Release Date: September 24th, 1986 (Chicago International Film Festival)
Directed by: John McNaughton
Written by: Richard Fire, John McNaughton
Music by: Ken Hale, Steven A. Jones, Robert McNaughton
Cast: Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold
Maljack Productions, Greycat Films, 83 Minutes, 75 Minutes (TV edit)
Review:
“How about those Bears?” – Store Clerk, “Fuck the Bears.” – Henry
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is a brutal f’n movie. However, it’s also very slow and drawn out more than it needs to be. Now I get the old school suspense thriller style of building up tension but it’s not effective here and it makes 75 percent of this movie pretty damn boring.
I get that this movie has its fans but I’m really not one of them.
Now this film does have three distinct positives.
One, the acting is superb. Michael Rooker is more chilling than ever and since I’m a big fan of Rooker, I do like this film as far as his performance goes. He went to some really dark places here but what’s most interesting about it, is that he showed how capable of an actor he was even in his younger years.
Two, I like the cinematography and how this film was shot. The lighting was done well, the shot framing was better than one would anticipate and overall, the visual aesthetic enhanced the tone of the story, greatly.
Three, the score is unsettling but interesting in a way that also enhanced the film and its effect.
Sadly, the pacing just undoes a lot of the good.
Additionally, this is an extremely violent picture and while I don’t have a problem with gore, when there’s a real purpose for it, this film seems to use it just to push the bar and maybe that’s because the rest of the picture is so dull. The film does seem like it’s trying too hard to be shocking in those scenes.
I’m not sure if this was trying to pass itself off as high art but it’s definitely not high art. It’s not necessarily a proto-Silence of the Lambs, as much as it just feels like a gore riddled Manhunter.
But for fans of Rooker, it is worth a watch for sure.
Rating: 5.5/10
Pairs well with: Manhunter and The Silence of the Lambs.
Talking Pulp 