Whore (1991)    Trimark/Drama    RT: 85 minutes    Rated NC-17 (strong sexual content/references, nudity, pervasive language, violence including rape, drug use)    Director: Ken Russell    Screenplay: Ken Russell and Deborah Dalton    Music: Michael Gibbs    Cinematography: Amir M. Mokri    Release date: October 4, 1991 (US)    Cast: Theresa Russell, Benjamin Mouton, Antonio Fargas, Elizabeth Morehead, Daniel Quinn, Sanjay, Jason Saucier, Ginger Lynn Allen, Jack Nance, Tom Villard, John Diehl, Danny Trejo.    Box Office: $1M (US)

Rating: * ½

 Director Ken Russell was no stranger to controversy. He made several films that raised eyebrows and offended puritanical types- e.g. Women in Love (1969), The Music Lovers (1971), The Devils (1971) and Crimes of Passion (1984). Whore, one of his last works, continues the trend. It got hit with an NC-17 due to its frank depiction of sexuality and prostitution. Ken takes us on a journey through a bleak world of violence, perversion, degradation and loveless sex. It’s the complete antithesis of Pretty Woman.

 Because of its rating, Whore didn’t receive too wide a release when it hit cinemas in Oct. 1991. It opened in one theater in the Philadelphia area where it played for only a week. I didn’t get a chance to check it out then. It made a quick trip to video (January ’92) which is where things get really interesting. Vidmark put out four different versions: the original NC-17 version released to theaters, an R-rated cut, an unrated version with scenes not in the theatrical release and a re-titled one called If You Can’t Say It, Just See It (it’s the R version). That last one is the version that was available at Blockbuster and other video stores that didn’t want to display the original title. I rented the NC-17 one, of course. That’s the version I’m reviewing here.

 Whore actually began life on a London stage as a play called Bondage. It was written by London taxi driver David Hines who based it on a conversation he had with a prostitute. It did reasonably well. Ken Russell became involved when Hines jumped out of his cab, stopped him on the street and asked him to adapt it into a film. The filmmaker agreed to give it a shot. However, when he tried to get financing for the project, he got turned down by every British financier he approached. They were turned off by the frank language and subject matter. That didn’t stop Ken. He simply changed the setting of the story to L.A. and went to America to get it made. Obviously, he got funding for Whore or else I wouldn’t be writing about it.

 Whore is kind of a pseudo-documentary. It mostly consists of the main character, a street walker named Liz, talking about her life and what led her to her current career. Liz is played by Theresa Russell from the 1987 thriller Black Widow. She talks directly to the audience about her life while she tries to avoid her pimp Blake (Mouton, And God Created Woman), a violent creep who sees himself as a savior keeping his girls safe from the dangers of the street. That, of course, is a lot of BS. He’s like a slightly less OTT version of Ramrod from Vice Squad (1982).

 Liz talks about growing up in a small town where she marries an abusive drunk (Saucier, Sister, Sister) she meets at a bar. She ends up leaving him, taking their infant son with her. She tells us how she met and fell under the influence of the initially charming Blake. She talks extensively about her clientele. WOW, what a bunch! We get a shoe fetishist, an Indian bicyclist who hates rubbers, an old man who likes to be spanked with his cane and a hippie (Villard, One Crazy Summer) in an old VW bug looking for a Virgo (Liz is a Scorpio). And those are the nicer ones. She also deals with creeps like the guy who wants to “f*** [her] up the ass” and the guys who gang rape her in a van and dump her on the side of the road like garbage.

 The only other major character in Whore is this homeless guy named Rasta (Fargas, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka). He shows up periodically throughout the movie. Liz is initially freaked out by him when he offers to walk barefoot on broken glass for $1. They end up going to the movies together when Liz needs a place to temporarily hide from Blake. Liz also tells us about her brief friendship with a kind, educated woman named Katie (Morehead, Funny About Love) who tries to help her get out of the life. That is, until Blake shows up brandishing a knife.

 There are some interesting actors in the supporting cast. Jack Nance, veteran of several David Lynch movies like Eraserhead (1977), Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986), plays the passerby who helps Liz after she’s tossed from the rapists’ van. Porn star Ginger Lynn Allen plays a prostitute badly wounded by a john. John Diehl (Angel) shows up briefly as a derelict that vomits in front of Liz. Future Machete star Danny Trejo appears as a tattoo artist. Burlesque performer Stephanie Blake, who also played the singing nurse-o-gram in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), struts her stuff in a strip club. Also, Ken himself makes an uncredited cameo as a waiter at a fancy French restaurant.

 I honestly don’t know what to make of Whore. I don’t think Ken knows either. There’s a fine line between art and filth; he stumbles along it, never quite knowing where to step next. Sometimes he appears to be attempting a serious exploration of the subject of prostitution. Other times, it’s exaggerated to the point of near-parody. Take the scene where Blake tries to impress Liz by taking her to an expensive French restaurant. She is way out of her depth there. She’s loud, crass and ignorant to the ways of fine dining. It’s like something out of a comedy. It’s definitely out of place in a supposedly serious film.

 Ms. Russell turns in a singular performance as Liz, a prostitute without a sunny demeanor or a heart of gold. She understands her situation and just accepts it. She’d like to be done with Blake, but that’s easier said than done. When she tells him she wants to leave him at one point, he threatens to kill her then force her son (now in foster care) into prostitution. She’s definitely a more believable street walker than Julia Roberts, but I still never got the sense I was watching a real hooker. Her tough, woman of the streets accent sounds forced. Mouton fares slightly better as her pimp. I just find myself wondering how he’d do up against others in his profession. He’d probably get his ass kicked. Fargas is simply bonkers as Rasta.

 I also find myself wondering how Liz manages to make a living when she turns away most potential customers for one reason or another. You’d think that Blake would have something to say about her selectiveness. I could ask a bunch of questions about Whore, but why bother? It’s not like we’re talking about a legitimate art film here. It thinks it is, but we all know what it really is. It’s a dirty movie made by a dirty old man. It’s the kind of movie that attracts perverts posing as serious filmgoers. It tries to shock us with its raw frankness, but fails. Instead, it occasionally grosses us out with scenes like Liz’s drunken hubby puking all over the dinner she made for him. Also, there’s no real point to the film, at least none that I can see. In the end, it’s simply a sleazy and pretentious film that seriously overestimates its own importance. It has nothing to say and says it too loudly. Thank you, Ken, but I’ll stick with the Angel trilogy. They don’t pretend to be anything other than what they are.