Henry: Portrait of a serial killer (John McNaughton, 1986)
"Yeah... I killed my momma..."
Bleak. That's the best word to describe Henry. The fact that it's so low budget and poorly acted only enhances that bleakness. As I've previously mentioned, Henry's history has been controversial. In the U.K it took 3 years before anyone had the balls to release it, and when they did, it was chopped to ribbons! Similarly in the USA, the MPAA initially gave Henry an X certificate, and it took almost 4 years for it to get an NC-17 rating.
Most people who grew up in the 1980s would fondly associate John Hughes films with that era. Not me. I believe the one of the few films that show the real 80s is Henry. A nasty little movie that arrived at the end of a truly despicable decade. A decade, actually, that kick-started the whole slasher horror genre.
Henry is based on the babblings of the irredeemable Henry-Lee Lucas, who was a born low-life, drifter and, eventually, convicted murderer. At one time he was thought to be America's most prolific serial killer... which is a hell of a label considering the incredible array of monsters America has shat out over the years. The exact number of murders Lucas actually committed is uncertain. Figures wavering between 350-600 have been tossed about over the years. Henry's victims tended to be low-lifes, and Henry himself was a notorious exaggerator, a scene in the film refers to this, when Henry is talking about killing his Momma.
(His mother in real life was an alcoholic prostitute.. oh happy days).
The film version of Henry focuses on the man himself (played with icy indifference by Michael Rooker) living with his friend Otis. Both of them at this point are ex-cons, trying to make ends meet... trying to survive in the bleakness of 1980s Chicago. Otis' sister Becky arrives on the scene suddenly, and then the film rapidly spirals downwards, claiming several victims along the way. Henry depicts mean-spirited, misogynist, incestuous characters in a realistic manner, which is probably why it gained so much notoriety over the years. And very definitely, it isan exploitation movie. Funded as a straight-out T&A horror film, director John McNaughton and his team went for a raw, bleak documentary-like approach. As McNaughton says on the DVD commentary track: "How entertaining is violence, when it's shown in a more realistic manner?" . Indeed.
The story of Henry-Lee Lucas is fascinating, but very very depressing, and very very bleak. There's that word again. Henry: Portrait of a serial killer is one of the most brutal, realistic movies ever made about a serial killer. Even at a running time of 80 minutes, the stone cold brutality makes it a difficult watch. Make no mistake, Henry is the real deal.
The 30th Anniversary edition released in America is the ultimate edition. (Region 'A' locked).
