Henry - Portrait Of A Serial Killer Reviews

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'.

Grubby exploitation dressed as intellectual arthouse fare...

I absolutely despised this film when it was first released, but a friend recently suggested I watch it again. After all, he argued, the passing of the years might enable me to view the film from a more 'mature' angle.

I took his advice, and even though I switched off halfway this time, I have reminded my friend that he is responsible for me losing 45 minutes of my life which I could have spent watching something half-decent.

It was with great interest that I watched this film when it was originally released. I had read several reviews which gave the impression of a carefully presented investigation into the mind of a killer, and what makes them tick. I even remember the late esteemed critic Alexander Walker saying 'You absolutely must see this film'.

What I saw was a grubby, barrel-scraping cheapjack attempt at film making. Voyeuristic doesn't even begin to describe it, an opportunistic waste of celluloid which spends its entire running time wallowing in its own excrement, and stinks accordingly. I was frankly amazed that this had been passed by the BBFC, when there were many other, much tamer titles on the infamous 'video nasties' list.

Champions of this cinematic cesspool will possibly say that the point of the exercise is to pull the viewer into the events on screen and to make them question their response as a viewer. My response would have been laughter at the sheer ineptitude of the 'talents' involved behind the camera (to be fair, the cast are doing their best), had it not been for the fact that the thing I was really questioning was how long I would need to stay in the bath afterwards to wash off the stench and muck from this grubby little farrago.

The best thing to do with rubbish like this is to ignore it, and consign it to the footnotes of cinema history where it belongs. Meanwhile, if you want to see this kind of subject matter done brilliantly, rent Michael Powell's peerless 'Peeping Tom'.

This is more of a warning than a review. I've watched many of the serial killer biographical movies (Bundy, Gein, Dahmer etc) but this is the worst, for a few reasons:<br><br>The movie starts with a message informing viewers that some of the story is infact just that, a story. One of the main characters in this movie is completely fictional. If that was my interest, I'd go watch Pulp Fiction or something.<br><br>I don't know Henry's story, maybe most or all of the events were true. Maybe the complete disregard for humanity is accurate, and maybe the style of rape and murder is in following with Henry's style. In any case, one rape scene near the middle of the film was so bad, I had to stop watching. The closest comparison I can make is 8MM (starring Nicolas Cage) where the snuff porn clips aren't even close to the indeceny in this.<br><br>I'm not saying don't watch it, but if you didn't like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre or have had traumatic sexual experiences, its definitely one to avoid.

appalling

For some reason I had alway harboured the suspicion that this was the scariest film ever; having been haunted by an excerpt I saw, home alone, when I was 14 year old. I've seen playschool episodes more frightning.

To say that this film was poorly acted would be to be complimentary.. to comment on the script would be farcical - the camerawork and direction had the stale commitment akin to the cheapest of soft porn films.. the pace (unbearably slow), the score - oh god, don't get me started on the score.

Truly, painfully bad.

Disappointing

Touted as a cult classic, this dvd fails to please. The one emotion engendered by this film is one of nausea. Nothing attractive about any of the characters, no sympathy, empathy just dislike and distaste.

Dark and disturbing

This is a sick film that was made independently in the 80's on a shoestring budget. Reminiscient of Abel Ferreras early work i.e. Driller Killer. The characters are all immensely unlikeable but strangely Henry the serial killer is not the most vile but his drug dealing lowlife mate who likes doing things to his sister - truly revolting. Not a film to watch with the kids or mrs but a well made film with outstanding acting. These people could be real which is even more chilling. Watch at your peril!

v v v vpoor

I expected a lot more from this film!

I remember when I was a kid that this was one of the only films that I wanted to watch because it was banned!! CURIOUSITY.

I think the BBFC still cut too much but it was too dated and didn't flow very well!!

AVOID!!

Rubbish!

A film with grisly murders keeping you entertained until you realise that is the whole film. No story what so ever! I was waiting for the storyline to kick in when the credits appeared!

Too Dated!

probably did very well during its time but now its very dated and boring. unfortunately because of the level of graphic violence our society has gotten used to, viewers may find this movie extremely slow and henry rather boring.

What a load of rubbish

As a 'fan' of films that show the life of serial killers this was a must watch. And even though the film makers clearly state at the start of the film that the film is not entirely based on fact, i was very dissapointed by how true that statement was.

The only real connection this film has to Henry Lee Lucas is that the main character is called Henry, that he kills people and that one of those people was his mother.

It is obvious that the film has used the idea of Henry Lee Lucas to sell this film and not to produce a true portrait of the man himself or even of his crimes.

But, i still gave the film a chance as a decent horror/thriller film. Which i'm afraid to say it failed miserably at too. There are a few gorey moments but nothing that would shock the average 12yr old film watcher.

It's a shame but i wouldn't reccomend this one to anyone.