The Driller Killer

The Driller Killer (1979)

Genres - Mystery, Horror, Drama, Thriller  |   Sub-Genres - Crime Thriller  |   Release Date - Jun 15, 1979 (USA - Unknown)  |   Run Time - 96 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Mark Deming

Iconoclastic filmmaker Abel Ferrara made his directorial debut with this gory but fascinating horror tale about a troubled artist (played by Jimmy Laine, aka Abel Ferrara). Haunted by bizarre hallucinations and the fear he'll end up a wino like his father, the artist eventually snaps and begins taking out his frustrations on a growing number of homeless people, attacking them with a power drill. In time, his violent obsessions get worse and he begins attacking people closer to him, including an art dealer and a woman he's been dating. Ferarra also wrote several of the songs performed by a punk rock band in the film; he gained greater notoriety with his next film, the cult item Ms. 45.

Characteristics

Keywords

artist, drilling, power-tool, alienation, family-history, hallucination, homelessness, killing, killing-spree, multiple-murder, paranoia, punk-rock, rampage, revenge, slasher, urban, vision [mystical]

Attributes

Cult Film