A demoness from Hell, Veronica Iscariot, uninterested in tormenting the souls of damned sinners, ascends to the world above and finds our world full of evil and corruption. Veronica decides her mission in life is to punish the wicked and evil and goes about this with a bloody vengeance. Along the way she meets and falls in love with a doctor, Max Barris, who tends her wounds after an accident.
**_Comic booky, yes, but somehow… a stunning masterwork_**
A fallen angel in the Underworld has dreams of escaping to the surface in the flesh and thus rises out of the sewers of Bucharest where she connects with a handsome doctor and observes humanity’s corrupt side firsthand.
"Dark Angel: The Ascent” (1994) is fantasy/horror that mixes elements of the first two “Terminator” flicks (1984/1991) with the locations/tone of “Subspecies” (1991) and the basic concept of Marvel Comics’ Son of Satan. But don’t expect over-the-top action sequences since it only cost $350,000 and so the focus is on imaginative ideas and good writing.
Redhead Angela Featherstone is effective in the titular role, a fish-out-of-water. You might remember her as Jerry’s maid in the 9th season episode of Seinfeld “The Maid.” Meanwhile Daniel Markel works well as the “pure” physician.
While this is a comic book-like fantasy and so you can’t expect theological concepts to be technically accurate, the flick is filled with gems to mine, even creative revelations. Despite its micro-budget, it rises from the depths to soar spiritually. It’s both enlightening and moving.
The film runs 1 hour, 24 minutes, and, like “Subspecies,” was shot entirely in Romania (Bucharest, Berca and Floresti).
GRADE: A