Driller
Killer (1979)
Directed by Abel Ferrara
Well,
this is it, the
original video nasty, Driller
Killer. I cannot
comment on how the film was
received in the rest of the world, but here in the UK it caused quite a
stir and the name 'video nasty' was invented especially for films like
this.
The
filming of Driller Killer
began in 1977 and
finished in 1978, but the film was not released until 1979. The trouble
in the UK began in 1982 when the UK distributors of the film, Vipco
(Video Instant Picture Company), took out some full-page advertisements
in a number of movie magazines. The advertisements showed the video's
violently explicit cover and this caused a large number of complaints
to the Advertising
Standards Agency.
Wheels were set in motion and by 1984 video nasties were banned in the
UK.
Things
have relaxed a little since then and in 1999 Driller
Killer
was available to buy, but only as an edited version; it was not until
2002 that the full uncut version was unleashed for the British market.
It is the uncut version that you can watch lower down on this page.
The
story is set in New York and the central character is an artist named
Reno Miller. At the beginning of the film a rather nervous looking Reno
walks down the aisle of a church and kneels next to a mumbling bearded
man. The man tries to take hold of Reno's hand and Reno flees the
church. His girlfriend Carol asks him who the man was and Reno says
that it was just some bum, but according to the nun in the
doorway, the bum in question had Reno's name and address in
his pocket, and if Reno did not know the man why did he go to meet him?
It is generally believed that the bum in the church is Reno's father.
Although this seems probable I never noticed anything in the film that
confirms this, but, either way, Reno definitely has some issues with
derelicts and spends a considerable amount of time watching them or
talking to them.
Reno's
strange fascination with the homeless is interesting because he is
behind on his rent and if he is not careful he will be homeless
himself, so he needs to sell a painting. He is busy working on a huge
picture of a buffalo and if he can sell that he will make enough to pay
a few bills, but he will have to finish it first and the buyer will
have to like it when it is finished. Meanwhile the bills keep coming in
and the phone bill is huge, but that shouldn't be surprising, he is
living with not one, but two girls and girls like to talk. Carol is
Reno's official girlfriend and Pamela is the lodger, but she and Reno
seem pretty close and he does not seem to mind the fact that Carol and
Pamela sleep together, so one can only presume that it is share and
share alike. Despite this less than conventional set up, however, there
are not many sex scenes in the film and the only scene that might
offend those of a puritan nature is the one where Carol and Pamela get
nipple to nipple in the shower.
Anyway
the three of them share the flat, but it is Reno's flat and he cannot
pay the rent so Carol pays it out of her alimony cheque. It takes the
pressure of a little, but they are still behind and cannot afford to go
out anywhere, so they have to stay home and watch TV and it is while
they are watching TV that Reno first sees an advertisement for a
battery pack that you can wear around your waist and plug your
electrical appliances into. It is called a Porto-Pack and Reno seems
unusually interested in it -- there was no such thing as a cordless
drill in the eighties.
Reno
lack of money is not his only worry, a band of punk rockers have moved
into the building and they are rocking around the clock each and every
day and each and every night, so it is hard for Reno to concentrate on
his work. A lot of people think that it is all the noise from the band
that finally pushed Reno over the top, but in my opinion he was already
a pretty sick puppy and no amount of punk rock blasting up through the
floorboard would have made him hallucinate the way he does.
Anyway, for whatever reason, Reno finds the cash for a Porto-Pak, plugs
his drill into it and goes out and kills a bum, riding the bum's body
like a bucking bronco as he drills a hole in his chest. It's messy
work, but Reno seems to like it. The
next time Reno takes his drill out he kills lots and lots of people and
all of them are bums.
I never
saw this film when it first came out and I was imagining something that
was almost akin to a snuff movie, but do you know what? It isn't that
bad. There are a few scenes that are pretty gruesome, especially the
one where Reno drills a hole in someone's head, but overall there is
little in Driller Killer
that cannot be found in
many modern horror films. Rob Zombie's House
of 1000 Corpses,
for instance, is, to my mind anyway, a lot more gruesome.
So. it's
a film about a painter and his drill and his lust to kill, but is it
art? You will have to decide that for yourself, but one thing is for
sure, if you do watch the film you will never want to fall asleep in a
shop doorway again. Ever!
Scroll down the page to
watch The
Driller Killer
(Donwload
links below the player)
Cast
Abel
Ferrara ... Reno Miller
Carolyn Marz ... Carol Slaughter
Baybi Day ... Pamela
Harry Schultz ... Dalton Briggs
Alan Wynroth ... Al the Landlord
Maria Helhoski ... The Nun
James O'Hara ... Man in Church
Richard Howorth ... Stephen (Carol's
Husband)
Louis Mascolo ... Knife Victim
Tommy Santora ... Attacker
Rita Gooding ... TV Spot
Chuck Saaf ... TV Spot
Gary Cohen ... Voice-over (voice)
Janet Dailey ... Girl at Audition
Joyce Finney ... Girl at Audition
Butch Morris ... Sidewalk Begger
Paul Fitze ... Kid on Street
John Fitze ... Kid on Street
Karl Metner ... Kid on Street
Chris Amato ... Kid on Street
Rich Bokun ... Kid on Street
Michael Canosa ... Kid on Street
Greg Schirrira ... Kid on Street
Thomas Baeza ... Kid on Street
Frank Hazard ... Man Waiting for Bus
John Paul McIntyre ... Man Waiting for Bus
John Coulakis ... Hallway Derelict
Lanny Taylor ... Rooftop Derelict
Peter Yellen ... Bus Stop Derelict
Steve Cox ... Empire State Derelict
Stephen
Singer ... Street Corner Derelict
Tim Constantine ... Street Corner Derelict
Anthony Picciano ... Sidewalk and Street
Derelict
Bob DeFrank ... Fire Escape Derelict
D.A. Metrov ... Tony Coca-Cola (guitar)
Dickey Bittner ... Ritchy (bass)
Steve Brown ... Steve (drums)
Laurie Y. Taylor ... Tony's Girlfriend
Trixie Sly ... Manager
Andrea Childs ... Friend
Hallie Coletta ... Friend
Victoria Keiler ... Friend
Claire Mailer ... Friend
Paula Nichols ... Friend
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