History goes like this: Henry Lee Lucas (1936-2001) was one of the most notorious serial killers in recent history. (Wikipedia Article) He confessed to 3000 murders (most of them he had an alibi for) but more realistically he killed 350. His preferred victims were drifters who would not be missed. HLL was probably a psychopath (the sequel to Henry was subtitled The Mask of Sanity, a reference to the classic text on psychopathy by Cleckley from the 1930s. (Link to PDF of The Mask of Sanity). HLL's death sentence was commuted in 1998 by then Texas governor George W. Bush (!!!) based on the premise that his conviction was for a murder he confessed to but did not actually commit. HLL spent much of his time killing with an accomplice Ottis Toole, who, some speculate, kidnapped and killed Adam Walsh (son of John Walsh of America's Most Wanted), but died in prison in 1966 of cirrhosis before he could be charged.So. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer follows the exploits of these two friendly, prosocial dudes. I hesitate to call this a horror film, (given its more reasonable place as a true crime film), but the callousness and bleakness and nihilistic tone of this film can only be be described as horrific. The scene that has shaken me since I first saw this thing is the home invasion scene. Not for the weak of stomach. Henry and Ottis invade a home with the purpose of raping and killing the inhabitants, and videotape it. Absolutely chilling, and made more so by the image of the two watching the tape later for gratification. I cannot recommend this for general audiences, but, if you want to watch something horrific for Halloween, this is probably it.
Trivia: Michael Rooker, who played Henry, also played the Sheriff Grant Grant from Slither, a more lighthearted horror film from 2006.
No comments:
Post a Comment