Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer [20th Anniversary Special Edition]

Director: John McNaughton John McNaughton

Overview

Although the title makes Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer seem like a cut-rate slasher flick, the movie is actually one of the most disturbing and terrifying examinations of mass murderers ever filmed. Loosely based on the story of confessed murderer Henry Lee Lucas, the film follows Henry (Michael Rooker) as he selects innocent victims -- occasionally with his roommate Otis (Tom Towles) -- and kills them, capturing their deaths on videotape. Many of these murders rank among the most brutal ever portrayed on film. The violence and the clinical, detached portrayal of Henry and his horrifying actions make Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer a disturbing, thought-provoking film, but it certainly isn't one for every taste. Finished in 1986, the movie wasn't released until 1990, when it was greeted with both positive reviews and considerable controversy.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/27/2005
UPC:	0030306770093
Original Release:	1986
Rating:	NR
Source:	Dark Sky Films
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:23:00
Sales rank:	42,398

Special Features

Feature film; Feature-length commentary with director John McNaughton; Theatrical trailers; Still gallery; "Portrait: The Making of Henry" documentary; "The Serial Killers: Henry Lee Lucas" documentary; Deleted scenes and outtakes with commentary by John McNaughton; Original storyboards

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Michael Rooker	Henry
Tom Towles	Otis
Tracy Arnold	Becky,Actor
Mary Demas	Dead Woman/Hooker
Ray Atherton	Fence
David Katz	Henry's Boss
Eric Young	Parole Officer
Kristin Finger	Hooker No. 2
Anne Bartoletti	Waitress
Erzsebet Sziky	Hitchiker
Rick Paul	Shooting Victim
Lily Monkus	Woman in Beauty Shop
Pamela Fox	Hair Stylist
Flo Spink	Woman in Cadillac
Kurt Naebig	High School Jock
John Scafidi	Kid with Football No. 1
Benjamin Passman	Kid with Football No. 2
Lisa Temple	Murdered Wife
Brian Graham	Murdered Husband
Sean Ores	Murdered Son,Mall Shopper No. 1,Mall Shopper No. 2
Cheri Jones	Mall Shopper No. 3,Composer
Monica Anne O'Malley	Mall Victim
Bruce Quist	Husband
Peter Van Wagner	Bum No. 1
Tom McKearn	Bum No. 2
Frank Coranado	Bum No. 3
Waleed B. Ali	Store Clerk
Donna Dunlap	Dog Walker
Denise Sullivan	Floating Woman
Elizabeth Kaden	Dead Wife,Dead Husband
Robert McNaughton	Composer
Ken Hale	Composer

Technical Credits

John McNaughton

Richard Fire

John McNaughton	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
Richard Fire	Screenwriter
Waleed B. Ali	Executive Producer,Executive Producer,Producer,Executive Producer
Lisa Dedmond	Producer
Steven A. Jones	Producer
Jeffery Lyle Segal	Casting
Jefferey Lyle Segal	Special Effects

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
1. Opening Credits [1:32]
2. Henry [7:26]
3. Otis and Becky [4:19]
4. Exterminator [4:29]
5. Shattered Childhood [9:00]
6. Real Nice Supper [5:51]
7. Either You or Them [5:56]
8. Let's Go Shopping [6:48]
9. I'd Like to Kill [5:57]
10. Home Invasion [9:44]
11. Becky and Henry [5:16]
12. Retribution [6:47]
13. On the Run [7:56]
14. End Credits [1:05]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
   Play
   Chapters
   Bonus
      Director's Commentary: On
      Director's Commentary: Off
      Still Gallery
      Trailers
         Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
         Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 2
         Manson Family
      English Subtitles: On
      English Subtitles: Off
Disc #2 -- Bonus Disc
   Portrait: The Making of Henry
   The Serials Killers: Henry Lee Lucas
   Outtakes and Deleted Scenes
   Original Storyboards

Editorial Reviews

Nothing if not disturbing, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer was a response to the slasher movies of the 1980s. There are none of the special effects or plot conventions of such horror series of the time as Friday the 13th, Halloween, and Nightmare on Elm Street. Instead, the movie is almost completely detached and non-judgmental towards its subject, as hollow a creation as you're ever likely to find as the focus of a movie, played with a chilliness of blizzard-like proportions by Michael Rooker. There is no humanization of Henry. He has no passion, no reasoning, no existential quandary. The vacuous feeling is reminiscent of Peter Bogdanovich's 1968 rooftop killer movie, Targets. Henry was finished in 1986, but the MPAA refused to give it anything less than the dreaded 'X' rating. It sat on the shelf for three years until filmmaker Errol Morris sponsored the movie at the Telluride Film Festival. The reaction at the time was volatile, and, even with the subsequent success of such gruesome movies as Silence of the Lambs, Henry may remain a bit too authentic for most tastes.

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