MR Ian Carroll

Henry MR Ian Carroll

It doesn't happen to me very often - perhaps once every ten years, maybe less - I will come across a 'new' film that will blow me away completely. In the last ten years I have to mention 'Drag Me to Hell' (which will feature in a future book) as a movie that stood out and also 'Donnie Darko' (another to be included) eight years before that. But, the one film that really hit me like a freight train when I first saw it in 1990, was this film. 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer' is a raw and dirty, extremely realistic film, based loosely around the life (and murders) of loner Henry Lee Lucas and his sometimes accomplice Otis Toole. The film follows Henry - a drifter and a very disturbed individual - as he moves from one murderous situation to the next, with Otis becoming his partner in crime, already being his flat mate. Based around the true-life story of Henry Lee Lucas, who was still in prison on death row in Huntsville, Texas at the time of the films release. This film is a low budget masterpiece. A disturbing piece of celluloid that even some 'hard-core horror' fans struggled to watch, but still built a cult following large enough to demand a follow up in the film 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 2 - Mask of Sanity'. The acting in the film is so realistic that you almost feel like you are watching a 'found footage' documentary and not a low budget horror work of genius. After this film both Michael Rooker (Henry) and John McNaughton (Director) went on to bigger and better things, their careers - especially Rooker - sky rocketing to even greater success. So, in this book you will discover more about the film, the actors, the director, the soundtrack, the real murderers and the thoughts from all the people that count the most the fans - the fans of the great movie 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer' and the first book in this new series, which will cover many different genres and styles.