-1990s.[13](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1000955-angel) • [11](https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/angel) Audience ratings have been warmer: IMDb users give it 5.8 out of 10 from about 5,600 votes.[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086896/ratings/)
## References
1. [Angel (1984), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57003)
2. [Angel, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/angel/umc.cmc.4eo30z7stasd9q24tqw9l5tux)
3. [Angel (1984), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0086896/credits/)
4. [Angel (1984) full cast and crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086896/fullcredits/)
5. [Angel (1984), Bloody Disgusting film database](https://bloody-disgusting.com/db/film/angel-1984)
6. [Angel (1984), IMDbPro](https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt0086896/)
7. [Angel (1984) on Netflix, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/angel-1984)
8. [Angel (1984) plot summary, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086896/plotsummary/)
9. [エンジェル（1984）作品情報, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/42880/)
10. [Angel: scandalous action films of the 1980s, Edward Trimnell Books](https://www.edwardtrimnellbooks.com/angel-scandalous-action-films-of-the-1980s/)
11. [Angel (1984) review by James Berardinelli, ReelViews](https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/angel)
12. [Avenging Angel (1985), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/55739-AVENGING-ANGEL?cxt=filmography)
13. [Angel, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1000955-angel)
14. [Angel (1984) ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086896/ratings/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1980s films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license