[Review] Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Title: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Language: English
Genre: Horror
Year: 1986 (Made), 1990 (Released)

Warning: The trailer gives away major plot points.

Henry is a slice-of-life movie that shows us a moment in the life of Henry (Michael Rooker): a shy, mild mannered, socially awkward serial killer and his friend and roommate Otis (Tom Towles). When we meet Henry, he is already a serial killer and while we do get a small glimpse into how he became a serial killer there really isn't much explanation into his character. He doesn't evolve after his experiences throughout the film and when the movie ends we don't know much more about Henry than we did when we met him. The only thing we do know is that he will continue to kill people until he is caught or he dies.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is one of those movies that makes you feel like taking a shower immediately after viewing. If I wasn't headed there already I'm fairly certain that simply watching this movie sealed the fate of what direction I'm heading after death. The actions of the characters are appalling and yet both Henry and Otis are totally likable people. In between very uncomfortable, disturbing scenes are scenes of (un?)intentional hilarity. I think that's the most disturbing part of the whole movie is that you're watching innocent people being murdered or almost raped and yet, a few moments after the scene you're laughing. Even after what Otis does at the end of the movie (which is actually something that I completely detest and often disturbs me for days after seeing it in a movie, which in turn makes me avoid movies with that particular type of violence in it), I sighed and shook my head and said "Oh, Otis" , like he had merely done something stupid and not morally reprehensible. Not only are these guys kind of likable you end up feeling sorry for them that this is how their lives had to end up. Yup, I'm pretty sure I can see hell from here...

One of the funniest scenes to me was when Becky suggests that they go out and get a beer and Otis says "Let me freshen up" and comes out wearing the shirt above.

I picked up Henry because I saw it on Bravo's 13 Scarier Movie Moments (which was a load of BS, but more on that another time). Since the title of the show was Scarier movie moments was expecting this movie to be, well, SCARY. Alas, Bravo's list has led me astray once again (*cough*Don'tLookNow*coughcough*). I enjoy being scared and Henry simply wasn't scary. It's actually the type of movie I would normally dislike mainly for the disturbingly real scenes of murder and rape. However this movie was really well done and had the perfect blend of oppressingly unsettling and black humor. While this isn't a movie I could watch over and over, it is definitely one I could enjoy again.


3 out of 5