Review of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) by Ruby H — 20 Nov 2012

For his 1986 debut John McNaughton had a budget of about one hundred thousand dollars. These days, that amount, can hardly cover catering. Didn't cover much those days either but McNaughton, co-writer Richard Fire and lead actor Michael Rooker gave it their best shot and pulled off this cult classic.

For its genre it lacks blood and gore (minus a beheading and the infamous bottle-in-the-face scene) but Henry is not about the easy and obvious. Rather, it is mostly about the cruel and unjustified torture and murder of a dozen random people, a trail of slaughter leading to one of the most frightening villains ever portrayed on film.

This is Henry's film, a man, as McNaughton puts it, irredeemable. A sociopath, a compulsive liar, cold-blooded, illiterate yet cunning, absolutely merciless and unstoppable. Rooker does a great job where it matters, you do get the feeling that behind the calm exterior lies a man who seems on the verge of exploding into uncontrollable rage.

The film was finally released in 1990 with understandably (as is almost always the case with these sort of films) mixed reviews. Some even went as far wondering why was such a cruel and vile film allowed to exist. Maybe they haven't watched Look Who's Talking Now. Such questions were off the mark back then and more so today so feel free to doubt them. Others called it an 'art' film whatever that means.

There's two versions of this American nightmare available, a 2-disc Region one and a single for Region 2. Both are uncut and have interesting extras.