Year: 1985
Runtime: 93 mins
Language: English
Director: Robert Vincent O'Neil
Four years after escaping the streets, Molly Stewart is graduating from UCLA law school, eager to leave her past as a prostitute behind. When the detective who rescued her is murdered, she returns as Angel, driven by vengeance. She confronts a ruthless mob network, discovering the underworld is far more dangerous than she imagined.
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Read the complete plot breakdown of Avenging Angel (1985), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.
Betsy Russell’s Molly Stewart is off the streets and studying to become a lawyer. When she learns that Robert F. Lyons’s Lt. Hugh Andrews—the detective who helped her leave prostitution when he became her guardian—has been murdered, she returns to the streets and takes on the alter ego Angel to chase down his killer.
To pursue justice, she reconnects with her old circle of allies, Kit Carson, Solly Mosler, and Angel, in a bid to locate the sole witness, Johnny Glitter. They break Kit out of the sanitarium and find Johnny at his home just as Gerrard’s thugs close in. Kit and Angel manage to save Johnny in a tense gunfight, a confrontation that also exposes a larger scheme brewing in Hollywood Boulevard. The plan is to intimidate and buy up neighborhoods, a ruthless scheme that Gerrard perpetuates, and the danger escalates as Gerrard’s men corner the group in a dark alley.
In the ensuing chaos, Kit fires at a car to create a diversion, and they manage to capture Gerrard’s son. The boy struggles to break free and threaten them with a gun, but a phone call arrives and Kit ends up shooting the boy to death. The caller proves to be Gerrard, who has kidnapped Solly’s baby, Little Buck. Gerrard offers a trade—Buck for his own son—but the attempt goes wrong when Gerrard realizes the ruse. A fierce shootout erupts again as Gerrard becomes desperate to keep the baby.
Kit eliminates one thug and Johnny Glitter—who shoots blindly, hits the other assailant, and also wounds himself—yet the danger continues to mount. Angel confronts Gerrard on the top floor, where the villain threatens to throw the baby over the edge. Angel surrenders, and Gerrard lowers the infant, but the baby crawls toward the edge. Solly, seeing the peril, climbs up to take a shot at Gerrard. Angel fights to reach the baby, but tragedy strikes when the infant falls. Kit immediate responds, catching the baby at the last moment.
With the danger averted for the moment, Angel and Solly descend with the baby safely wrapped in Kit’s jacket. They depart the scene just as the police arrive, leaving behind a cityscape shaken by violence but with the trio’s vigil intact and the kidnap plot resolved.
Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:17
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Stories of women pushed to the edge, taking violent revenge on those who wronged them.Find more movies like Avenging Angel featuring female protagonists who take the law into their own hands. If you enjoyed seeing a woman driven by revenge against a criminal underworld, you'll find similar stories of righteous fury and violent justice here.
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These films are grouped by a shared core experience: a tense, gritty mood driven by a personal vendetta. They feature fast pacing, high intensity action, and a heavy emotional weight stemming from the protagonist's personal connection to the crime. The endings often feel mixed, with justice achieved through morally ambiguous or violent means.
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