Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer Will Leave an Imprint
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Did I say Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer would leave an imprint? I mean a SCAR on your mind. This is the most effective horror movie I’ve ever seen.
Written by BHM Contributor Tom Heffernan
May 29, 2008
Buy on Amazon
Release: September 1990 (Wide Release, U.S.)
Directed by: John McNaughton
Written by: John McNaughton and Richard Fire
Starring:
Michael Rooker as Henry
Anne Bartoletti as Waitress
Dozens of Victims…
It's rare for me to be emotionally moved one way or another by a movie. I'm a fairly jaded filmgoer, and although I enjoy many movies, I can't help but feel a lot of the time, that's it's all been done before. It's indeed extremely rare for me to be frightened so badly by a film that I can't sleep, and NEVER before or since watching Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer has one actually made me feel physically ill.
Many films claim to be "shocking", and they are not. This one doesn’t claim to be anything other than what it's title suggests, yet it remains the most "shocking" film I've ever seen. Much as I was loathe revisiting it, I have to give director John McNaughton full credit for making the most effective horror film I've ever seen. It is indeed what a quote (from the New York Post) claims on the back of the DVD case: "Now THIS is a horror movie!"
I first experienced Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer at the tender age of 13, and it left an imprint (did I say imprint? I meant SCAR) on my mind that lasted until I snatched up a copy on sale just a year ago, hoping that a second viewing would alleviate some of the damage it did. I figured hey, can't be as shocking the second time around. Wrong...
I didn’t expect Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer to be anything much when I first saw it, it looked like a cheaply made, poorly executed (pun intended) thriller about a serial killer with a dorky name. I expected to laugh. Or turn it off halfway through out of sheer�boredom, and really only watched it because I'd been through almost every other movie in my local video store's horror section. Cheaply made, yes. But I was wrong about
everything else. I turned it off after sitting glued to the screen for 83 minutes, feeling nauseous and scared out of my mind, and also feeling an entirely new sensation no other horror film had ever instilled in me: depression. I felt sad, because this film is depicting what could very well be the guy-next-door, or the local mechanic, or anyone... the fact that people like Henry exist in our world almost brings me to tears. This was long before I had a decent movie collection of my own, so I was reduced to frantically surfing channels to find something, anything, nice and benign to watch until the images from Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer had at least started to fade from my mind.
Loosely based on real life convicted mass murderer Henry Lee Lucas, Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer opens with some expertly done, chilling implied violence, where we see quiet images of murder victims is various states of decay. We then focus in on Henry, and it's all too clear what he's been up to before we get this glimpse into his life. That's what this film is really, a slice of life of an inwardly deranged yet outwardly unassuming serial killer. Michael Rooker is terrifying as Henry. He is an "everyman", yet a monster�of barely contained extreme violence lurks just under his calm surface. To draw an analogy, in the northernmost reaches of my country there are tranquil marshlands. Calm water, adorned here and there with long grass. It looks so peaceful and nice, like you could just dive into those cool waters for a dip. Yet just below the surface of these beautifully serene pools of water lay hundreds of huge crocodiles. I think of this when I think of Henry, because that's exactly what his character is like.
Anyway, Henry, on parole and working at a gas station, is living with redneck Otis (Tom Towles, who also gives a decidedly creepy and very believable performance) when Otis' sister Becky (Tracy Arnold) comes to stay. Otis has an unhealthy
obsession with Becky, so she latches onto Henry (despite the fact he confides in her that he murdered his own mother). Still, you can't help but feel for her. She's the one shining light in this horrendously dark film, and even then she's a fairly dim bulb. I feel for her because she's moved in with Otis to escape an abusive husband, not realizing that she's just entered a place that's probably even darker and more dangerous than back home. I feel for her because she's naive (her flirtation with Henry made me cringe). I feel for her because unfortunately the only person she has to run to for help is the foul and abhorrent Otis.
Otis also has what may be an unhealthy obsession for Henry as well. After a night of drinking they decide to pick up a couple hookers and have some fun. Henry parks the car in a dank back alley and they go at it. To Otis' initial surprise, Henry quickly and without emotion snaps the neck of one of the girls and casually tosses her out of the car. The other girl is killed along with her friend, and Otis' initial queasiness is soon replaced with sick fascination, and he latches on to Henry too, accompanying him on other "outings" and learning how to be a serial killer from a man who knows his subject well. I got the feeling Otis would have ended up killing someone anyway but would have been caught very quickly because, well, he's a moron. But Henry "grooms" him,�discussing how he has gotten away with it: by never having a "modus operandi" the police can trace him with, and by constantly moving around, never living in the one place for two long. By the time police realize they're dealing with a serial killer (if they ever do), Henry has moved on.
Henry doesn’t kill for fun. He doesn’t kill for any reason other than it's what he does.
That's it. Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer doesn’t even attempt to examine the crimes to ascertain what goes on inside the mind of a vicious mass murderer; it simply presents us with the facts, like a jury being shown evidence at a murder trial.
Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer is everything Hollywood horrors try to be, yet it's about as "un-Hollywood" as you can get. It's shocking without being overtly gory. Frightening without resorting to cheap scares. Visceral without being effects-heavy or tacky. If you're looking for campy horror, teens being carved up by a hockey mask-wearing psycho, or a tongue-in-cheek gorefest, look elsewhere. Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer was not made to entertain, just to observe. It never casts any judgment on Henry's behavior; it's almost a documentary in its realism. It's filmed in a grainy, hand-held way that makes you feel as though you are really just tagging along with Henry and Otis while they indulge their sick impulses.
Controversial as hell when first made, it sat in a desk drawer for 3 years because they didn’t have a clue how to approach giving it a classification, and no doubt because distributors were a little nervous about releasing it at all. Many people were disgusted by it, wondering why it was made in the first place, and I gotta say I wondered that myself a few times. The Director's Commentary on the Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer DVD may shed some light on this aspect, but I just can't bear to sit through the entire film again anytime soon, so that question will remain unanswered in this review. I can't in all conscience actually recommend the film, just warn you: once you see it you can't UN-see it, and it will remain in your mind. It's one to approach with caution. It's bleak and depressing in a way that surpasses even the grotesque Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). It's also the reason I will never, ever stop to help someone broken down on the side of the road... Questions or comments about Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer? Discuss it at The Ossuary Forums!
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