Handgun (1983)

Director:

Tony Garnett

Writer:

Tony Garnett (writer)

Release Date:

8 February 1986 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

She said no ... and she meant it !

Plot:

Shortly after moving to Dallas, a young woman is raped at gunpoint. Her intense anger drives her to seek revenge, and she becomes a hunter on a vengeance mission. |

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Vengeance | Gun | Female Nudity | Sexual Violence

Cast

Karen Young	...	Kathleen Sullivan
Clayton Day	...	Larry Keeler
Suzie Humphreys	...	Nancy
Helena Humann	...	Miss Davis
Ben Jones	...	Chuck
Jane Abbott	...	Lady
Jane Simoneau	...	Lady
Peggy Akin	...	Lady
Joe Bowman	...	Trickshooter
John Tufts Jr.	...	Tranquilliser Gun Man
Kitty Harlen	...	Mrs. Sullivan
Jim Harlen	...	Mr. Sullivan
Barbara Woodard	...	Boxing MC
Larry Corwin	...	Jim
Kenneth Garner	...	William Masters

Also Known As:

Deep in the Heart (USA)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Dallas, Texas, USA

Company:

EMI Films

Decent rape and revenge thriller

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.