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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]

Reviews for Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This is sicko territory with a vengeance but certainly has an impact.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
10/20/08
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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
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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There are still some shocks.

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

Chilling.

comment Comment
06/12/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

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

No review available.

comment 1 Comment
07/12/03
Kevin N. Laforest
Kevin N. Laforest
Montreal Film Journal

Unflinching, rough, and ugly. Also a damn good movie.

comment 1 Comment
07/26/02
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
07/26/02
Bob Grimm
Bob Grimm
Las Vegas Mercury

No review available.

comment Comment
03/24/03
Brian J. Arthurs
Brian J. Arthurs
Beach Reporter (Southern California)

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

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

Powerful, raw, terrifying, and shocking filmmaking.

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

A genuinely upsetting film that's guaranteed to make you more paranoid.

comment Comment
10/21/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

Genuinely frightening.

comment Comment
12/05/07
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

[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

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

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
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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