Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer1986

Name: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Genre: Psychological, Splatter & Gore
Released: 1986-09-24
Rating: 7.2

“He's not Freddy, he's not Jason...he's real.”

Directed by John McNaughton

7.2

Crypt Score

Blended from 4 sources

IMDb 7.0Rotten Tomatoes 89%Metacritic 80TMDB 6.7

✍ Review

On the charts

#5·Top Horror Movies of 1986 #20·Top Splatter & Gore Films #27·Top Horror Movies of the 1980s

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Year

1986

Runtime

83 min

Box Office

Budget

$111,000

Revenue (worldwide)

$609,939

Domestic

$609,939

🏆 9 wins & 8 nominations

The premise

Arriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.

Horror Vault's take

Henry is a cold, methodical drifter whose capacity for violence is matched only by his chilling ordinariness. When he moves in with a former acquaintance in Chicago, his lethal habits begin to bleed into the lives of those around him. Shot with a raw, almost documentary-like restraint, the film refuses to sensationalize or redeem — it simply observes. The result is one of the most quietly devastating portraits of evil American horror has produced.

Content: Graphic Violence, Sexual Violence Including Rape, Home Invasion Violence, Murder Depicted In Detail, Disturbing Power Dynamics