Hussy
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: C Film: C+
In the late 1970s, I was wondering who Helen Mirren was
and why she kept showing up in goofy films like Caligula. Among the other films of this period include
Matthew Chapman’s independent production Hussy, the 1980 British drama
where she plays the title character.
Can she out-hussy the other hussies?
Is this really like the British version of “hoe”? Can she find true love with John Shea and
make a family with her son before darker forces set in?
To make things more interesting, her ex-lover is back from
trouble and ready to make a crazy arms deal with the help of Emory (Shea)
unless it gets them both shot and killed.
Part of a cycle of British films at the time dealing with some sort of
organized crime, it is no Long Good Friday (reviewed elsewhere on this
site) and has not aged well, but Shea and Mirren are just interesting enough to
see it once and the odds way in which is has aged makes for some unintended
amusement.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is better than
just letterboxed, but the print is not in the best condition and has some
detail issues throughout. Color can
also be an issue. The Dolby Digital 2.0
Mono shows both its age and the limits of the low-budget production in
general. Extras include text on Mirren
and trailers for this and four other First Run releases.
- Nicholas Sheffo
