Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer (1986) Cert 18.

Director - John McNaughton.

Writers - Richard Fire & John McNaughton.

Starring - Michael Rooker, Tracey Arnold & Tom Towles.

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Premise - Loosely based on the stories of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. H:POASK tells the story of Henry as he goes on a killing rampage on the streets of Chicago.

This is one nasty piece of film. Not nasty gratuitously, but nasty in a feeling that you get whilst watching the film. In truth the film isn't all that explicit when it comes to violence. Only three times do we clearly see acts of violence and one of these times is on a TV screen. H:POASK instead shows us the aftermath of the killings and allows us to hear the deed whilst we see the body. Letting the imagination do the work of an overpaid FX house is ten times more powerful than showing the murder.

The story (if you can call it that) revolves around Henry as he seemingly randomly chooses victims and knocks them off. We are told that the randomness of his victims and the different methods he uses is the reason he hasn't been caught. Although since Henry has previously been in jail and doesn't use gloves I think that even Inspector Cleusau could get a print and track him down.

Henry stays with Ottis, a parolee he met in the clink and struck up a friendship with. Things get complicated when Ottis's sister Becky comes to stay. Becky takes a shine to Henry. Even after she has been told that Henry was in jail for killing his own mother. You see, Henry is a serial killer because he was abused by his mother (aren't they all?). She made him dress up like girl (sound familiar) and watch her have sex with a string of men. Little wonder then that Henry decide to kill her and take out his pent up frustration on others.

That's pretty much the story. The cast are adequate, Rooker is the stand out. It's hard to see why things didn't happen for this guy. He is clearly a good actor, maybe not top of the bill stuff. But he could have eked out a good life as a character actor. The rest of the cast is forgettable, fairly wooden as it happens.

The film is even more depressing because of the way it is shot. Everything is very drab looking giving a very oppresive tone to suit what we are seeing. This film is a hard slog, not one to see if your depressed.

H:POASKL is good film. Very disturbing, but only gratuitously violent in a couple of scenes. It does suffer slightly because of it's dated look. There also isn't much of a story to speak of, merely a bunch of stuff that happens. Worth the effort though.

6/10 for Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer..

Poster quote - Henry paints a disturbing portrait.