X
- 1979
- Not Rated
- Rochelle Films
- 1 h 36 m
- 1979
- Not Rated
- Rochelle Films
- 1 h 36 m
Summary An artist slowly goes insane while struggling to pay his bills, work on his paintings, and care for his two female roommates, which leads him taking to the streets of New York after dark and randomly killing derelicts with a power drill.
Written By: Nicholas St. John
- 1979
- Not Rated
- Rochelle Films
- 1 h 36 m
- 1979
- Not Rated
- Rochelle Films
- 1 h 36 m
The Driller Killer
66
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Where to Watch
Summary An artist slowly goes insane while struggling to pay his bills, work on his paintings, and care for his two female roommates, which leads him taking to the streets of New York after dark and randomly killing derelicts with a power drill.
Written By: Nicholas St. John
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
66
63% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
38% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
66
63% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
38% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Abel Ferrara's debut is in the exploitation ballpark, but it's as much a product of Warhol low-budget artiness as the slasher genre.
What makes the film so remarkable is the extent to which Ferrara, even at the outset of his career, exploits sex and violence for their popular appeal even as he reflects on the effect of such subjects on both his own art and the culture at large.
Darkly fascinating, as much a document of the late-'70s New York punk and pop-art scenes as it is a grindhouse plugger.
If Ferrara is indeed a Van Gogh, then The Driller Killer is his Potato Eaters – an early work that displays, in rudimentary form, all the groundbreaking innovation of the mature works.
A loopy plot trail leads us to Ferrara’s attempt at creating a cult psycho. His lack of commitment to his creation, haphazard and impulsive as Reno’s first plunge into a victim, suggests that the filmmaker was distracted by his own future aspirations.
Take out the killings, and you're left with an anguished (even somewhat boring) stab at urban ennui, heavily influenced by Repulsion and Taxi Driver.
A bleak, often repugnant rumination on the harsh realities of urban life, Driller Killer will offend tender sensibilities. But Ferrara is already a distinctive and conscientious talent behind the camera, unmistakably concerned with more than gore-filled exploitation.
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