The Hawk

I am not a big fan of British Horror Movies, but this one was a welcoming surprise, i knew Helen Mirram was a fantastic actress, from seeing her in other roles, and she was brilliant in this role, the film is based around a married woman who suspects her husband is to blame for a series of murders, in her home town, the reasons for this are quite simple, as your made to believe that she is completely barmy, due to serving time in a mental home, this plays a big role in the movie, and so makes you believe it is all in her mind, but is it.

A really good movie, and any chance to see Helen Mirram sporting a northern accent is well worth a glance.

(1992) The Hawk SUSPENSE THRILLER

Helen Mirren practically had to carry this movie on her shoulders, for it's effectiveness may have been better had it been short and tighter. She plays Annie Marsh, a housewife of two children, suspecting that her husband can possibly be a serial killer, people are calling "The Hawk" because victims are usually found with their eyes gauged out which is similar to what a hawk would do. With a fast forward button on specific scenes while playing on some unnecessary scenes, this movie isn't that bad, considering what the actors/ actresses had to work with. Some viewers may be disappointed with the fact, that there's no explanation regarding the serial killer's motivations for going on to this killing spree in the first place.

Not a bad film, but I just watched this and realised the house where Annie Marsh (Helen Mirren) lives is actually the road in Bristol I lived in for 12 years of my life - I was living in this road when The Hawk was being filmed and remember seeing Helen Mirren (although I didn't realise who she was at the time).

Just a useless bit of trivia :)

What do other people think about this film? Did anybody else live in Lilymead Avenue at the time? Does anybody else have a similar experiences? Do you think Helen Mirren should have won the best Actress BAFTA over Judy Dench?

A woman with previous mental problems comes to believe that the brutal serial killer preying on the local neighbourhood is her husband. This is less of a whodunit and more of a "is she right about whodunit?", well acted by Helen Mirren (who keeps her clothes on!) as the suspicious wife, and George Costigan who is the dodgy travelling salesman husband. As she follows the case, checking up on dates and times and growing ever more convinced, her suspicions are ridiculed by friends, family and police, all convinced that her previous mental illness is causing her to imagine the whole thing. Unusually, the film concentrates on the wife and the details of domestic life as they fall apart with the strain of suspicion, and the sadistic sexual murders are scarcely touched on - there's little in the way of gore or action here. The film does keep you unsure of whether she's right or wrong right up until the end, but the dreary domestic details and focus on the wife's mental state make this quite hard work - it felt so much longer than an hour and a half.

A tedious thriller which feels a lot longer than its 88 minutes. Mirren's performance as is solid as you'd expect, but that really isn't quite enough and it's hard to see why this was a film as opposed to a one off TV-drama. I suppose there is something to be said for the fact the film really only let's us experience Mirren's character's perspective and the fact that the audience is kept guessing for much of the movie, but really you can't help feel this could have been a lot better. Compare it to an episode of Cracker or Prime Suspect, and it's nowhere near as dark and brooding as it likes to think it is, and nowhere near as dark and brooding as we know British drama can achieve.