SnoopyStyle Uneducated prostitute Liz (Theresa Russell) works the L.A. streets. She is beaten up by one bad trick. She recalls various Johns. She married the local alcoholic hunk. They have a son together. She leaves her drunken husband with her son to her mother. As a waitress, she is introduced to prostitution.Breaking down the fourth wall is an interesting style. The constant unceasing nature does wear thin after awhile especially with Russell's voice in this character. This is more of a monologue. The minimalist style is more due to the lack of budget. Director Ken Russell considers this his anti-'Pretty Woman'. He has certainly drop kicked Pretty Woman and raped her from behind. It is a fascinating take but not a completely successful one.

Claudio Carvalho The prostitute Liz (Theresa Russell) works on the streets of Los Angeles. She recalls her life in flashback, when she marries an alcoholic man. She leaves him with their son. Then she works as waitress in a diner until the day a man introduces her to prostitution. Later she is raped by at least five men and the pimp Blake (Benjamin Mouton) "protects" her. Liz tries to escape from Blake and befriends the prostitute Katie (Elizabeth Morehead); however Blake chases her. On the streets, she befriends the homeless Rasta (Antonio Fargas) that helps her when she needs. "Whore" is a docudrama by Ken Russell that shows the tough life of a whore. The hot Theresa Russell is a perfect choice for the role of Liz, talking to the camera to explain her life and feelings and analyzing the type of men that is client of a whore. I saw this movie for the first time in the 90's and in 2015 it has not aged. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "A Prostituta" ("The Prostitute")

Coventry Good old Ken Russell … The glorious days of "Savage Messiah" and "The Devils" were obviously long gone in the early 90's, but still he was always up for directing a controversial and provocative motion picture. I read in several articles and interviews that "Whore" was primarily intended as a harsh and confronting response to the Julia Roberts comedy "Pretty Woman"; which depicts prostitution as a carefree and happy happy joy joy profession. Of course everybody already knows that the job of a prostitute includes more than just sleeping with Richard Gere, but Russell nonetheless insisted on dedicating a full movie based on this reality lesson. "Whore" is one part gripping docudrama and one part clichéd venting, but the overall impression it leaves is a positive and lasting one. Theresa Russell is excellent as Liz and, since she speaks most of her monologues straight into a camera, the viewer becomes irreversibly involved in her daily routines of abuse, humiliation, danger, fear, indescribably odd fetishes and general bullying. Whilst on the constant lookout for her relentless pimp, Liz lectures about what she does and doesn't tolerate from customers, tells lovely anecdotes about her wackiest clients (like an elderly man who only gets off when she hits him with his own cane!) and openly mentions the rookie mistakes that gradually turned her into the nihilistic and cynic woman she is now. Multiple sequences are, unfortunately, dreadful clichés (like a failed marriage and the cute son Liz was forced to abandon) or just plain weird (the reoccurring meetings with the semi-spiritual Rasta guy). Strangely enough – but perhaps typical for Ken Russell – our director interlards the most involving moments of sincere human tenderness with revolting footage of the pimp also facing the camera and proudly talking about his spirit of enterprise and generally discriminating opinion on women. "Whore" tends to get a bit monotonous and repetitive, but thankfully it's not too long, and occasionally it too obviously shows the script is adapted from a stage play. And perhaps the biggest problem of the film might be that the subject matter actually TOO realistic to be a genuine Russell success formula. Those who're familiar with the man's repertoire know that he's at his absolute finest when adding grotesquely surreal plot material and visually imaginative gimmicks to a rudimentary concept. The everyday life of a prostitute simply doesn't lend itself to a lot of creative and artsy expanding, and for Russell this is definitely a shortcoming. Notwithstanding the brutal approach and rather repellent promotional elements (the blunt title, the tagline "This is no bedtime story"), "Whore" is a unique and compelling drama worth tracking down.

preppy-3 A prostitute named Liz (Theresa Russell) relates her life and times to the viewer. She's running away from her vicious pimp (Benjamin Mouton) who wants to kill her. Rasta (Antonio Fargas) pops up from time to time to inexplicably help her.This was made in response to "Pretty Woman" (which actually made prostitution look glamorous). Director Ken Russell had trouble getting funding for this--no actress would take the role and the title alone scared away investors. Finally Theeresa Russell (no relation) agreed to do it but he still had trouble getting funds. The movie was cheaply made and it shows in some of the sets. It also prevents Russell from any overindulgences (which are usually the highlights of his films). It comes off, cinematically, kind of muted.The acting carries this. Theresa is a great actress--she pulls off the role showing the humor and pain in equal doses. Also she has quite a few long monologues which she pulls off without a hitch. Mouton is also good as her slimy pimp and it's always good to see Fargas in anything (although his character makes no sense).The screenplay is great--it doesn't shy away from any of the realities of prostitution and is quite graphic. Nothing is really shown but the descriptions and sounds make it quite clear what's going on. It does fall apart at the end leaving a conclusion that was totally unbelievable. Some posters have complained that Russell is too glamorous to be a prostitute. That's true--but who wants to watch a movie with a real prostitute who aren't exactly attractive and are in terrible shape? Also there are a few cute references to earlier Russell films here--one movie theatre is playing "Lair of the White Worm" and another is playing a porno film starring China Blue (the character Kathleen Turner played in his "Crimes of Passion").I saw this originally in 1991 in a theatre in it's NC-17 version. The one I saw on cable was R rated and dreadfully edited. The cuts are obvious and in one stupid moment a word is bleeped out (????). It still works as an R rated but try to find the uncut version. Good movie but the low budget hurts.