#portraitofaserialkiller

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

1986/1990

John McNaughton 

"Henry" is one of those rare gems to the genre that have a cult following all in their own in the world of horror. Impossible to franchise, and too sick to make any kind of monetary funds from. Like Maniac,  Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer, is much more of an art house than a splatter house film. 

The gore and blood may not be as intense as other films, but the scenes involving violence are gravitas and extreme. Henry doesn't hide behind a physical mask, Henry isn't an unstoppable brute, Henry is a complex and disturbing individual that commits murders at seemingly random. 

Although the film was praised highly, it was difficult to release not only in the United States, but Internationally without heavy cuts. Shown in 1986 at a film festival in Chicago, the film didn't see release until 1990. 

Originally, the producers wanted to make a documentary about wrestling in Chicago in the 1950s, but when archival footage became too expensive, they used the money to make a horror film. The films director, John McNaughton, only had one previous film,  Dealers in Death, a documentary on Gangsters in the 1930s before making Henry. With the budget of $110,000 the film was made based on a report McNaughton saw on 20/20 on the serial killer Henry Lee Lucas.