Review of The Driller Killer (1979) by Kenneth B — 27 May 2012

Cor blimey am I surprised at the good reviews of Driller Killer on here. First thing's first Abel Ferrara is not a good film-maker Bad Lieutenant was rubbish and even King of New York was weak, in fact Christopher Walken as Frank White was the only redeeming feature.

On this evidence Ferrara is also a terrible actor, he is lethargic and without any genuine menace. The first 45 minutes or so are sluggish and not interesting. Normally this time is used to build character, situation or even motive but aside from someone not liking his painting that the doesn't even seem to like himself there is very little in that sense. When the drilling and killing begins it is aimless and is handled in such a way that reminded me of that scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where Lancelot the Brave is rampaging through Swamp Castle killing everyone in sight without discrimination, only this time Abel Ferrara is aimlessly rampaging through New York drilling homeless people to death. It is so poorly conceived at times that I couldn't help thinking of Monty Python, which predated Driller Killer incidentally.

This is woeful, aimless, plotless, characterless and without even a single redeeming feature.