House of Angels MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 Content: -3

This Swedish import tells the story of two uninhibited, free-loving bikers coming to spend the summer in a small country community. Fanny (Helena Bergstrom) and her boyfriend Zac (Rikard Wolff) ride into town after the death of Fanny's grandfather to take over the huge and lucrative Angel estate. Fanny succeeds in shocking the strait-laced community with her antics. This good-natured movie is supposed to be about outsiders and strangers and their effects on a traditional community. Actually it often tries so hard to shock as to be neither funny nor particularly profound. Few will find HOUSE OF ANGELS worth their time.

The shock value revolves around Fanny and Zac. Apparently, Zac is bisexual as several references make clear. Fanny walks around in an open shirt and bra most of the time. Two first cousins are shown kissing, once partially dressed. Another man in the town is hooked on pornographic TV revealing nudity several times. When Fanny and Zac invite some of their wild continental friends for a visit, they all strip. The naked men and women are briefly shown out on a dock and later participate in a wild drinking party. The language, even in Swedish, goes along with this theme with numerous obscenities. The moral, if you can call it that, is that the holier-than-thou country folk are just as morally suspect as Fanny and Zac themselves. Unfortunately instead of reaching some true spiritual insight, the town, led by the local pastor, just adjusts its morals downward as a way of including everyone. The sexual perversion and amoral theme indicate that the HOUSE OF ANGELS should be named for the exact opposite quality.

Preview Reviewer: Greg Wilson
Distributor: Sony Picture Classics, 711 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10022