It's always the same and it's always different.
-Henry

For all intents and purposes this is John McNaughton's feature film directorial debut. He made a documentary two years prior called Dealers of Death that was built around edited together public domain footage dealing with famous Chicago gangsters. When plans for a second documentary fell through, Waleed B. Ali asked McNaughton to come up with an exploitation horror film filled with blood and guts inspired around real life serial killer Henry Lee Lucas.

McNaughton wrote the script with Richard Fire, but came back to Ali with something much more then a horror film. One way to describe it would be that it's a "slice of life" piece that peaks into a…

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, upon my first viewing many years ago which left me traumatized and deeply disturbed by the sadistic imagery I was witnessing, is a relentless piece of cinematic frailty. At the time I found it to be a penetrating film with all the strength and courage in it for it to be an effective experience, but this second viewing about 4 years ago truly shattered me and left me absolutely speechless by the stark, unforgiving film unravelling before my very eyes.

Michael Rooker, in the titular role, delivers a performance of such force and terror that allows you to truly understand the manipulative construction of his mind. Henry is a man with no regret, without…

Excerpt from my article 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) and the Genesis and Execution of Evil'...

"Throughout the course of the entire film, McNaugton purposely does not include one law enforcement officer on screen. While the movie is indeed realistic this also contributed to the presentation of a bleak harsh world a seemingly lawless one stripping us of any comforts that we might feel from seeing a police officer as Henry and Otis roam freely to dispatch in the most gruesome of ways whomever they feel like. With that said, everything in the movie is far more frightening than any aliens, demons or monsters up on the screen as more likely not than so are we ever going…

Serial killers are fascinating creatures, and people are naturally drawn to the twisted psyche that lurks behind their menacing eyes. It's natural to want to understand, even on a surface level, the demented force that compels someone to kill impulsively.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is a movie that puts you in world where there is nothing but carnage and apathy. Slasher films, and horror films in general saw a big boom in the 80s, but none I've seen have been as grounded and grotesquely voyeuristic as this one.

The film doesn't really try to give reason to the carnage as much as it just puts you in it out of context. The opening shots of the film show…

Film 55 of "The December Project" 2012
83 minutes

This was a first time watch for me and I had been meaning to check it out since I heard it was really good from multiple sources. And since I recently watched and liked "Tony", which was a film that showed the life of a serial killer, this definitely was something I found interesting.

I can easily see where the writer of "Tony" got some ideas for this, or at least it seems so to me. The film was gritty looking, and yeah it was made in '86 but it had a definite worn look to it and I loved it. I also loved how there was not much exposition, they…

Everything's already been said about this film, which is why it's hard for me to see its supposed lasting appeal. Don't get me wrong, it's a horrifyingly effective thriller with dynamite acting. Even when it's dated in its presentation it still manages to shock and disturb. The innovative way of showing the murder of that family will stick with me for a long time, I assure you. The consistent unpredictability of the violence (whether it showed the aftermath, the entire act, or just let the audience hear it) always kept me on my seat. I don't know. Maybe I didn't see it soon enough. I just didn't get the hype.

Granted, it's not one of those films you're meant to…

So last night I thought I would have a little themed double bill for my film night. First of all I watched Lucio Fulci's New York Ripper, and enjoyable, very over the top portrayal of a quacking serial killer. For the second film I thought I would go for something a little different. I'd heard that Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer was disturbing in how down to earth it was, so I thought the comparison would be quite nice. Turns out that I was right.

Henry... is based on the, later proved to be fictional, account of Henry Lee Lucas' killing spree. It later turned out that much of what he admitted to he did so for reduced jail…

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, upon my first viewing many years ago which left me traumatized and deeply disturbed by the sadistic imagery I was witnessing, is a relentless piece of cinematic frailty. At the time I found it to be a penetrating film with all the strength and courage in it for it to be an effective experience, but this second viewing about 4 years ago truly shattered me and left me absolutely speechless by the stark, unforgiving film unravelling before my very eyes.

Michael Rooker, in the titular role, delivers a performance of such force and terror that allows you to truly understand the manipulative construction of his mind. Henry is a man with no regret, without…

Excerpt from my article 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) and the Genesis and Execution of Evil'...

"Throughout the course of the entire film, McNaugton purposely does not include one law enforcement officer on screen. While the movie is indeed realistic this also contributed to the presentation of a bleak harsh world a seemingly lawless one stripping us of any comforts that we might feel from seeing a police officer as Henry and Otis roam freely to dispatch in the most gruesome of ways whomever they feel like. With that said, everything in the movie is far more frightening than any aliens, demons or monsters up on the screen as more likely not than so are we ever going…