Audience Member
This is one of those movies that used to play late at night on cable ALL the time back in the day. It haunted me back then, as I saw a nightmarish look into the life of a streetwalker. Looking at it now almost makes me blush, with how cheesy it is. It suffers from that breaking-the-fourth-wall, beat-poety aesthetic that was soo popular in the 90s. I can't help but laugh at the goofiness of it, as well as it being far too self-serious.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
12/10/20
Full Review
tony h
There's a great deal of food for thought here. The film is a little rough around the edges, as though the film-makers themselves didn't quite realise the great profundity of the issues upon which they were focussing incidentally.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
delysid d
This movie is Whorrible!
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
01/17/19
Full Review
Audience Member
Possibly one of the most woefully forgotten and unappreciated movies of all time (except by Roger Ebert). Not a masterpiece but a brave experiment in telling the truth about the oldest profession in the world, a direct answer to "Pretty Woman." Theresa Russell is the whole show, and she compels and impresses all the time. I'd talk about the plot but there really isn't one. Just a day in the life of a prostitute. Only here she talks directly to the camera (ala Spalding Grey or "Shirley Valentine") to tell us her full story. And it's an interesting, painful, downright sad one. Hunt this down if you can, and don't worry about the NC-17 rating. All instances of nudity and sex serve the story's purpose, nothing exploitative or unnecessary. I guess that's why I'm giving it such a high rating. Truly a lost piece of art.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/03/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I've never been that big a fan of director Ken Russell's films, but I will say that he's too smart a director to think he'd purposefully make a movie this insipid. Russell said he made this film as a response to the glamorous portrait of prostitution in "Pretty Woman," which makes me believe he intended this film to be a gritty hard edged depiction of street life, but "Whore" ends up comping off more as camp. The film follows a day in the life of prostitute Theresa Russell, though she breaks the fourth wall throughout the film, talking directly to the audience, sharing her life leading up to her current state. The story is not all the compelling or interesting, but Russell is a strong actress who brings more to the weak script than it deserves. Her performance is what saves this film from becoming an absolute bomb. Director Russell, no relation to the star, avoids his usual visual flair, which is either a result of budget limitations or an attempt at grit, but instead comes off as a rather flatly directed film. This was Russell's last major film as a feature film director. There was a fair amount of controversy around the film, which seems rather silly for such an uninsightful film. It was given an NC-17 rating, but then only had a matter of second cut out for the R-Rated video release. For the VHS release, video stores were given the option of ordering the NC-17 version, and unrated version, an R-Rated version and an R-Rated version that replaced the title of "Whore" on the VHS box with "If You Can't Say It... Just See It." I worked at a video store when this came out and the later was the version my store elected to buy. My video store liked to pride itself on being a family video store, though I always remember when they decided to stop renting X-Rated film, they did it because they just weren't renting all that well and not over a big moral choice, though they then proudly declared on all their 2 for 1 coupons "We do not rent adult films." But I digress. Back to "Whore," this film is really only watchable for Theresa Russell's performance. You do get to see a youngish Danny Trejo as a tattoo artist before he made it big and a few other familiar character actors (Jack Nance, John Diehl and Antonio Fargas). Overall, there's not a lot to recommend here unless you're a die hard Theresa Russell or Ken Russell.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Ken Russell fans will appreciate this film, all others need not apply. Theresa Russell has been far better elsewhere but after awhile her performance started to grow on me; it fits into the completely nutty universe that Ken Russell creates (part art film, part social satire, part bawdy joke, part tragedy, part Hollywood pastiche). It's a bit like Crimes of Passion but lacking much of that film's flair. By the way, there is no relation between Theresa and Ken Russell, as is often assumed. Whore was also their one and only film together. It is probably the last 'real' Ken Russell movie.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/25/23
Full Review
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