The Driller Killer

Movie Information

In Brief: Director Abel Ferrara (King of New YorkBad Lieutenant) made his feature directorial debut — at least if we're not counting his "adult" work — with this gory 1979 slasher flick. Ferrara also stars as the titular killer, a painter driven to madness by loud neighbors and mounting debts, but as is typically the case with this director, there's more to the story than mere exploitation. While it might not be as polished as Ferrara's later, more memorable works, all the pieces are in place for the auteurial signature that would eventually come to define one of the late twentieth century's preeminent purveyors of pulp. Inspired by Polanski's Repulsion and notable for its pseudo-vérité depiction of the late 70s New York punk scene, The Driller Killer fuses a low-art premise with high-art ideals that make it one of the strangest and most challenging films of its era.
Score:

Genre: Horror
Director: Abel Ferrara
Starring: Abel Ferrara (as Jimmy Laine), Carolyn Marz, Baybi Day, Harry Schultz, D.A. Metrov
Rated: NR

The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen The Driller Killer on Thursday, April 13, at 9:15 p.m. at The Grail Moviehouse, hosted by Xpress movie critic Scott Douglas.

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