The Driller Killer (1979) Full Review

Film Scene Investigation

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00:00hey everyone it's me Bo back once again with another cult movie review in this

00:19video I'm going to be reviewing the 70s cult classic the driller killer if of

00:25course you like the content that I do please consider subscribing it helps me

00:29continue to grow the channel so some of the long-term viewers of this channel

00:35will already know that I'm a huge fan of the director Abel Ferrara I've reviewed

00:42a few of his films already on this channel and this was another one the

00:47driller killer that I've been meaning to get to so the driller killer was this

00:52low-budget slasher film from 1979 it was directed by the legendary Abel Ferrara

01:01and was written by Nicholas st. John the movie was independently produced and

01:08featured a cast of completely unknown actors the musician and Abel's long-term

01:16collaborator Joe Delia was also tasked to produce the soundtrack now upon its

01:23release the film was initially banned here in the UK due to its excessive violence

01:30by the incompetent BBFC classification board then subsequently years later it

01:37was released with cuts in 1999 and then subsequently re-released completely uncut

01:44in 2002 and it was you know years ago I'd say maybe brown 2004 2005 that I

01:53actually picked up a box set that contained the driller killer I think it was

01:58Anchor Bay that had put together this kind of horror collection and yet I saw it

02:04and it was kind of taken back by some of the crazy imagery that I saw and as well

02:10at the time I was kind of getting into films and cinema so I was completely unaware of who Abel

02:19Ferrara was and what work he produced so the story followed the character Reno Miller played by

02:27director Abel Ferrara under the pseudonym Jimmy Lane Miller was this struggling artist who was living in

02:36this grotty Manhattan apartment with his girlfriend Carol played by Carolyn Mars and

02:42her drug-addled lover so to speak Pamela played by actress baby day Reno was short on money depressed

02:52and had trouble completing his latest art piece things only got worse for the

02:57character when a punk band called the roosters moved in and started rehearsing all day and night

03:03making Reno's life unbearable very quickly the music that this band was making became a major

03:11issue and prevented Reno meeting the deadline for his art project stress and frustration that Reno felt

03:22slowly chipped away at his mental state things came to a head when Reno's art piece was reviewed by his boss

03:31who rejected the piece outright it would seem that the the rejection was the final switch needed for Reno to

03:41completely turn psychotic one night after seeing a commercial on TV about a portable electric drill Reno's sick fascinations began

03:53this led him to commit a series of murders on the streets of New York specifically targeting the homeless and the drunk once the

04:04killings began we saw this grotesque violent side of Reno emerge and I have to say the whole attacking vulnerable

04:16people on the streets while they slept did seem very mean spirited I mean that whole thing actually reminded me of

04:26a scene from another Abel Ferrara film called the addiction from 1995 another movie that I've reviewed on this channel in the movie we

04:36saw a woman inject drugs into a homeless man while he slept some very dark imagery in that film and in the driller killer

04:47you know on the whole the driller killer is a film that followed a man and his descent into madness

04:56the Reno Miller character played by Abel Ferrara was clearly a mentally ill person in need of some

05:05serious psychological help but he never got that he never got the support he truly needed and so Reno went

05:14unchecked undiagnosed and remained unwell not only was he going out on the streets murdering homeless people

05:25but he was also trying to maintain a relationship with his girlfriend Carol while she was involved with

05:32her lover Pamela you know looking looking closer at their dysfunctional relationship the threesome

05:41as it were it seemed to me that Reno's killing spree acted as some sort of reaction to this

05:49pent-up sexual inadequacies he felt about himself and I say that because of a few things

05:56notice how all of Reno's victims were men and yes while the homeless population was disproportionately

06:04male back then I saw the killings as this cathartic ritual Reno was playing out in his manic state

06:13in his twisted mind he was unable to fulfill the duties as a man towards his girlfriend Carol

06:22he wasn't enough for her and so he took the rage out on the vulnerable men sleeping outside in his building

06:31in this crazed state that Reno was in he saw himself as a loser as someone that wasn't going to accomplish

06:38anything and he was neglected just like those neglected the homeless out on the streets of new york

06:46Reno had this built-in self-hatry for himself that was now coming out through these random murders he was committing

06:55and in some ways Reno saw himself in them and he wanted them destroyed you know maybe uh

07:03maybe i'm basing too much importance on the killings but it just seemed obvious that there was more to

07:09it than just a bunch of random murders and you know you have to be aware that the over-the-top gory

07:17exploitation that we saw you know the excessive violence that was there to distract the viewer from

07:24seeing Reno's inner horrors that he was experiencing not only was it violent on the streets of new york with

07:31this guy miss maniac with a drill but it was a very violent world in the mind of reno miller you know

07:40abel ferrara has always had a good eye for location shooting in his films and driller killer is no exception

07:49the grimy ugliness of the urban streets depicted on screen portrayed new york at its very worst

07:58i mean this is not a place that you'd want to visit anytime soon you know the film had this uh this

08:05really sleazy look and feel to it but you know it fit perfectly with the bohemian characters that we

08:12followed now i have to mention the acting of abel ferrara here for a moment of course he's first and

08:21foremost a director but you know credit where credit's due he fully committed to the role taking

08:27into account the story of the driller killer taking into account the reno character and you know the

08:33lifestyle that he was living the whole exploitation or nature of it all i thought abel did a great job

08:41you know i i think he's better served as a director and i'm glad he you know pursued that

08:48but you know with with all things considered abel's performance was more than passable

08:55you know it did feel believable that a guy like reno could possibly carry out such heinous acts

09:03and i guess it wasn't too much of a stretch for abel ferrara to portray a struggling artist

09:10because you know in reality that's what he was at the time he bet on himself that he could pull off

09:18the role and he did so great job and saw dislikes for the driller killer 1979 my main dislike for this

09:31film would be the simple fact that there's not really any characters that are likeable in this

09:39film there's no one that you can really get behind or root for yeah just the characters just didn't

09:47seem very friendly i mean in fairness the world that abel ferrara created in the driller killer you know

09:53it seemed like a very unfriendly new york it didn't seem like a very you know as i said a place that you

09:59want to visit anytime soon you know it felt hostile and and you you saw that kind of through the actions

10:05of reno i don't know i guess you could have maybe felt sympathy for the reno character because clearly

10:13he was mentally unstable in some ways the state neglected him like they still do to so many others

10:23in real life in other words there wasn't much difference between reno and the people he killed

10:29i mean it could be argued that reno was a victim of sorts but of course that still doesn't condone his

10:38violent behavior he wasn't serving poetic justice on the streets of new york and so

10:46as a viewer you're left with this bleak low-budget film that is filled with simplistic shallow characters

10:56and gory death scenes now i will cut ferrara some slack here given the very limited budget he was

11:05working with i mean the film had no backing it was independently made there was little money to spend

11:11on actors and script rewrites you know he and his team did the best they could with the resources

11:18they had at their disposal though with all of that said maybe ferrara should have taken more time to

11:26work on the movie's script and character development with the writer nicholas saint john before going into

11:34production and so ratings for the driller killer going to be rating this movie a solid five out of ten

11:43the driller killer is this gritty piece of american cinema with its unique tone and visuals the film's

11:52amateurish charm and handheld camera work helped to create a strong sense of realism making the violence

11:59seem all that more shocking abel ferrara focused on what he did have and accentuated the positives

12:11in addition he worked on his strengths and hid his weaknesses you know the film had this weird

12:20kind of atmosphere which i did actually think worked in its favor i viewed the

12:27the raw editing you know the soundtrack and just the whole kind of unpolished nature of the film

12:37as a representation of reno's unsteady mindset don't forget the character was already having these

12:47scary hallucinations we as an audience were just seeing the story unfold through the eyes of reno

12:55you know some may consider this movie a horror slasher flick but it's really more a gruesome character

13:05study of a young guy plunging into the depths of madness in some ways the movie was an attempt at mixing

13:15art house sensibilities with the horror exploitation genre the film also highlighted the homeless epidemic

13:25that new york that new york was and still is facing today so yes this is a film from

13:32over 40 years ago now and it still holds relevance here in the 21st century all the underground and punk

13:42aesthetic that was implemented into the film felt entirely genuine and added a lot of character

13:49to the movie's overall experience the film really was this unique raw unapologetic violent tragedy played

14:03out on screen even though this film does have its haters i kind of think that the movie had enough

14:11creativity to disguise the film's lesser qualities now i take many people watching this review would have

14:20already seen the driller killer but if you haven't or if it's been a while i'd go give it a watch it's

14:28definitely worth revisiting especially if you're an abel ferrara fan and in terms of abel ferrara's films

14:35where does it rank i mean this was an early film for abel ferrara i mean his first real proper production

14:45and yeah i mean you have to take into account all the issues and restrictions that he was facing

14:54for what it's worth i think he did a great job and even though the film isn't necessarily

15:01a masterpiece it's it's hard enough to make films let alone when you've got you know very little money

15:09so the more i kind of take a step back and take all the you know everything into account the whole

15:16context it was actually quite an accomplishment for abel to pull off so yeah definitely an interesting

15:27piece the cinema well that's all from me today guys in this review hope you have enjoyed it

15:33i will be back very soon with more reviews don't forget to subscribe and uh yeah of course take care

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