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Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

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Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

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Summary

Controversial, low-budget documentary-style drama charting a psychopath's gut-wrenching activities as he murders a series of victims, apparently at random and without motive. His only friend Otis gets drawn into his campaign of terror, and proves even more twisted. However, the duo are ultimately divided by Otis' sister, whom the murderer proves oddly protective of, especially when her brother starts harbouring incestuous desires. Controversial psychological horror, starring Michael Rooker, Tracy Arnold and Tom Towles.

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Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

John Ferguson

Instead of portraying a cultured, super-intelligent serial killer such as Hannibal Lecter, John McNaughton's disturbing directorial debut offers us a poor drifter (Michael Rooker) who wanders anonymously from city to city, murdering at random. No one knows he is a mass murderer - he has no discernible motive or modus operandi - until he lets flatmate and fellow ex-con Tom Towles in on his gruesome hobby. McNaughton's rough, non-judgemental direction gives the film a stylishly chilling documentary feel, while the killer's use of a camcorder asks some challengingly uncomfortable questions about voyeurism and the nature of screen violence. Ironically, despite the high body count, we actually see very little of the killings - only their bloody aftermath. An exploitative follow-up was released in 1998, but this original is the true modern classic.

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7.0/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameHenryMichael RookerOtisTom TowlesBeckyTracy ArnoldDead Woman / Dead Prostitute / HookerMary DemasWaitressAnne BartolettiOne of dead coupleElizabeth KadenOne of dead coupleTed KadenFloating womanDenise Sullivan

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Crew

rolenameDirectorJohn McNaughton

Details

Theatrical distributor

Optimum Releasing

Released on

2003-05-02

Languages

English

Guidance

Contains graphic violence and swearing.

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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