Handgun [Deep in the Heart] **** (1983, Karen Young, Clayton Day, Suzie Humphreys) – Classic Movie Review 9238

Director Tony Garnett’s 1982 revenge thriller Handgun [Deep in My Heart] stars Karen Young as Dallas teacher Kathleen Sullivan, who sets out to avenge herself on her gun-toting rapist, Texan lawyer Larry Keeler (Clayton Day), by learning how to shoot back.

Britain’s Garnett, in his first American film, accurately hits the target of revealing America’s trigger-happiness in this effective, chilling and carefully exploitative thriller. Young does a first-class job tracing the woman’s emergence from victim to avenger and Garnett keeps both emotions and brains fully engaged, with the odd surprise up his sleeve.

He produced Cathy Come Home, Kes and Earth Girls Are Easy.

It has a UK 18 certificate. A woman is date-raped at gun point there are adult themes and some nudity.

Also in the cast are Suzie Humphreys, Helena Humann and Ben Jones.

Handgun [Deep in My Heart] is directed by Tony Garnett, runs 101 minutes, is made by  EMI Films and Kestrel Films, is released by Columbia-EMI-Warner (1983) (UK) and Warner Bros (1984) (US), is written by Tony Garnett, is shot by Charles Stewart, is produced by Tony Garnett and is scored by Mike Post, with Production Design by Lilly Kilvert.

It was filmed in Texas in 1980.

It was released by Network Distributing in 2013 in the UK on DVD.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9238

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