Closure

I personally thought this was a very intense and in your face movie. In today's society we find that many directors will walk that fine line between cliché and original. We all know that the rape revenge genre is not something that is new. I found this film to be very original in its own way. Gillian Anderson proves herself yet again to be a superb actress that not only can bring you into the story line, but also let you into the feelings that her character is. I am glad that the director took the opportunity to make this film gritty and yet very realistic. Everybody has a breaking point, and some act on it, as the couple in this movie did. There were times that I cringed and wanted to turn away but felt compelled to watch as of respect to the characters and the feelings that they so well portrayed. Many complain about the end, I for one think it had a very fitting ending, in which a realization of humanity is shown. Even the merciless can show mercy. If you are at home and see this on I would suggest seeing this.

Straightheads 2007 Gillian Anderson gives an excellent performance. Her emotions, following the brutal ordeal of her character, are too realistic for comfort. You are compelled to feel revulsion at her plight, and can understand her cry for revenge. The effects on the couple's relationships, and how they individually perceive revenge is a strong part of the storyline, as is how they both deal with the realisation that 'Revenge is sweet'. Danny Dyer portrays his character fairly effectively and the mood change towards the end is quite effective, but Gillian Anderson outshines him. Anthony Calf, who plays the instigator of the brutal rape, puts in a good performance and when he explains to his victim why he felt forced to do what he did, you could almost, but not quite, feel sorry for him. The Director, Dan Reed, is no stranger to awards for his work. But, these have been for current affairs and social and political documentaries. This thriller is completely different, and appears to be out of his comfort zone. Much more could have been done to enhance the experience that the film could have given. The advertising says this is 'Straw Dogs' for the next generation. But regretfully this film comes nowhere near Straw Dogs. Darnmay September 2007

To call Straightheads the best Danny Dyer film I've seen is to damn with faint praise. In my humble opinion, the guy cannot act. He just stands there and growls his lines, and you think: how the hell does this guy get plum roles in so many British films? Photogenic he may be, but when it comes to performing, he is never less than completely pants. At least Gillian Anderson is on hand to lend proceedings a touch of class, but the guy is still a millstone hanging around the neck of this thriller/drama. Alice is a thirty-something worker who is having a security system fitted in her house. She decides to take the 23 year old installer Adam out to a party she is attending, and while there she makes out with him against a tree. On the return journey however, our loving couple make the mistake of angering a van full of psychos in an extreme case of road rage. This ends up in Adam being grievously injured, and Alice being raped. A month later, they are still recovering from the events of the day. But then, Alice finds out the identity of one of the attackers. Adam is quite happy to let sleeping dogs lie, but Alice, armed with this new information wants revenge. And being the daughter of an ex-soldier has distinct advantages... You'll probably go into this 18 rated film with hopes of experiencing a few nice gory and brutal scenes. In which case, it won't disappoint... their are beating with huge spanners, dogs being shot and unspeakable acts done utilising the point of a huge rifle. OUCH! It doesn't outstay its welcome either, at a meagre running time of just 76 minutes. Hmm, wonder what the deleted scenes were like? However, due to the lack of any sympathetic characters, unbelievable plot developments and the usual Dyer (ha ha) acting by you-know-who I can't quite recommend it. 5/10 it is then. Never mind mate, you'll only improve. Maybe...

If derivative and predictable rape-revenge thrillers are your thing, then you're in for a rare treat... They don't really appeal to me, so I couldn't find any single thing to redeem this peculiar tale. It seems like something straight out of the 1980s, a different age when this would have gone straight to video. Gillian Anderson and Danny Dyer do OK work with a weak script and a tedious scenario. But what is Gillian Anderson doing getting involved with a film like this after the brilliance of her performance as Lady Deadlock in the BBC TV adaptation of Bleak House last year? The director is said to have been influenced by witnessing a near-rape and by his work on documentaries, but even that's not an excuse for the bizarre scene where a pack of rural hounds beat up Dyer. I don't think I was the only person in the cinema laughing. What I can't understand is the involvement of the companies behind this film - FilmFour and Verve Pictures. Both have been involved in some great independent British films in recent years. Verve distributed Bullet Boy, Code 46 and Red Road - Straightheads doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath. FilmFour and Verve take note: is this really the best you can do? What are independent British filmmakers going to make of your artistic judgement? It's a big blot on both of your reputations. Listen carefully: can you hear the thousands of fans of independent British films crying in despair?

A wealthy businesswoman (Gillian Anderson) and her newly acquired working class lover (Danny Dyer) are viciously attacked while on a drive the woods. Afterwards, the only thing the woman can think of is revenge, and she calculates a plan to fulfill that. This is an intriguing modern-day "rape/revenge" thriller that focuses more on psychology and gender (as well as other social constructs) instead of the violence and action sequences that typically go hand-in-hand with the subgenre. That said, rape/revenge fans most likely won't be disappointed with this one, as it's fairly brutal and shocking. It's a little short, clocking in just over 70 minutes, so by the end I thought to myself, "is that all there is?" Yet the film did have something of an impact on me, because I found myself thinking about it all the next day and recommending it to friends. Gillian Anderson is excellent and does things you would never in a million years think you'd see Gillian Anderson do on-screen. I'll leave it at that. Danny Dyer also gives a fantastic dramatic performance. I'm not sure why he gets such a bad rap in the UK. He isn't quite famous in the States yet, but he's great in the few films I've seen him in. Thumbs up on this thought-provoking thriller, though I can't help feeling there's a chunk of the film missing.

Although I use this site quite frequently to see how other people rated what I think are challenging or just plain enjoyable films, after watching this "movie" on Film Four last night I felt compelled to write something down, even if it just helps cleanse me once again. The film was possibly the shallowest experience I've ever had - the main characters played by Danny Dyer (23? You sure?) and Gillian Anderson (who will always be Scully as Leonard Nimoy will always be Spock) had no real substance about them - I'm not sure if the first half-hour of the film didn't make the final cut but surely in a revenge movie you would like some empathy with the victims... here I couldn't care less. In fact, the only character I did seem to care about was the dog, with the stag coming a close second. And both animals out-acted Dire (sic) and Scully, who were quite frankly terrible. I guess though you're only as good as the script you are given, and I'd like to warmly thank the writers, the producers, the director and all of the cast for wasting 90 minutes of my life and some perfectly good electricity.

The movie is an absolute flop. Bad acting, bad soundtrack, bad story. The swear words are completely out of place, the undressed and intimate scenes are adding nothing to the movie. She is being raped, but you do not feel absolutely sorry for her. On the contrary the only guy who had one sexual relationship with her did it to protect his own daughter. So you end up feeling sorry for him. You simply do not feel any emotions. It's a flat movie. The beaten guy looses an eye. OK. That's bad. But he is such a jerk, a real idiot, so the fact that he stabs out the eye at the end of the movie is disgusting. The spectator is not involved, there is no increase in tension. What was the subject? She being raped? The family drama of the raper? of his daughter? of the friends? Was it a car show of Lexus? Where broken windscreens are automatically repaired over night (Tthat was cheap, laugh!!!) If the subject was revenge I hope the production did not want to compete with comparable movies like The Crow, or Charles Bronson's cult movie. This movie is brutal? Well, to paraphrase the trailer of Hostel II: Britons... they have no imagination

Gillian Anderson is an arrogant, driven, career woman who picks up working class oik Danny Dyer for a night of fun. After a stupid accident in the countryside, they are brutally attacked. After recovering, and after a chance meeting with one of the attackers, their thoughts turn to that of revenge... I thought "Straightheads" was terrible. Violent, brutal, misogynistic and unpleasant. If I didn't dislike the phrase a great deal I would call "Straightheads" a video nasty. Certainly it was the kind of film that would have had a no budget release straight to video during the dark days of the 1980's. Frankly I don't know how "Straightheads" got a cinema release. I am not a prude. I don't mind sex and violence in the movies, but they have to be married to a movie with a) a good plot or b) good characterisation or c) preferably both. "Straightheads" had neither. No progression in the plot or the characters and too much left unexplained and unsaid. Luckily "Straightheads" went nowhere fast. It was only 80 minutes long. It was a shame, because there was the germ of an interesting film here, with an especially interesting turn in the plot in the last third. How often do I say this, but it could have been good if it had been done properly. What a shame. I really like Gillian Anderson and Danny Dyer, but they were on a hiding to nothing with this film. She, especially, is very underrated (and is still particularly fit). If you want to see a good British revenge movie, rent or buy Shane Meadows' "Dead Man's Shoes". It is a little masterpiece. Last weekend I should have seen his "This Is England" instead. Ce sera sera...

This reminded me SOO much of Michael Winner's crappy 'Dirty Weekend' with it's awful English low budget feel. Firstly I must say I am a fan of both exploitation and serious film. I appreciate, say, 'Demented' for it's ineptitude and 'Last House on the Left' for it's sheer unashamed brutality. And any number of inventive and increasingly brutal Italian spin offs. This was just pointless though. Kind of like a British budget director thought 'let's remake "I Spit on your Grave" without making it too harrowing now that horror is back in fashion with Hostel. The whole thing just doesn't hang together or have a point. What's with the rapists's daughter? Why bother having the man be an expert in security cameras? Crappy.

This is the biggest load of crap that I have seen in a long time. The last time I hated a movie so much was whilst watching "28 Days later" and "Magnolia". There is absolutely no point to this movie, except to see some really sick and twisted sex/rape scenes, Gillian Anderson relieving herself on the side of the road, and every single sentence of dialog having to use the "F" word at least a couple of times in it. It has extremely cheap acting and is very low budget. My friend and I eventually turned off the movie after about half an hour. We had tried to give it a chance, but nothing could save this crud. DO NOT WATCH IT!!!