Women are from Venus, men are from, erm, the sewer. It’s hard to tell whether Michael Winner was mocking the material in Dirty Weekend or if he truly believed he had something important to convey. And what about Helen Zahavi, who wrote the novel and adapted it for the screen? What prompted her—her intentions, and so on? It's possible that Helen and Michael, at their best, were a perfect pairing for film, but the movie just feels unpleasant, carelessly unpleasant, like a series of shocks designed to let Zahavi gain favor with feminists while Winner gets to be sleazy, complete with murder, death, killing, and gruesome imagery. The plot, such as it is, follows Bella (Lia Williams), who suddenly transforms from a mousy woman into a sexual predator overnight, developing a desire to eliminate any man who looks at her the wrong way. This all unfolds in Brighton, a place of candy floss, seaside amusements, and men with questionable character. It would have been easy to sympathize with Bella if she’d had some normal interactions with men—perhaps friendships or shared drinks—but it's difficult to take this film seriously when every male character she encounters is either mentally unstable, sexually perverse, a potential serial killer, and so on. Even her best friend’s husband seems weak and probably should have been on Bella’s list of targets! Winner achieved what he set out to do with Dirty Weekend; critics were outraged, the British censors got busy, and importantly, the film became highly sought after in its uncut form by those who were curious or had questionable tastes. It was definitely shocking when it came out—when broadsheet newspapers are analyzing it shot by shot, you know it’s a provocative piece of cinema. Rufus Sewell can be excused because this is early in his career (he's unsettling and eccentric, reminiscent of Anthony Perkins), as can British actor Sean Pertwee, but what’s David McCallum’s excuse? What about Ian Richardson? Lia Williams’ bold and playful performance prevents the film from being a complete disaster; it’s good to see that she went on to have a successful career in British television and is still working. It's hard to recommend, and you’re likely to feel irritated by it, but credit to Winner—he certainly knew how to push buttons! 5/10

Source on TMDB