The real American Psycho (Henry - Portrait Of A Serial Killer (DVD))

Member Name: SWSt

Product:	Henry - Portrait Of A Serial Killer (DVD)
Date:	02/10/09 (73 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Powerful and realistic

Disadvantages: Bleak tone and lack of "story" will turn many away

Dark. Depressing. Dour. Dirty. When it comes to describing Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, the letter D pretty much has it covered. Divisive is another word as, in the eyes of some people, is Dull.

In some ways, Henry is a poor man's American Psycho; and I don't mean that in a negative way. Whereas American Psycho was a glossy, well-financed glimpse into the mind of a yuppie turned psycho, mixing black humour, satire and violence, Henry is a low budget look into the mind of working class psycho.

It's this crucial difference which makes Henry the more powerful film. Whereas American Psycho made its main character and his lifestyle rather seductive; Henry feels sordid and dirty. You come away from it feeling slightly soiled, guilty and in need of a shower. This is testimony to the film's ability to create a very convincing, real-world atmosphere. This is not your average serial killer movie - Henry is not a Jason Voorhees or a Michael Myers a scary, virtually indestructible psycho in a mask; he is an ordinary man who functions reasonably well in normal society, but just happens to enjoy killing people.

From a narrative point of view, very little happens in Henry. It is shot in a grainy documentary style, as though we are directly witnessing the events portrayed on screen. This is a highly effective technique because it turns the viewer into voyeur and makes you feel complicit and just as guilty as Henry himself. It helps to give real insight into the mind of a serial killer and what drives them to murder. The locations, the people are all incredibly real. It would not surprise you in the slightest if you subsequently discovered this was documentary footage (although it is based on real events).

Yet these aspects are not overdone. There are occasional hints as to why Henry might have turned out the way he did (abused childhood, prison background etc.), yet nothing is ever made explicit. The viewer is left to joint the dots and make up their own mind. Is Henry a serial killer because he suffered abuse as a child, or is he just a natural born killer? The refusal to answer these issues directly makes Henry far more powerful than any amount of traditional, clichéd plot exposition.

In fact generally, Henry has little in the way of traditional narrative structure. Henry does very little. He goes to work, he hangs out with his friends, he drinks beer, he watches TV. He occasionally kills people. Reducing his killer nature to just another mundane part of his drab existence is abhorrent to some, yet it adds to the power of the film, merely emphasising how routine and meaningless (to Henry) human life is. If you understand this, then the film is both powerful and disturbing. If you don't, it's "boring".

Even the violence is quite underplayed. Although at times it is quite graphic, it is never sustained. Henry's attacks are frenzied and ruthless - he dispatches his victims with a cold, calculating efficiency. There are certainly none of the elaborate death set-ups of Saw or Final Destination, nor are they the visceral attacks of a Freddy or a Jason. Yet by reducing death to such a mundane element, the frenzied outbursts of violence are somehow even more shocking.

It takes a special actor to pull of this kind of role and, Henry has one in Michael Rooker. His lack of emotion and his dispassionate, emotionless approach to killing perfectly underscores the film's bleak message. Yet, Rooker also makes Henry charming, courteous and "normal" (within certain definitions of the word). Whilst he might not be the sort of person you would want to be best mates with, you'd quite happily chat to him at the bus stop or in a queue. His psychopath is not a screaming lunatic, rather a relatively normal person, with some shockingly violent tendencies. That's the scary part and Rooker conveys it perfectly, with cold, blank eyes and emotionless voice. He creates a character that is both charming and deeply despicable.

The rest of the support cast does a good job too. None of them are exactly the greatest actors in the world, but this benefits the film, rather than detracting from it. It adds to the feeling that this is documentary footage; that here are real people put in front of the camera, not actors playing a role.

Tracy Arnold plays the down-trodden, slightly naïve yet worldly-wise Becky. Her rather needy relationship with Henry underlines the dysfunctional nature of all the characters in this film and adds a fair amount of emotional impact. Tom Towles meanwhile, it very good as Becky's brother, Otis. Otis is the most dislikeable character in the film, revelling in his nastiness and cruelty (both verbal and physical). The relationship between Henry, Becky and Otis is fascinating to observe and shows how need can create very unlikely bedfellows.

As with the rest of the film, the ending is very downbeat and low key. It is also incredibly powerful. Some people will find it hard to swallow - not because it is unrealistic; rather because it is TOO realistic. The film ends abruptly, with lots of loose ends deliberately left flapping, whilst the director's commitment to bleakness will have some applauding the brave ending, but leave others howling in frustration. Ending the way it does, Henry remains true to the tone and style of the rest of the film - any other ending would have been a trite cop-out. Yet some people still find it anti-climactic and dissatisfying.

The sterile, emotionless approach to killing, the downbeat, depressing nature of the storyline and the lack of any real action will leave many viewers cold. Others will baulk at the casual, frenzied violence and the film's bleak message that life is savage, short and futile. Even if you like the film, it's not wise to say you "enjoyed" it; this might prompt friends and family to question your sanity. Yet, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is powerful and thought provoking. An acquired taste, certainly, but if you can stomach the unremittingly bleak tone, it's well worth a watch.

Basic Information
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Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
1986
Director: John McNaughton
Running time: approx 83 minutes
Certificate: 18

© Copyright SWSt 2009

Summary: A very powerful and disturbing film