Driller Killer

Titre original : The Driller Killer

1979
Not Rated
1h 36min

NOTE IMDb

5,2/10

8,7 k

MA NOTE

An artist slowly goes insane while struggling to pay his bills, work on his paintings, and care for his two female roommates, which leads him taking to the streets of New York after dark and randomly killing derelicts with a power drill.

Lire trailer0:33

2 Videos

72 photos

Slasher Horror Drama Horror Thriller

Un artiste devient fou tout en luttant pour payer ses factures, peindre et gérer ses deux colocataires féminines, ce qui l'amène à errer la nuit dans les rues de New York et à tuer au hasard... Tout lireUn artiste devient fou tout en luttant pour payer ses factures, peindre et gérer ses deux colocataires féminines, ce qui l'amène à errer la nuit dans les rues de New York et à tuer au hasard, avec une perceuse électrique.Un artiste devient fou tout en luttant pour payer ses factures, peindre et gérer ses deux colocataires féminines, ce qui l'amène à errer la nuit dans les rues de New York et à tuer au hasard, avec une perceuse électrique.

Voir les informations de production sur IMDbPro

NOTE IMDb

5,2/10

8,7 k

MA NOTE

Voir les informations de production sur IMDbPro

Anecdotes
Banned in the UK until 1999.

Gaffes
When the Driller Killer drills into a homeless man's head, he does not drill far enough to cause death, as evidenced by the depth of blood on the drill-bit.

Citations
Reno Miller: Oh, so it's finished? Thank you. It's finished... Since when did you become such an expert on painting? I mean, you're telling me it's finished? What do you know about painting, anyway? Really, what do you know about paint? I'll tell you what you know about paint, man: you don't know nothing about paint, man. You know what you know about? You know about how to bitch and how to eat and how to bitch and how to shit and how to bitch! But you don't know nothing about paint, so don't tell me when it's going to be done. I'll tell you when it's going to be done.

Crédits fous
Movie opens with message "THIS FILM SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD."

Versions alternatives
The film has had a rough time in the UK. Before 1984, when videos were not subject to censorship in Britain, it was released with the killings intact, although a minute of non-violent footage was missing from this version. It then got a reputation as one of the most notorious of the "video nasties", a media-fueled hysteria which led to the UK adopting some of the most stringent video censorship in the Western world. This reputation arose largely because of the video cover, which showed the infamous drill-in-the-forehead scene. After 1984, it became illegal to release a video without a BBFC video certificate, and the films' reputation was such that no-one even bothered trying until 1999, when a version omitting 54 secs from the head-drilling scene and 2 earlier murders was approved for an 18 certificate. The full uncut version was finally passed by the BBFC in November 2002.

Connexions
Edited into Gli ultimi giorni dell'umanità (2022)

Bandes originales
Invention in Bb; Arioso
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (as J. S. Bach)
Performed by Joe Delia (as Joseph Delia)

Avis des utilisateurs145

Commenter

Commentaire à la une

Unfairly maligned punk rock psychodrama.

Abel Ferrara's 'The Driller Killer' is generally best know for igniting the "video nasty" debate back in the 1980s in Britain and little else. Which is a shame because it is a fascinating low budget psychodrama. The horror or slasher tag it is usually given is quite misleading and will no doubt disappoint hard core horror fans expecting quite a different kind of movie. Sure it does eventually lead to a violent climax but it is closer to being a character study of a man driven to insanity by his squalid, and increasingly anarchic urban environment. Almost like a bargain basement 'Taxi Driver' with some CBGBs era atmosphere thrown in. Along with Uli Lommel's little seen 'Blank Generation' there are very few other films that successfully document the mid 70s NYC punk scene of The Ramones, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, The Cramps et al, and 'The Driller Killer' is worth viewing for this reason alone.

Ferrara himself plays the lead character, tortured scumbag artist Reno. In his later, more sophisticated, and yes, better movies this role would no doubt have been played by someone like Keitel, Walken, Hopper or Gallo. Ferrara doesn't have the acting chops these guys have and so the movie suffers somewhat, but even so, his performance is crude but effective. Unknowns Carolyn Marz and Baybi Day as his girlfriend and his girlfriend's girlfriend respectively are both more than adequate, and The Roosters may be second rate but help lend some authentic punk rock feel to this underrated slice of urban nihilism. While by no means my favourite Abel Ferrara movie, this movie doesn't deserve to be dismissed. I like it.