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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:8

Fresh:8

Rotten:0

Average Rating:7.8/10

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 - 6 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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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

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

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
10/20/08
Empire Magazine
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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
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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]
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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
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[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
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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
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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
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1 - 6 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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