Driller Killer

SEPTEMBER 2, 2007

GENRE: EXPLOITATION, SERIAL KILLER
SOURCE: DVD (BUDGET PACK!!!)

This review should be read LOUD!

How can a movie called Driller Killer be so goddamn boring? Come on! This one reminded me of Naked Massacre for some reason, but at least that film, itself no masterpiece, moved along fairly nicely. This one took FOREVER to get to the driller killering and then it moved so fast I couldn’t even understand what was happening at times.

The ending, however, is pretty sweet, and rescued this one out of the crap label. Like yesterday’s Alone With Her, it’s a downer ending. It’s also given one of the strangest cinematic presentations I can recall. The film fades to red and we simply listen to the climax. More ideas like that that could have made this film worthwhile.

The rest though is as generic as they come. There’s the usual padding, awful acting, nonsensical asides (why is Reno on the roof watching a guy get randomly stabbed?), kills that make little to no anatomical sense, etc. There IS a brief lesbian scene though, so there’s something. We are also given the world’s most over-populated band (there’s a scene where a couple of their back up singers fight some of their OTHER back up singers!!).

This one’s being remade. I am all for it. Remaking films that were good ideas done badly should be a lot more common than it is. I just hope that someone, someday, can make a decent movie out of Vampire$.

What say you?

6 comments:

  1. You know what would be a good movie?

    Driller Killer vs. The Toolbox Murders.

    No wait, that would be a terrible movie. The title doesn't even make sense.

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  2. Wow, Driller Killer, according to my friend, was supposed to be like art-horror or something. I fell asleep about 3/4 of the way into the film. Very lame. I'm sorry you had to sit through it.

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  3. I assumed they ran out of money or film stock or something at the end, and had to finish it up Lights Out style.

    I didn't know what to think of this one after I finished it. I didn't really like it, but I couldn't just dismiss it for some reason. Maybe it was the art-horror stuff, the rampant and ugly homophobia that I wasn't sure whether it was meant to be ironic or not (one of the first drill-killings has Abel riding his victim like a pony while "penetrating" him, and then of course there's the agent/makeup stuff at the climax). Obviously Reno feels creatively and sexually impotent, losing his girl b/c he's not a success and all that. So is he a closet gay, or just feeling "not a man"? I dunno. And visually a lot of things struck me--the opening church scene is great, and some of the nightmares too.

    But what really stuck with me afterwards was how unbelievably GRIMY this movie is--definitely want to take a shower afterward. The NY tourist board does not want this to be their image.

    Of course much of it makes no sense, and some that does is just stupid, but still--I still don't quite know what to make of it.

    Though I will say this is one of the few movies I'd like to rent the special edition just to listen to the commentary. Apparently Ferrara did it completely wasted, and it's entertaining and revelatory. From what I hear, anyway.

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  4. Ya a buddy of mine highly recommended the commentary... I guess Abel points out an extra by saying "There's Bruce Willis." and the guy looks absolutely nothing like him. Sold!

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  5. trivia (maybe): i'm pretty sure this is the movie patrick bateman keeps renting in the american psycho book.

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  6. No - that's 'Body Double'. Sorry, only 5 years late with a response.

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