Review of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) by Alex R — 26 Jun 2013

Loosely based on the life of Henry Lee Lucas, this is a raw, gritty and overall savage character study of a serial killer. This is a film that is brilliantly directed by John McNaughton, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is a disturbing picture that will definitely make you feel uneasy from start to finish.

The movie is unflinching in its realism, and is not for the faint of heart. In terms of horror, this is one of the finest movies in the psychological horror genre. The cast deliver some impressive performances, especially Michael Rooker in a captivating and truly demented performance as the film's antagonist, Henry.

Horror fans looking for a truly unique and uneasy genre picture will surely enjoy this movie, and for anyone looking for a well crafted and realistic horror yarn, this is one to watch. The movie is powerful in the sense that it can make you feel horrified, uncomfortable, and disturbed all at once, and is a rare horror film, especial this decade due to the fact that cinemas were overfilling with countless Slasher films, which are quite entertaining, but never achieved a sense of what a film like this could have pulled off.

This is a horror film with a plot, and it successfully creates terror by its atmosphere and visuals as well as the performance of its lead actor. Like I said, Slashers are a mindless horror fun for the most part, that focuses on ridiculous kill sequences to create the carnage.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer on the other hand delivers some of the most truly disturbing images in horror history and you simply can't tear yourself away from such a movie. The film is a back to basics horror picture that doesn't use anything ridiculous to create the terror, the notion that is based on a real life serial killer is horrifying enough.