Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Name: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Genre: Biography, Drama, Thriller, Horror, Crime
Released: January 5, 1990
Duration: 83 min
Rating: 80
Cast: Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold

1990

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critics

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 4 Ratings

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8.3

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8.3	User Score Universal acclaim based on 4 Ratings

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Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer

Movie Details & Credits

Unrated

Greycat Films | Release Date: January 5, 1990

Starring: Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold

Summary: Henry (Michael Rooker) is a psychopathic drifter who has coldly murdered a number of people for no particular reason and without any remorse. Leaving scores of bodies in his wake, Henry makes his way to Chicago, where his murderous streak continues and he settles into the rundown apartment of his drug-dealing former prison friend Otis (TomHenry (Michael Rooker) is a psychopathic drifter who has coldly murdered a number of people for no particular reason and without any remorse. Leaving scores of bodies in his wake, Henry makes his way to Chicago, where his murderous streak continues and he settles into the rundown apartment of his drug-dealing former prison friend Otis (Tom Towles). Also moving into the space is Otis’s younger sister Becky (Tracy Arnold), who is fleeing from her abusive husband. Henry soon reveals his troubled childhood background to Becky, which resulted in Henry’s murder of his mother, the crime that landed him in prison. Unbeknownst to Becky, Henry continues to commit a series of random killings along with Otis, who has quickly developed a taste for murder. [Dark Sky Films]… Expand

Director: John McNaughton

Genre(s): Biography, Drama, Thriller, Horror, Crime

Rating: Unrated

Runtime: 83 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Los Angeles Times - Sheila Benson

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is as fine a film as it is a brutally disturbing one. Read full review

100

USA Today - Mike Clark

Nothing in John McNaughton's script and direction is exploitative; there isn't a frame of wasted action in what may well remain the year's most tightly constructed movie. As such, you're with this qualified classic all the way, you believe in it all the way, and you're thus forced to take its sporadic atrocities seriously. How many movies (and how long has it been since we've seen one) have really pulled this off? [20 April 1990, p.4D]

The Seattle Times - John Hartl

It's extremely well-made by a filmmaker who knows what he's doing and doesn't let the limitations of a $100,000 budget get in his way. The photography, acting, editing and use of sound effects and music are quite professional; McNaughton's movie looks and sounds as if it cost much more. It's also genuinely upsetting. Read full review

Empire - William Thomas

A spare and authentic screenplay unfolds in an almost documentary-like enviroment, there are no histrionics and the acting is of the highest order, but the film shocks and disturbs as much for its morally questionable purpose as in its ugly subject. Read full review

Village Voice - Sam Weisberg

While it achieves its goal of being thoroughly unpleasant, Henry could have used a touch more humor (beyond its one knee-slapper about the Chicago Bears). Still, it’s a gruesomely riveting sucker punch of a movie. Read full review

Orlando Sentinel - Jay Boyar

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer isn't entirely successful, but it's admirable nonetheless. The film is an honest and disturbing attempt to come to grips with the sort of modern horror that we must - more urgently every day - try to understand. Read full review

Washington Post - Hal Hinson

It's precisely Henry's coldblooded affectlessness that is meant to shock and disturb us. But "Henry" leaves us feeling more numbed than moved. Half art film, half schlock-horror cheapie, "Henry" isn't quite sure what it wants to be. Read full review

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