Handgun

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 caught this British made but American set and themed thriller on TV. After it had been on for a few minutes i remembered that i seen this film on its original theatre release. Though essentially a low budget exploitation film with a message or two as it's justification, events since the movies 1983 release have made the film far more relevant today. What with the gun lobby at odds with the gun control debate raging in the USA, not to mention the sexual harassment question gripping the attention of this years movie awards season. There is a lot to think about, in this well made though clearly low budget but very effective little thriller, that play's out in a taught tense swift 90 minutes.

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.

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!

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.