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Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
(****)
Henry is one of the most disturbing individuals I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. I don't know what's worse; the fact that he's so unsettlingly quiet, or that he opens his mouth and starts to tell us what he's thinking eventually.
"Henry" begins with a young woman named Becky (Arnold) coming to Chicago after the breakup of her marriage. Life isn't good for her, and she's forced to stay with her ex-con brother Otis (Towles). Staying with Otis is the unsettling Henry (Rooker) who says little and seems generally uncomfortable in his ownskin.
Henry has a secret that he doesn't reveal to anyone in full detail. Becky's probing into his prison past reveals that he killed his mother ("yeah, I killed my mama...she was a whore"), but he seems to contradict himself and we wonder if he's even serious. Then he reveals himself to the dim witted Otis one evening with a prostitute.
What comes from his relationship with Otis is a rampage of death as senseless as it is bloody. They shoot a random stranger on the road one night. They break into a random house and kill a family for no other reason than to just see what it'll look like on video.
Henry's smarter than Otis though. Becky is repulsed by Otis, but attracted to the fumbling "innocence" she sees in Henry...
I shouldn't reveal this! However, Henry is one of the few movies I have ever seen that is actually as unsettling as it tries to be. Filmed ultra low budget by then-first time director John McNaughton, there aren't many real frills as far as special effects go. Taking its place, however, is an unsettling character portrayal by actor Michael Rooker, who has gone on to star in numerous Hollywood roles.
Rooker is generally a character actor. You see him here and there, but he's not really that big "name" actor. However, in this role he shows what caliber he is as an actor. Henry is a dark and disturbed individual, and what really scares you is that you don't know specifically why. However, behind the silence we see his mind working at furious speeds, thanks to Michael Rooker. As surprising as it is when we finally see that he IS a killer, somehow we always knew.