Thursday, July 12, 2012

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

This movie is a quiet, creepy look at a serial killer, and it's very effective. There aren't a lot of big dramatic chase scenes. Henry is neither instantly, obviously menacing nor sociopathically charming. (Ignore the fact that "sociopathically" is almost certainly not a word.) When he kills, it's disturbing not because it's so clear that he's a monster now, but because he makes it seem like it's really not a big deal. The whole movie is oddly low-key, and I'm pretty sure that's what makes it as disturbing as it is. That being said, it's pretty clear that this was fairly low budget, as a lot of the actors are pretty awful. The main two are interesting to watch, but a few of the side characters are eye-rollingly bad. 3 stars.

Best Part: The opening montage where we see Henry going about his day interspersed with shots of his victims is terrifying.
Worst Part: The TV salesman stands out in particular as being a terrible actor.
Flickchart: #639, below Brothers and above Topsy-Turvy.

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