Jacob's 31 Days of Halloween - Day 6: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Jacob's 31 Days of Halloween - Day 6: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Another low-budget cult classic that I've never seen before, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is notorious for being at least partly responsible for the NC-17 rating due to its disturbing nature. While not anymore violent than a typical slasher film or creepier than a typical exploitation film, there's a purposefully off-putting tone to the whole film that's made possible by its slow nature.

Spoilers.

I came into this film ready to watch Michael Rooker kill a bunch of people in darkly humorous and creative ways, and boy did I have the wrong mindset. There are only two on-screen deaths, with the rest of the murders only having their aftermath shown, and Henry's not even the most despicable character in the movie.

The large majority of the film is about Henry's roommate Otis' sister, Becky, coming down to visit them in their Chicago home. There's tons of footage of the three of them talking in their dark, dingy kitchen, purely for the purpose of character development. Otis is on probation but sells drugs from the gas station he works in and spends the rest of his time being generally creepy- including heavily flirting with his own sister. He's somehow more terrifying than Henry, who is a serial killer, mostly because creeps like Otis are far more common in the world than pathological murderers like Henry. Eventually Henry introduces Otis to the joys of killing people, which ultimately ends with Otis assaulting Becky, forcing Henry and Becky to kill him and dispose of his body. Then, after all of this, Henry kills Becky because he just can't help it. These are the main story beats of the film, with the rest being filled in by footage of Henry driving around Chicago and the main characters' many kitchen conversations.

The deliberate pacing of the film thoroughly surprised me, especially considering the film is under 90 minutes, and it may mean I have to watch it again at some point because I had wildly different expectations for what it ended up being. However, I do like the grimy, gross tone that writer/director John McNaughton was able to achieve with the film's tiny budget, almost entirely through implications as opposed to actual action. There's some great shots of Henry's dead victims, along with the sound of him murdering them, but the only truly violent onscreen moments are Otis shooting a helpful stranger and Henry killing Otis and dismembering his body.

If you're into serial killer films, this is a definite must, not just for its huge influence on later serial killer films, but for its realistic approach to showing what a serial killer is like when they aren't serial killing people. If you're just looking for a good scary movie to celebrate the Halloween season, this might be a little slower than what you want.