Cast:
Abel Ferrara (Reno Miller), Carolyn Marz (Carol), Baybi Day (Pamela Bergling), Harry Schultz II (Dalton Briggs), Alan Wynroth (Landlord), Maria Helhoski (Nun), James O'Hara (Man in church), Richard Howorth (Carol's husband), D.A. Metrov (Tony Coca-Cola), and Butch Morris (Sidewalk Beggar) Directed by Abel Ferrara.
Review:
"You’ve got to be clear on what you’re doing, what you’re making, and why you’re making it. The first arbitrator of what you do has got to be yourself. Especially if you work from your imagination, you better be very careful with your priorities, man. Not to control your imagination, but to be clear about how you’re being a human being. "
Being provocative certainly could do wonders to having a long and winding career as a filmmaker if done correctly, and Abel Ferrara certainly deserves the appreciation of that label. Born in the Bronx, he made movies from a young age, tinkering with it in high school before making them more regularly when attending Rockland Community College (doing so to try and avoid being drafted for the Vietnam War). He then attended State University of New York at Purchase and the San Francisco Art Institute before he left film school in 1976. He directed his first feature film...with an adult pornographic film 9 Lives of a Wet Pussy (1976). But The Driller Killer (1979) would garner him actual attention, even if it really came from the fact that the United Kingdom called it a "video nastie" due to its cover (well, it also is a movie about a power drill killing spree, but Americans didn't have a problem). The movie was filmed on weekends with a script that basically had improvisations so scenes could lead to other scenes, since the actors were a mix of professionals and non-professionals. The film was written by Nicholas St. John (writer name for Nicodemo Oliverio), a childhood friend of Ferrera who would write for several more of his films; the lead character apparently was inspired by a guy Ferrera knew who had a problem with homeless folks. There are two versions of the film: the 96 minute version is the one released in theaters, while a 101-minute version was found decades later before a DVD release, as Ferrera cut five minutes prior to release that involve a bit of character development. Over the next four decades, Ferrera has directed a variety of features with varying levels of provocateur status in genres (while also directing a bit in television along with dabbling in acting), such as Ms. 45 (1981), King of New York (1990), Bad Lieutenant (1992), and Mary (2005).
Evidently, Ferrara had described the film as a comedy rather than an exploitative horror film. Eh, the best way to view the movie is to look at as a weird punk movie, an expression of an artist's frustrations and stresses brought out in Freudian stabbing with a drill. It a strange curiosity, since it is more a composition of the danger in mixing fear and anger together rather than straight exploitation trash. It isn't content with sticking to any kind of expectation you might see from the portrait of a guy with just a bit too much stress, right down to how it closes its proceedings, and it means that one will either enjoy or throw their hands in the air. It is a movie about the fear of becoming a failure that leads one to drilling at their problems in ways that somehow make complete sense and yet seem completely ridiculous at the same time. It is a gritty and grimy movie, one where you can practically feel these people on screen. Ferrera (who cast himself to star, just like did with his previous film) makes a quality focus in terms of expressing what a starving artist looks like in all of its primal instincts in terms of stress and desperation, one that doesn't require your pity. He has stated that when watching the film decades later, he thought that it was composed of people who "look like they would never make another film", which meant that they basically put everything they had in it. In that sense, I find myself thinking the movie would be hard to recommend to those who desire something straight to the point in their horror movies. It is a messy movie made with gusto for being messy that I end up liking mostly for its brazen confidence to stumble wherever it likes. It is somehow punk enough to not care about the consequences of its actions in its psycho-drama that it ultimately ends up playing a punch line in the overall result. There is something to be said about a movie with drills and punks that ends up riling your senses in straight-shooting ways that invite further provocation from a director who clearly is interested in doing so. For a film publicly available to view, it won't be for everyone, but sometimes you have to drill out the doubt and see for yourself where punk exploitation can go.
Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
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