Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (John McNaughton, 1986): USA

Reviewed by Byron Potau. Viewed on DVD.

John McNaughton’s grungy 1986 film Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is a quietly disturbing study on a very troubled individual. It is also an example of low budget filmmaking at its finest.

Inspired by, but actually having little to do with, serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, the story follows Henry (Michael Rooker), a drifter who randomly, and almost mechanically, kills, then returns to his routine life. He seems normal, even pleasant as he compliments a waitress on her smile before he goes on his way, but then we are given images of his brutal murders. We almost do not believe he is the man responsible.

He is living with Otis (Tom Towles), a friend from prison, and Otis’s sister Becky (Tracy Arnold) who has fled her abusive husband and has taken a liking to Henry, not realizing what he is. After involving Otis in one of his random murders Otis becomes a kind of apprentice to Henry. Henry tells him the do’s and don’t’s of serial killing and how to keep the police from finding you. After a while, however, Otis starts to grow beyond Henry’s control.

Director McNaughton’s film has a deliberate style, never making a big show of the murders, but presenting them as casually and realistically as possible. What is most disturbing about the film is that its characters Henry and Otis can kill and move on so easily, as if killing were a kind of release of tension like having a beer. It is this same quality that might cause some people to dislike the film because there are no easy answers to the violence. Many of the murders are passed over after the fact like a crime scene, and the ones that are shown may be a little too realistic for comfort.

The acting in the film is very good headed by Michael Rooker’s quietly intense performance as Henry. Rooker makes Henry more than just another slasher. He gets embarrassed and uncomfortable at Becky’s affection, and he has a sense of right and wrong as he prevents Otis from trying to kiss his sister. Aside from his killing addiction he seems like a decent, even likeable, person.

Tom Towles gives a brave performance as the very disturbing Otis who takes great pleasure in the perversity of the murders he commits. Not played as just another hick, Towles makes Otis a kind of not as dumb as you think he is character, and his descent into serial killing is truly disturbing.

Tracy Arnold is very good as Becky, Otis’s sister, who tries to make a connection with Henry and their similarly abusive pasts. Her attempts at affection with Henry are endearing and well played.

The film’s sparse, quiet style make it seem simple, but it is well balanced, never tries to do too much, and is more clever than it appears. The film disturbs, but also impresses in its taut storyline, well developed characters, and its refusal to cop out to the clichés that usually abound in this kind of film.