this is the first film of Abel Ferrara. is it the first work of an auteur ?. i don't know about that. its a bit much. its a bit loud. its a bit catholic. i don't know if there was a need for a 5 bum drilling rampage. he has a vision of the world common to lapsed catholic directors in 70s new york eg Scorcese: life is hell (especially in NYC). of all the filmmakers coming out of the NY underground, Ferrara is maybe the most nihilistic, hateful and visceral (even including Richard Kern) but he only sometimes transfers it well to film.. Abel Ferrara has made some good films -the addiction, king of new york. the theme of these films is: life is hell (especially in NYC) and some films which deal with the same theme in an absurdly over the top way: driller killer, bad lieutenant. he has also made some boring nonsense: new rose hotel (worst Gibson adaptation ever, johnny mnemonic was much better, Asia argent sux) basically, Christopher Walken is a god of acting and can almost always do wonders. luckily he likes working with Ferrara. otherwise he uses Harvey Keitel and its a bit macho and over the top. you cant really watch with a straight face (but its good when him and Zoe Lund are smoking gear in bad lieutenant) this film is good comedy. thats why i put it in the same category as the Keitel films. what was wrong with his building? it looked like an alright place to live with the shoddy punk band in the basement. he could have just chilled out, I'm sure those roommates could have showed him how, they looked pretty sedated. id rather be hanging out there than Scorsese world. the soundtrack is kind of fun but usually totally inappropriate. its got a nice grainy low budget feel to it, as a 70s period piece, but its technically pretty rubbish, (especially the lighting and focus). overall its a bit nothing but worth a watch, especially if you liked any of his other films, or Scorsese, or 70 new york punk. five out of ten
Review of The Driller Killer
