The Driller Killer (1979)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Abel Ferrara

Writer:

Nicholas St. John (writer)

Release Date:

15 June 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | 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:

Punk Rock | Murder | Cult | Wrath | B Movie

Cast

Abel Ferrara	...	Reno Miller (as Jimmy Laine)
Carolyn Marz	...	Carol
Baybi Day	...	Pamela
Harry Schultz	...	Dalton Briggs
Alan Wynroth	...	Landlord
Maria Helhoski	...	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
Butch Morris	...	Sidewalk Begger
Paul Fitze	...	Kid on Street
John Fitze	...	Kid on Street
Karl Metner	...	Kid on Street
Chris Amato	...	Kid on Street
Rich Bokun	...	Kid on Street
Michael Canosa	...	Kid on Street
Greg Schirrira	...	Kid on Street
Thomas Baeza	...	Kid on Street
Frank Hazard	...	Man Waiting for Bus
John Paul McIntyre	...	Man Waiting for Bus (as Jack MacIntyre)
John Coulakis	...	Hallway Derelict
Lanny Taylor	...	Rooftop Derelict
Peter Yellen	...	Bus Stop Derelict
Steve Cox	...	Empire State Derelict
Stephen Singer	...	Street Corner Derelict
Tim Constantine	...	Street Corner Derelict (as Tom Constantine)
Anthony Picciano	...	Sidewalk and Street Derelict
Bob DeFrank	...	Fire Escape Derelict (as Bob De Frank)
D.A. Metrov	...	Tony Coca-Cola (guitar) (as Rhodney Montreal)
Dickey Bittner	...	Ritchy (bass)
Steve Brown	...	Steve (drums)
Laurie Y. Taylor	...	Tony's Girlfriend
Trixie Sly	...	Manager
Andrea Childs	...	Friend
Hallie Coletta	...	Friend
Victoria Keiler	...	Friend
Claire Mailer	...	Friend
Paula Nichols	...	Friend

Directed by
Abel Ferrara

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Nicholas St. John		writer (as N.G. St. John)

Produced by
Rochelle Weisberg	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Joe Delia		(as Joseph Delia)

Cinematography by
Ken Kelsch
James Lemmo		(as Jimmy Spears)

Film Editing by
Bonnie Constant
Michael Constant
Abel Ferrara		(as Jimmy Laine)
Orlando Gallini

Makeup Department
Rita Gooding	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Mary Kane	....	production manager

Sound Department
John Paul McIntyre	....	sound (as J. MacIntyre)
Richard Weigle	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Richard Wiegle)

Special Effects by
David E. Smith	....	special effects (as David Smith)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Coulakis	....	grip
Dale Denning	....	assistant camera
Dale Diamond	....	grip
Sal Giarratano	....	grip
Ernie Jew	....	gaffer
Doug Rowan	....	grip
Kalman Schissel	....	assistant camera
David Sperling	....	camera operator
Wendy Stites	....	grip (as Wendy Weir)
Sylvia Talkington	....	grip
Louis Yansen	....	grip

Other crew
Deborah Delia	....	production assistant
D.A. Metrov	....	paintings and artwork (as Douglas Metro)
Holly Yellen	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Navaron Productions

Distributors

• Rochelle Films (1979) (USA) (theatrical)
• Wizard Video (1982) (USA) (VHS) (Betamax)
• Aurora (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Cult Epics (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (video)
• EastWest Entertainment (2004) (worldwide) (DVD)
• Magnum Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)

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 Fear in the Dark (1991) (TV)

I Can Certainly Relate To This .......

......... But before everyone phones the police to have me locked up in an asylum let me please explain that I had the " Neighbours from hell " living below me for over three years . Music would be turned on FULL BLAST below my bedroom at any time of the day or night . The music might get turned on at three in the morning and turned off at midday , it might get turned on at midday and turned off at three in the morning , I would never know when the music was going to get turned on when it wasn`t being played and conversely when it was being played - And let me repeat it was FULL BLAST - I`d never know when it was going to be turned off . My life was a waking nightmare , a living hell . My landlords said " Oh nothing we can do , you`d better call the police " which is a euphemism for " We`re not going to do anything because we`re money grabbing parasites who are only interested in the rent - and don`t forget to pay yours before the end of the month Mr Robertson " . I phoned the police but seeing as the neighbours turned their music off everytime they saw the police van driving up the road this was a waste of time - Not that the police seemed all that bothered about my trauma . And it was a trauma , so any film that deals with a man who has to put up with speed addicted freaks playing the theme to PETER GUNN at two O`clock in the morning is my type of movie . The only real difference between the character seen here and me is that I didn`t kill anyone , I do confess I certainly wanted to but didn`t . Oh and in this film the freaks making their neighbour`s life a misery seem to take far less drugs than the ones who lived below me .

There`s actually a very good story trying to get out of this movie , but DRILLER KILLER is heavily weighed back by the technical aspects . The acting , despite not being the worst I`ve ever seen isn`t all that good while aspects like cinematography and sound are very very poor indeed . To tell the truth it`s an almost unwatchable movie , not due to the graphic violence but due to the very poor production values

But DRILLER KILLER isn`t a total flop . It feels more like guerilla film making than a video nasty , and it`s certainly better than garbage like I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE and NIGHT OF THE DEMON . And I can`t help feeling if it`d had a slightly more polished feel and a higher budget it`d be compared to the early works of Martin Scorsese