Handgun

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.

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.

Handgun is an obscure little rape and revenge thriller that has more weight than many other films in the genre and actually tries to make some points outside of it. The film I would liken this one to most is the Swedish exploitation flick 'They Call Her One Eye' as it features an innocent young looking girl being wronged and then getting herself some weapons and some training to get back at her enemy. In fact, the two films are so similar that I would be very surprised if Handgun director Tony Garnett has not seen They Call Her One Eye. The major focal point here is course, rape. Kathleen Sullivan is a young woman who moves from Boston to Dallas. While there, she meets a man and starts seeing him; but shortly thereafter, the relationship turns sour when she refuses her advances, and he rapes her at gunpoint. She gets over the initial shock by getting angry and later buying herself a nice big gun and learning how to use it, all with the intention of hunting down and killing the man who raped her...

The film comes off as being slightly classier than the 'Video Nasty' style rape and revenge flicks such as The Last House on the Left and I Spit on Your Grave, although it's not as graphic, sleazy or nasty; and to be honest, I prefer the aforementioned classics to this film. The film is rather slow to start and nothing much happens for the first half hour. This is good in a way because it lets us get used to the central character, but on the other hand it's quite boring so becomes a bit of a problem. Otherwise, the plot flows fairly well; but there's never any secret made over where it's going so the film doesn't contain a lot of suspense. The rape scene is not particularly graphic either, which is a shame because it's what a lot of people will be tuning in for. There's a point thrown in there about guns and their usage, but it's not very potent. The film boils down to a good conclusion, despite the fact that it's obvious it was going to turn out that way - but it does pull an interesting little twist out at the end which is decent. Overall, I'm not surprised that this film isn't well known as it's not all that good and wont appeal to a mass market; but it's decent stuff and I can recommend 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!

I absolutely love this film, I saw it first when it was first released and found its message both powerful and thought provoking. The way the film was made was how any of us would react if we had been that girl that we wanted justice and sometimes although its not always right its the only way to get it. Brilliant performances from both the main actors which give credence to the film. It does start of slowly but that is to get you used to the characters in the movie but when it kicks in it does so with a bang and I actually found my anger growing and my belief in justice coming out. This film will hit a raw nerve within you if it doesn't your a robot. This is for sure a movie to see before you die.