L'éternel soupçon

This movie is a good argument against gun control. It's hard watching an actress we grew up with (Sally Struthers) being humiliated by home invaders. Sally should have won an emmy for her performance in this flick. She goes through all the emotions as she is arrested for shooting one of the scumbags who breaks into her house. This movie proves that most District Attorney's have their head up their @#$ !!!

The ending does provide some satisfaction, I won't elaborate on details, just sit back and watch and enjoy old time entertainment that doesn't rely on computer-generated action, just plain ole' good acting.

There is only one scene worth watching and it's not worth watching this entire film just to see it. It's really not "must see this" scene either... just the only one in the film that makes you think the film is going to get good from that point on but it doesn't.

The point of this made for TV film is to get you buy a gun - just in case something like this happens to you. They show ol' Sally at the firing range learning how to use one. Later on the "one good scene" happens and the two guys in masks broke in to her place without a gun on her but she happens to have a gun now and knows how to use it. (The film goes back to being lame after that).

It's really a get a gun and learn how to use it film - it's nothing more than that.

1/10

Two criminals are attacking housewives in their homes in suburbia. Our main character's solution? To get A Gun in the House.

While everyone in a suburban block is having a discussion on guns and safety in the neighbourhood, we see two masked men break into a woman's house to rob her. They also go as far as raping her. We meet our lead character Emily who is rattled by the latest attacks in the neighbourhood against women, so she buys a chain for the door instead of getting a gun. After the chain is a dud in her husbands eyes, Emily begins going to the shooting range to learn how to use a gun for protection. Late one night, the two men break in and attack Emily also humiliating her in the process. They pour alcohol on her and make her crawl around the floor like a dog. She breaks free of them and grabs the gun shooting one of the men dead in the process, the other runs off. The police then turn the story around on Emily and make her the villain instead of the victim. Can Emily prove her innocence? And will the second man be found?

A Gun in the House isn't a bad Made-For-TV horror drama. There is a lot of discussion throughout the film of are guns good or bad to have, and what is the real problem - guns or the people who carry them. Very relevant to almost every decade and dealing with gun control laws. The film drags slowly in the middle half. It's pretty much just Emily going to the shooting range over and over again to learn how to fire the weapon.

Sally Struthers does a beautiful job as the victim in this break and enter case. Her emotions and fear when the two men attack her and humiliate her are so well done. And then the confusion she shows when she is charged for the murder of the one boy, pretty powerful.

All in all, A Gun in the House is a pretty effective thriller about the dangers of owning a gun and the consequences that can come from it. It also depicts a very terrifying experience of a home invasion and how that can affect a person. I recommend it.

6/10

This telefilm pulls no punches and can be tough to watch, but the central performance, the handling and the plot (which doesn't feel mechanized) makes it worthwhile. Perky Sally Struthers is attacked by two masked thugs in her home, who degrade and humiliate her; she breaks free and grabs her gun, but is later dragged through legal mud before facing one of her attackers yet again. Struthers takes a 'typical housewife' character and makes her immediate and dear to us; she's such a natural that her ordeal here is quite gripping. We follow her through the messy circumstances--which blessedly steer clear of courtroom melodrama--and we are most definitely on her side. In a downsized (but certainly no less important) way, this drama could be the "Death Wish" of the small screen.

A Gun in the House has been described as the TV Movie equivalent of Death Wish. This is fairly accurate. Both feature neighborhoods with criminals causing havoc and a vigilante to stop them. A Gun in the House isn't anywhere as sensational and it is plodding in places. Both can be seen as a comment on crime in society dealing with home security, gun crime and burglary.

There is some fine acting that elevate it above many made for TV thrillers. The film is notable in that it features a fairly nasty rape scene that goes on longer than one would expect in a 1980s TV Movie. No surprise that when it was broadcast on UK TV possibly in 1991 it attracted some complaints for decency. It was also released on VHS tape in the UK and with it being a precert it goes for a pretty penny.

The film is well worth seeing despite a fairly dull 20 minutes before the finale it manages to be a tense, well acted little film. Despite its reputation it never goes into sleazy territory, unlike Death Wish. I'm not sure if it is better or worse for it.