Retro Slashers

I love this movie’s attitude. Released in 1979 and made by filmmaker Abel (Ms. 45, Bad Lieutenant, The Addiction) Ferrara, The Driller Killer wears its punk rock heart on its sleeve right from its opening frames (see below).

Ferrera (credited as Jimmy Laine) is Reno Miller, a talented New York artist who can’t seem to catch a break. His art dealer hates his latest work and his girlfriend Carol (Carolyn Marz) can’t stand living on the verge of having their utilities cut off. Reno and Carol share an apartment with Pam (Baybi Day) who seems to be on hand to fulfill Carol’s bi-sexual urges and to accompany them to delightfully seedy clubs. Homelessness, alcoholism and mental illness fill the streets around them. Then an incredibly loud and obnoxious punk rock band starts using their building as a rehearsal space, depriving Reno of sleep and work time. And what’s that ad on TV? For only $19.99, the Porto-Pack (a battery pack you wear around your waist) can be yours. It isn’t long before Reno straps on the Porto-Pack, plugs in his drill, and starts working out his frustrations on the denizens of the Lower East Side.

The Driller Killer‘s strongest asset is its authenticity. Its locations (I kept waiting for a late 1970′s Debbie Harry to show up at the punk band’s rehearsals), its frequently entry-level acting, its atmosphere that positively reeks of desperation and alienation all ring true, and that’s what gives it its impact. Viewers unprepared to sit through the steam-building first half of the flick may find it tedious, as the obnoxious (there’s that word again) and unlikeable Reno goes about losing his marbles, and those who stick it out may find its nihilistic tone either too unpleasant or too pretentious. But The Driller Killer is, for all intents and purposes, the cinematic equivalent of a punk rock song: loud, unschooled and obnoxious.

It’s also an anomaly from the heyday of the slasher sub-genre. It’s more character study than thrill ride, fitting in neatly with movies of the day like Taxi Driver and Death Wish that feature antiheroes – characters with dubious morality – more so than it does with flicks powered by poster children for amusement park evil like Michael and Jason. And maybe that’s one of the reasons why Reno never thinks to hide his face behind a mask. He’s not some fairy tale representation of “bad”; he’s a product of the frustration that lies just beneath the surface in all of us, and he’s a reaction to the urban blight he lives in.

Reno’s first victims are homeless, drunks, or mentally ill; people that we ignore on a daily basis. He doesn’t need to hide his identity as he goes about his wet work at the bottom rung of the social ladder. Eventually Reno will start to make his way up that ladder, selecting victims with more social standing as his rampage intensifies, leading towards a bleak and satisfying conclusion.

Ferrara’s feature debut doesn’t want to entertain as much as it was to confront. How you gonna do that behind a mask? Especially when your intent is to rip the mask off of each an every one of us? The Driller Killer ends with the dedication below. Don’t for a second think that the film’s rage is solely focused on New York City. Ferrara knows where you live.

See larger image Driller Killer / The Early Short Films of Abel Ferrara (DVD) Starring: Chris Amato, Gary Cohen, Janet Dailey, Baybi Day, Joyce Finney Rating: Unrated List Price: $29.95 USD New From: $11.60 In Stock Used from: $13.95 In Stock Release date June 29, 2004.