Handgun - Der Waffennarr

I remember back in the early 80's when home video was an exciting new concept, seeing a brochure from a local video rental store which featured a bunch of alluring looking movies, in amongst titles like Pia Zadora's Butterfly (1982) (yes, it is amazing what you can remember) was an interesting film called Handgun. The brief synopsis made it sound like an adult and challenging feature, i.e. something that I as a kid wanted to see! So it was strange for me to realise when I saw it for the first time just recently on a cable channel that it was in fact a very obscure movie. It seems to have not gotten too far beyond its home video release back in the 80's before more or less vanishing from sight. Well this seems like a criminal situation, as unlike a lot of movies I have anticipated seeing for many years, this one turned out to be an excellent and intelligent dramatic thriller. It follows a young woman who is a free-thinking teacher who begins a relationship with a charming gun-lover; on their second date he rapes her at gun point. She decides to turn the tables on him by learning to also become a crack shot with a handgun and with this new found skill she plans her revenge.

This definitely qualifies as one of the more intelligent rape-revenge thrillers out there. Part of its message is a criticism of American gun culture which seems more and more pertinent as each year goes by and another mass shooting happens in the name of gun ownership. Karen Young is excellent in the lead role and travels a wide arc of emotion in this one. She is very easy to get behind - let's be honest if you are not on her side in this movie, chances are you are a sociopath! Anyway, I am very pleased that this one is now doing the rounds on cable here in the UK as it certainly deserves to be re-discovered as it should never have become forgotten in the first place. A first rate thriller in my personal opinion.

This is very underrated thriller which also poses questions about America's love of guns. It is very low key and filmed almost like a documentary, and Karen Young is excellent as the victimised main character. It perhaps isn't as powerful as it could be but it is definitely worth watching.

I was really deceived by this woke before its time movie, which I expected in the line of Neil Jordan's THE BRAVE ONE, starring a Jodie Foster more or less in the same kind of lead female character. This one is a piece of junk - not sh...though - talkative, very slow to begin, and finally lousy, cheesy. With some good scenes however, such as the shooting walk practice; I appreciated. Yes, this is purely WOKE before its time. Now in 2023, this kind of plot is very usual. But in the early eighties, it was a bit the heir of the vigilante fashion that emerged in the seventies. Bad acting and lame directing. Forget it.

Actress Karen Young (Jaws: The Revenge, Torch Song Trilogy, The Sopranos) made a very creditable starring film debut in this independent drama that is at once a tried-and-true rape & revenge tale, and an interesting look at gun culture in the United States. Young plays Kathleen Sullivan, a high school teacher in Texas who makes the acquaintance of macho lawyer / gun enthusiast Larry Keeler (Clayton Day (The Day After)). They seem to hit it off for a while, until he decides to force himself on her after a date at his apartment.

Since Kathleens' chances of actually getting justice through the legal system are slim to none, she undergoes a major change in her personality, deciding to take gun training and own her own handgun.

Although this well-intentioned and VERY well-acted (especially by Young) drama is reasonably intelligent & believable, it does ultimately lead to a predictable, inevitable finale, albeit one which does allow the viewer to feel some sense of satisfaction. Overall, the film is appreciably low-key and never over-emphatic, and its almost documentary-style approach in its second half is definitely effective.

Since Handgun (also known as Deep in the Heart) isn't too well known nowadays, I'd recommend that interested viewers give it a look - even if it's just for Youngs' compelling performance.

Seven out of 10.

This is being written from memories of it being of UK TV, so bear with me. My dad used to rave about this, and when we got the chance to watch it, I could see why. This is a powerful, emotional driven film where the act of rape and the subsequent cold revenge using the rapists method are excellently executed. I am still kicking myself because we didn't video it and it isn't available on DVD. For shame! This is a film that seriously challenges the ownership and use of guns, and even for a person who sees no problem with guns used responsibly (like myself), this film still challenges... Worth watching for the ending - twist central!