|
|
"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | The flesh is weak, Johnny. Only the soul is immortal. And yours belongs to me. | „ |
| ~ Cyphre revealing his true nature. |
Louis Cyphre is the main antagonist of the 1987 gothic mystical thriller film Angel Heart, based on the 1979 novel Falling Angel. He is a mysterious businessman who hires private detective Harry Angel to find a singer who owes him an unspecified "collateral".
He was portrayed by Robert De Niro, who also played Max Cady in Cape Fear, and William Hale in Killers of the Flower Moon.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- Is the devil himself as known in biblical Christianity and other Abrahamic religions, who takes evil souls to hell after death, or even sometimes bargains for them in exchange for whatever worldly pleasure they desire, only to later claim their souls.
- In particular, he made a deal with Johnny Favorite, a satanist and hedonist who offered his soul to Cyphre in exchange for success as a jazz singer.
- When Johnny wanted to back out of the deal, he worked with fellow cultists to kidnap and kill a young soldier named Harold Angel to steal his soul and identity to hide himself from Cyhpre.
- In order to get Johnny to remember who he was so that he can resurface and be taken, Cyphre appears and sends Harry Angel on a goose chase for him, leading to the latter reemerging, starting by killing Dr. Albert Fowler.
- After getting Harry to continue his search, he offers him a boiled egg, and then consumes it when the latter refuses. While this doesn't seem heinous on the surface, it's actually a mind game he plays with Harry/Johnny by hinting at his true desire, while telling him about how some religions believe that eggs represent the soul.
- Leads Harry to go Louisiana to ask Johnny's associates about him, leading to Johnny to resurface and murder them brutally, while Cyphre has a blast witnessing the carnage Johnny unleashes.
- First Toots Sweet, who was castrated by Johnny and then fed his own genitals.
- The Margaret Krusemark, who had her heart cut out.
- Then Epiphany Proudfoot, Johnny's teenage daughter, whom the latter had sex with and then raped before killing her by shoving a revolver up her vagina and pulling the trigger, leaving her son an orphan.
- The Cyphre's own attorney Hermann Winesap, who Johnny killed by throwing his head into a fan, decapitating him, while Cyphre later makes a sadistic joke at his expense.
- Lastly, Ethan Krusemark, who Johnny drowned to death in boiling hot water. Also given that he and Margaret were also satanic murderers who helped in the ritual, it is likely that Cyphre claimed their souls for hell as well.
- After Harry Angel learns and refuses to accept his true identity, Cyphre gleefully reveals himself as the devil, while taking sadistic cheer in Harry's despair, before forcing to remember who he is, leading to Johnny resurfacing once and for all.
- When Johnny is arrested by the police, he sees Epiphany's son with the same glowing eyes Cyphre had, meaning that Cyphre either was the one who impregnated Epiphany, was possessing the boy, or used an illusion trick to frighten Johnny. While none of these are necessarily confirmed, whatever the case, it obviously can't be anything good.
- Ends the movie with Johnny taking the elevator ride to hell, as Cyphre whispers both Harry and Johnny's names, implying Cyphre claimed both souls, even innocent Harry's. But the audience does only see one person in the hellevator, and given Cyphre's tendecy to makes sick jokes, it's possible that he was referring to Johnny by both names in relation to his dual identities throughout the movie. Neither of which are confirmed.
External Links[]
- Louis Cyphre on the Villains Wiki