The Driller Killer (1979)

Director:

Abel Ferrara

Writer:

Nicholas St. John (writer)

Release Date:

15 June 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

It will shatter you!

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Painting | New York | Artist | Painter | Power Drill

Cast

Abel Ferrara	...	Reno Miller (as Jimmy Laine)
Carolyn Marz	...	Carol Slaughter
Baybi Day	...	Pamela
Harry Schultz	...	Dalton Briggs
Alan Wynroth	...	Al the Landlord
Maria Helhoski	...	The Nun
James O'Hara	...	Man in Church
Richard Howorth	...	Stephen - Carol's Husband
Louis Mascolo	...	Knife Victim
Tommy Santora	...	Attacker
Rita Gooding	...	TV Spot
Chuck Saaf	...	TV Spot
Gary Cohen	...	Voice-over (voice)
Janet Dailey	...	Girl at Audition
Joyce Finney	...	Girl at Audition

Also Known As:

Driller Killer (Australia)

Runtime:

96 min | UK:94 min (cut version) | UK:96 min (uncut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | Australia:MA (re-rating) (uncut) | Australia:R | Germany:(Banned) | Ireland:(Banned) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 (2004) | UK:18 (cut) | USA:Unrated | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | UK:18 (video re-rating) (uncut) (2002)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Navaron Productions

Trivia:

Abel Ferrara claims that half of this movie was shot in 1978 and the other half was shot in 1979. This explains why the actors hair styles and looks in general change quite frequently during the movie.

Quotes:

[Reno opens an envelope for the energy bill]
Reno Miller: Holy Christ! What is this? They send us the bill to Madison Square Garden? What are they kidding me, man? How the hell are we supposed to pay this bill? What is this? The bill for three months?
Carol: That's the bill for one month.
Reno Miller: Christ, what have we got here? A refrigerator, a couple of lights?
[opens another envelope]
Reno Miller: Let's see here, telephone. Oh no! Houston, Texas?
Pamela: My mother.
Reno Miller: Look at this, L.A. $1.50... $2.75... $7.50.
Carol: Yeah, they're mine.
Reno Miller: You talked to L.A. one time for two hours and 10 minutes? What are you, out of your mind? Are you crazy? What's this? Philadelphia?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Short Film About the Long Career of Abel Ferrara (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Grand Street Stomp

Better than Bad Lieutenant

I really liked this one. It kind of has a MANIAC/Taxi Driver feel to it. This movie is about this guy in New York slowly going crazy and viewing all these things around him (his painting gets rejected, a punk band just moved in next door, etc...) and being disgusted by the filth. It is the darkest film I've EVER seen (not in the subject matter, though there's no humor... but it's just literally REALLY REALLY dark. I mean, the whole thing is BLACK. THERE IS NO LIGHT. Grrr... it's hard for me to say it without it sounding like I'm talking about the mood of the film... no, I mean the lighting. There is no lighting. It's darkly-lit... they need to pay the light bills... etc).

This guy then just goes around and kills people with a drill. Some of it is goofy (he drills a guy, and the guy then assumes the "I'm-being-crucified!" position, kind of making reference to a scene early in the movie when he looks at a cross), some of it doesn't even make sense (he drills through glass to kill a guy who is standing about 5 feet away from the glass to begin with), and I think the director was confused a lot and on drugs. I mean, every few minutes, there was a flash to a picture of Jesus or of a horrible punk band playing music or a drill killing. Basically, the whole film.

Four important things about this film: 1) There are no cops in the movie. Kind of scary. 2) The driller killer mainly kills homeless people for some reason (and it's mostly guys -- New York Ripper this is not). 3) There is indeed a pretty interesting lesbian scene in this 1979 movie. 4) The first drill killing is probably one of the best killing scenes ever... the main character is moaning and laughing and thrusting the drill in with blood splattering everywhere... it looked like sex. It did. Yeah... good film. I'm glad that the police force has improved since then.