Angel, Angel, Down We Go

Wannabe late 60’s cult flick is a tedious mess with not enough highlights

A chubby debutante (Holly Near) returns from school in Europe to her lousy filthy rich parents in Beverly Hills (Jennifer Jones & Charles Aidman). At her coming out party she falls for the charms of a charismatic rock star (Jordan Christopher) and he & his group proceed to move into the mansion and manipulate the family with their ‘hip’ drug-addled nonsense. The band members are played by Lou Rawls, Roddy McDowall and Davey Davison.

"Angel, Angel, Down We Go” was released ten days after the Manson Family murders in August, 1969, but understandably failed at the box office and so was retitled & rereleased the following year as “Cult of the Damned” with an ad campaign that capitalized on those infamous hippie murders. It was written & directed by the scripter of “Wild in the Streets” from the previous year and so there are similarities, but this is the lesser film.

The comparable "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" came out the following year and it’s just all-around more entertaining if you want an amusing taste of the late 60s, but both flicks are marred by too much fruity twaddle, if you know what I mean. Thankfully, there are at least a handful of legitimate laughs to be had here.

Speaking of which, I can’t believe some people describe this movie as “unintentionally funny” because, trust me, it’s all intentional. The opening scenes advertise beyond any shadow of doubt that this is a comedic take on counterculture nuttiness, at least in the satirical sense. It’s also noticeably stagey and sometimes surreal, but there’s some decent late 60’s rock in the mold of The Doors mixed with The Mamas & the Papas.

Despite some amusing or interesting bits here and there, the story simply isn’t compelling as a whole. It starts witty enough, but bogs down in the first 15 minutes with focus on Holly Near’s character and she’s just not an interesting person IMHO. Once the ersatz Jim Morrison enters the picture things perk up but the proceedings bog down again at the Steele estate with random happenings and dull, spacey dialogues. A couple of skydiving sequences are thrown in, but who’s looking for that in a flick like this?

As for the post factum tie-in to the Manson Family slayings with the title change and a new tagline claiming “Drugs, thugs and freaked-out starlets, ritual murder and cannibalism, dedicated to the proposition that all men are created evil,” it’s mostly false advertisement. I suppose the Bogie-led band could be viewed as a mini-cult of sorts, but there’s no ritualistic murder or cannibalism, merely “If it feels good do it” libertinism and self-damnation.

If I’m in the mood for zany 60’s youth entertainment, I’ll go with "Lord Love a Duck,” starring Roddy McDowall, or even “Village of the Giants.” If I want something serious, I’ll go with “The Wild Angels,” “Easy Rider” or “Billy Jack.”

The film runs 1 hour, 33 minutes, and was shot in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica with studio stuff done in Culver City.

GRADE: C-