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Movies / On DVD / Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

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Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1990)

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Reviews Counted:41

Fresh:36

Rotten:5

Average Rating:7.4/10

Consensus: Henry is an effective, chilling profile of a killer that is sure to shock and disturb.

Runtime: 3 hrs 8 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: HENRY PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, loosely based on the case of Henry Lee Lucas, a confessed serial killer, is a terrifyingly intimate journey into the twisted life of a murderous psychotic. As the... HENRY PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, loosely based on the case of Henry Lee Lucas, a confessed serial killer, is a terrifyingly intimate journey into the twisted life of a murderous psychotic. As the blank-eyed Henry (Michael Rooker) drifts from place to place, he selects victims at random, slaughters them, and captures the brutality on videotape. When he is joined by his deranged roommate, a loudmouthed ex-convict named Otis (Tom Towles), the almost unfathomably malevolent acts multiply. John McNaughton's film, in the tradition of such classic studies of homicidal personality as PEEPING TOM and TAXI DRIVER, goes further than both of these movies in its flat refusal to tell the killer's story on anything other than the killer's terms. McNaughton is able to present the world Henry aimlessly traverses as Henry sees it--almost unendurably bleak and meaningless--and in doing so he allows his film to go as deep into the nightmarish mind of a killer as anything ever committed to celluloid. [More]

Starring: Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold

Starring: Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold

Director: John McNaughton

Director: John McNaughton
Producer: John McNaughton, Lisa Dedmond, Steven A. Jones

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Sep 29, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

Blu-ray Disc Features:

  • Region [unknown]
  • NTSC
  • Special Edition
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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There are still some shocks.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
07/08/03
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]

A low-budget tour de force that provides an unforgettable portrait of the pathology of a man for whom killing is not a crime but simply a way of passing time and relieving boredom.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I have some admiration for this film. But I also have no desire ever to see it again.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

The emptiness in Henry seems like an artistic convenience or, worse, an evasion. What we suspect, finally, is that the deficiencies belong more to the artist than to his subject.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Hal Hinson
Hal Hinson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Mr. McNaughton's observations are so chilling and precise that they gain some artistic stature even when they cross the line that makes the audience voyeurs and accomplices.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Caryn James
Caryn James
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Part of the time it's art house cinema, the rest of the time its horror schlock.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
09/18/02
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

[T]his is a movie that will anger and frighten audiences... Many will also find this one of the most impressive film debuts of the '80s.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
04/16/07
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As an emotional map, Henry is decidedly raw, personal, and unrelenting.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
09/07/05
Jeremiah Kipp
Jeremiah Kipp
Slant Magazine

McNughton's film has both suspense and graphic violence, combining a clinical approach with semi-documentary technique that result in genuinely disturbing horror, deepling upsetting look at a murderer; a highlight of indie cinema of the 1990s.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
12/05/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Powerful, raw, terrifying, and shocking filmmaking.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

MacNaughton's direction is extremely bland, although I don't mean that negatively: he portrays Henry in a very realistic manner, not adding any wild directing techniques to what he does, and because of this digs deeper into the character.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Ted Prigge
Ted Prigge
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Henry is a glimpse into the void that will chill, terrify and haunt you with the infinite evil in the hearts of ordinary people.

Full Review Source: Netflix | comment Comment
11/07/02
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Netflix

Certainly not for everyone, but if slasher movies are your cup of tea this is a lot better than most, and the use of Chicago locations is especially effective.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 1 Comment
10/20/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

John McNaughton's haunting film is a grim journey into the life of its twisted subject that refuses to moralise or judge.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/21/03
Jamie Russell
Jamie Russell
BBC

A brutally honest intimate portrait of a serial killer that makes you feel rotten inside.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
04/04/04
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It relies not upon visceral depictions of graphic violence but the sporadic, lifeless motivations of the killer – an established, sympathetic, and ultimately humanistic character.

Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You | comment Comment
11/19/02
Rumsey Taylor
Rumsey Taylor
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

This film gives off a dark chill that follows you all the way home.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
05/12/01
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

McNaughton's compelling study of a blithe sociopath makes the flesh crawl and the mind reel.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out

McNaughton, co-writer Richard Fire and Rooker have pulled off an amazing feat -- a portrait of a damaged mind that refuses to explain, judge or glamorize psychopathic violence.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
10/20/08
Channel 4 Film

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer surely ranks as one of the most frightening and disturbing films ever made.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/30/03
TV Guide's Movie Guide
 
 
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