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Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

1986

John McNaughton

Michael Rooker, Tracy Arnold, Tom Towles, Anne Bartoletti ...

6.4

7,141

Thriller. Horror Henry likes to kill people, in different ways each time. Henry shares an apartment with Otis. When Otis' sister comes to stay, we see both sides of Henry; the "guy-next-door" and the serial killer. Low budget movie, with some graphic murder scenes.

	Media	Author	Review
		Sheila Benson Los Angeles Times	"'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer' is as fine a film as it is a brutally disturbing one"
		Desmond Ryan Philadelphia Inquirer	"It is admittedly hard to look, but this is a portrait that demands to be seen."
		Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"At the end, Henry is still out there among us. And he's no B-movie monster in a hockey mask. He could be the guy next door"
		Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times	"The film uses a slice-of-life approach to create a docudrama of chilling horror. (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"
		Terrence Rafferty The New Yorker	"It doesn't seem to be telling us much more than that the world is a scary place and murder is ugly. We knew those things."
		Caryn James The New York Times	"It is profoundly disturbing, even more for the questions it raises about the use of film than for the mutilated bodies that litter the screen"
		William Thomas Empire	"A spare and authentic screenplay unfolds in an almost documentary-like enviroment, there are no histrionics and the acting is of the highest order"t. (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader	"Certainly not for everyone, but if slasher movies are your cup of tea this is a lot better than most, and the use of Chicago locations is especially effective."
		Variety	"One of the most impressive film debuts of the '80s"

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