Angel Heart
Founded in 1976 by Mario Kassar (b. 1951) and Andrew Vajna (1944-2019), Carolco Pictures was a wildly successful independent film studio in the 1980s and early 1990s, producing such films as First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood, Part II (1985), Total Recall (1990), and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Kassar, who cut his teeth in foreign distribution of French and Italian films, met Vajna, a Hong Kong wig factory owner turned kung-fu movie producer, in 1975 and after a few years were producing some of the biggest hits to come out of Hollywood. Carolco's first major film, First Blood starring Sylvester Stallone, launched the company to new heights, partially due to Kassar and Vajna's canny interest in marketing films outside of the US domestic market.
Capitalizing on the Rambo franchise's success, Carolco expanded into home video markets and acquired rights to various properties that would later prove extremely profitable. Total Recall, directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was a worldwide hit and set the stage for Carolco's acquisition of the Terminator franchise, eventually producing James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Other films produced by Carolco Pictures include Angel Heart (1987), Red Heat (1988), Johnny Handsome (1989), Mountains of the Moon (1990), Narrow Margin (1990), Jacob's Ladder (1990), L.A. Story (1991), The Doors (1991), Basic Instinct (1992), Universal Soldier (1992), and Chaplin (1992). Today, this iconic catalogue is owned by Studiocanal, which has held the Carolco library within its portfolio for over 30 years.
