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Henry, portrait of a Serial Killer....   11>|

253400Jun 9, 2005 1:31pm
Anyone ever see it? Damn, I rank it in my top three of scariest movies of all time...So unnerving that I had to take a break in the middle of it.....

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KingBoyJun 9, 2005 1:39pm
It's an intense ride alright, Joe. Been a good number of years since I saw it, but I remember finding it unusually sharp in its observations on violence and the murkiness of viewer complicity.

It seemed to take quite a few years to find its audience, as is often the case with films like this that get carelessly dismissed by many critics as gratuitous, exploitative, or too dark for their own good.

The dvd has a commentary by John McNaughton, but I've been putting off getting it, I think because the film - good as it was - made me feel very grim. Maybe I'd feel differently now, but I don't know that it has much rewatchability!

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LightChaserJun 9, 2005 2:10pm
2: Not to draw comparsions, but I will never watch deniro's 'cape fear' again, I liked it but same thing...made me feel grim and gross...

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noelJun 9, 2005 2:24pm
I am not sure if I saw it when I was younger. I didn't like the newer Cape Fear, but I love old movies..

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KingBoyJun 9, 2005 2:31pm
Lightchaser > your mention of Cape Fear flashed me back to the first time I saw it, on a ferry to France aged 15 or 16 on a school exchange... we tried to get in for under-18 prices, and were told that if we could get for under-18 prices then we couldn't get in. Caught like Yossarian!

In any case we didn't mind paying full whack for the experience, giddy from anticipation of the holiday - and the waiting French girls - and semi-nauseous from the heavy seas. I tell you, much of the movie was a compelling blur!

I rewatched it a couple of times over the years; it's entertaining but flawed, weak Scorcese and nowhere near a match for the original. Noel - check it out if you haven't seen it. Mitchum's an evil giant in it.

The remake's Freaky in spots too - for a while I shivered at the thought of the twitching teddy bear and the wig / piano wire scene. They seem to play on archetypes that resonate strongly in me.

Oops, I'm being pretentious. And I've gone off thread. ;)

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LightChaserJun 9, 2005 2:33pm
I've never seen the original... Me too.....Twenty lashes with a wet noodle ;)...

(Wait this horror so twenty lashes with a dead wet hand..) lol...

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KingBoyJun 9, 2005 2:37pm
I hereby punish you with an intense screenshot.


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noelJun 9, 2005 2:40pm
huh oh sorry no I meant I am not sure if I ever saw Henry Portrait of a serial Killer...I liked the old cape fear but not the newer version..lol.

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KingBoyJun 9, 2005 2:51pm
Noel > My mistake. :)

The sequel (Henry, etc. 2: Mask of Sanity!) looks so bad I can't be bothered. Not even to type its full title.

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LightChaserJun 9, 2005 2:54pm
7: That picture is intense...the red x is sooo scary!(In his best Count Floyd)


Henry, portrait of a Serial Killer....   11>|