The scariest thing about real-life killer Henry Lee Lucas, perhaps, is that we will in fact never know just how many people he killed. The number’s anywhere from 50-400. Investigations for practically every unsolved murder case for years found their way to Lucas upon his capture, and he took credit for many which he could not have committed. Rarely has a more perverse fiend ever appeared in American history.
The scariest thing about John McNaughton’s (largely fictionalized) film adaptation of Henry’s exploits is that absolutely everything about it is terrifying. Because we as the audience have seen Henry’s handiwork long before we actually witness him commit any sort of crime, we watch him with absolute focus and horror even when he’s simply sitting down and having a meal with his friends, playing cards, drinking beer. The world of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is rife with American spirit and imbued with a rather moving love story, and in its heart is probably the finest character study in horror. But first-time onlookers to McNaughton’s unrepentantly nihilistic vision will likely be so overwhelmed by the sheer horror of it all, they may miss the underlying humanity that gives its horrific scenes of bloodshed their true power - the power to disturb, the power to repulse, and the power to just downright terrify.
In his freshman outing, McNaughton captured a great number of the most repugnant images ever put to film, The fact that he could salvage it from being utterly unwatchable, make it even recommendable, is a clear indicator of his genius. Michael Rooker as well, in his first film role, creates a monster out of Henry that is nonetheless friendly, amiable and easy to like. It’s a very inward feeling whenever you catch yourself smiling at something he says. This is Henry we’re talking about, after all. The entire supporting cast, as well, is perfect.
When I talk about the film with those who have seen it, there is an underlying current of “Yes, it’s brilliant - but no, I never want to watch it again. Now please, please let’s stop talking about it.” I won’t be surprised if many of you out there take my recommendation and are appalled beyond comprehension. You’ve been warned.
Blu-ray Picture and Sound
Dark Sky Films’ Blu-ray of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre instantaneously quintupled my enjoyment of the film. I had only ever seen it on the horrid Pioneer special edition and had never quite gotten why it was so well loved. After seeing Dark Sky’s stunning beautification of the 16mm image, TCM became one of my favorite horror films. But Henry is so much more than that, so while I was expecting greatness from another Dark Sky 16mm restoration, I was understandably concerned. I mean, come on, this movie was shot almost 25 years ago in 1.33/1. It could never look all that great, right?
Wrong. This film looks absolutely gorgeous on Blu-ray. It looks like film. It looks just like 16mm film. While the nicks and scratches have been lovingly preserved, the image is crystal clear, with an incredible sense of depth the film has never, ever had before. The colors are absolutely intoxicating in their beautifully ugly way, and the fine detail is light years ahead even of Dark Sky’s own special edition DVD from just a few years ago. It’s unrealistic to say the film will never look better, but unless you get to see it up on the screen from a suitably remastered print, it’s safe to say this is the best it’ll appear for many, many years.
On the audio front, Dark Sky once again proves how faithful they are in preserving art as intended. The only track on this disc is the original 2.0 Stereo mix. What this creates is a totally pure and un-tampered with experience. While companies like Anchor Bay love to go all-out with 5.1 mixes of movies originally done in mono (Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead, for instance), Dark Sky doesn’t seem to think that digital formats necessarily have to tinker with a director’s original intentions. Whether The Evil Dead is best seen in 1.0 or 5.1 is debatable, even after viewing it in both manners many, many times. Henry, on the other hand, benefits from never having received an immersive surround mix, as its veritably soul-destroying audio is perfectly fine in a two-channel mix, as it has been for two decades.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Treasures…
An interview with John McNaughton, documentaries on the film and Henry Lee Lucas, commentary, storyboard galleries, poster galleries, deleted scenes and outtakes with commentary, and they didn’t skimp on the trailer either. All of it is worth watching, even the storyboards, which are about the best I’ve ever seen for a movie of this type. And hearing McNaughton talk is a lot more interesting than the rest of his splat pack comrades. He’s not old enough yet to be uninteresting, which is very refreshing… very, very refreshing.
I have to say it bluntly: Dark Sky Films is the best distribution company working today. Sony and Lionsgate can put out their 3-disc megasets of Spider-Man 4 and Punisher: Warzone all they want, but no other label seems to give half as much of a damn about preserving our aging genre masterworks as Dark Sky. Way to go.
"Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" is on sale September 29, 2009 and is rated . Horror. Directed by John McNaughton. Written by Richard Fire, John McNaughton. Starring Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold.
