capsule : bleak and point-blank — just the way it should be .
makes its case with cold-blooded precision and intelligence .
” serial killer chic ” is a relatively new entry to the cultural vocabulary , and one of the more stomach-turning ones .
i’ve never found someone automatically admirable or even interesting because they killed creatively or in great numbers , and because of that i had apprehensions about seeing henry .
i wasn’t sure i wanted to see the story of multiple murderer henry lee lucas portrayed as some kind of nihilistic hero/antihero .
thankfully , that’s not the way henry works .
the director , john mcnaughton , took a small budget and a gallery of actor friends and created a chilling and intelligent piece of work .
it doesn’t provide cheap-jack explanations for henry’s behavior : it shows him up for what he is , an unrepentant and un-idolizable man who killed when the mood struck him .
at the film’s opening , henry’s friend ottis toole has a sister , who comes by to stay while she tries to find work in chicago .
in a viciously riveting scene , he admits matter-of-factly to having murdered his own mother , and she covers his hand with hers .
they are damned together from that moment on .
henry and ottis eventually begin to kill for fun .
the movie is especially good at showing how they seem to have drifted casually into it : there’s a scene where the two go to buy a new tv .
the pawnbroker they talk to goads henry with ugly words , and henry responds by stabbing the man to death with a soldering iron .
no preface — it smashes into us as suddenly as it does the broker .
in a scene which many damned the movie for , unseen , they steal a video camera and film the murder of a whole household , playing it back over and over again for their own enjoyment .
the movie itself , however , does not glorify the killings , but shows instead that henry feels no joy at his work , only irritation .
henry succeeds thanks to excellent writing and direction as well as acting .
michael rooker is credible as henry from the first frame , just standing there , and the rest of the cast works by being unaffected and casual as well .
the producers had originally comissioned a slasher film from mcnaughton , but he decided to give them something more memorable , and consequently the film nearly didn’t see release .
the film does not glorify or justify — it just shows us , with unflinching coldness , what henry was .
i’m hard pressed to see how anyone can see this and consider henry any kind of ” victim ” or ” hero ” .
then again , probably , so would henry .