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Henry - Portrait Of A Serial Killer Details

1986 DVD Certificate 18.gif
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 1489 members

HENRY PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, loosely based on the case of Henry Lee Lucas, a confessed serial killer, is a terrifyingly intimate journey into the twisted life of a murderous psychotic. As the blank-eyed Henry (Michael Rooker) drifts from place to place, he selects victims at random, slaughters them, and captures the .. Read more

Starring Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracey Arnold
Director John McNaughton
Genres Drama

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Henry - Portrait Of A Serial Killer

HENRY PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, loosely based on the case of Henry Lee Lucas, a confessed serial killer, is a terrifyingly intimate journey into the twisted life of a murderous psychotic. As the blank-eyed Henry (Michael Rooker) drifts from place to place, he selects victims at random, slaughters them, and captures the brutality on videotape. When he is joined by his deranged roommate, a loudmouthed ex-convict named Otis (Tom Towles), the almost unfathomably malevolent acts multiply.
John McNaughton's film, in the tradition of such classic studies of homicidal personality as PEEPING TOM and TAXI DRIVER, goes further than both of these movies in its flat refusal to tell the killer's story on anything other than the killer's terms. McNaughton is able to present the world Henry aimlessly traverses as Henry sees it--almost unendurably bleak and meaningless--and in doing so he allows his film to go as deep into the nightmarish mind of a killer as anything ever committed to celluloid.

Starring Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracey Arnold
Director John McNaughton
Studio OPTIMUM HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time DVD: 1 hr 25 mins
Certificate DVD Certificate 18.gif
Genres Drama
Language English
Released DVD: 26 May 2003
Production year: 1986
Format DVD

  • Critics' reviews (6) of Henry - Portrait Of A Serial Killer

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  • 2 stars out of 5

    With director John McNaughton and actor Michael Rooker gone, this sequel immediately has two strikes against it, though it does end up being somewhat better than one might think. Neil Giuntoli takes over as Henry, continuing his travels around the country until he finds menial work in one location. When he finds out his boss is a professional arsonist, they start exchanging trade secrets and help each other out. Director Charles Parello tries hard to duplicate the original movie's mood (right down to duplicating the style of the opening credits) and his script focuses more on the various mentally unbalanced characters than gore; the problem is that this had already been done in the first movie.

    • Radio Times
    • Posted 29 Jan 2006

  • McNaughton's compelling study of a blithe sociopath makes the flesh crawl and the mind reel. Turning up at the Chicago... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
    • Posted 04 Nov 2008

  • Most helpful member's review of Henry - Portrait Of A Serial Killer

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  • 9 out of 10 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 1 star

    Watch 'Dahmer' or 'Ted Bundy' Instead!

    I personally found this movie really boring and so hard to follow I turned it off 3/4 of the way through (which is something I never usually do). If you are looking for a 'based on a true story' type serial-killer film, 'Dahmer' or 'Ted Bundy' are far superior films to 'Henry'.

      • Jo from Bournemouth, England
      • Posted 07 Jul 2004 10:11

  • Most recent members' review of Henry - Portrait Of A Serial Killer

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  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 3 stars

    Shocking but limited thriller

    John McNaughton?s visceral and somewhat dark vision of 80?s America is suitably grisly as it follows a short period in the life of a serial killer working his way through Middle America. Michael Rooker is unflinching as Henry the aforementioned killer, who we see over the course of a few weeks brutally murdering with no rhyme or reason. This is not a character study and there is no back-story, but what we have is brutal affecting cinema and you?ll simply want to wash the entire film off yourself immediately after the shocking final scene.

      • lukey27 from Wolverhampton
      • Posted 15 Mar 2005 14:00

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      • HENRY PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, loosely based on the case of Henry Lee Lucas, a confessed serial killer, is a terrifyingly intimate journey into the twisted life of a murderous psychotic. As the ...