The Driller Killer

This article is about the 1979 horror movie. For the hardcore/crust punk band, see Driller Killer (band).

The Driller Killer
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Abel Ferrara
Produced by	Rochelle Weisberg
Written by	Nicholas St. John
Starring	Abel Ferrara Carolyn Marz Baybi Day Harry Schultz Alan Wynroth
Music by	Joseph Delia
Distributed by	Cult Epics
Release date(s)	1979
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Driller Killer is a 1979 slasher film directed by and starring Abel Ferrara. It was on a list of banned so-called video nasties in the United Kingdom. The film is in public domain.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Plot summary

The film begins with a young artist called Reno Miller (played by director Abel Ferrara himself) entering a small Catholic church and walking to the front where an elderly, bearded man is kneeling. Reno seems to recognize the man as his long-lost father, but this man is apparently a derelict. The old man grabs Reno's hand. Reno runs, grabs his girlfriend Carol, who accompanied him to the church, and leaves. Evidently, the derelict had a piece of paper with Reno's name and phone number and requested a meeting at the church to talk to him.

Later, in the Union Square (New York City) apartment he shares with his girlfriend and her lesbian lover Pamela, Reno has a dream about the mysterious bearded man and about the power drill that he used earlier. Reno hates his neighborhood where homeless derelicts reside on the streets around his apartment building.

Reno goes to see Dalton, a flamboyantly gay art gallery owner, and tells him that he is currently working on a masterpiece painting. Reno says that he needs another week and asks for a loan of $500 to pay for his rent. But Dalton refuses, saying that he had lent enough money to Reno this past year from a variety of reasons from medical bills to utility bills. But Dalton tells Reno that if he finishes the painting in one week and if he likes it, he will buy it and give Reno whatever money he needs to financially help him out.

The following day, the Roosters, a no wave band move into an apartment nearby Reno's and soon begin practicing their music. The loud music from the band makes Reno more unnerved and frustrated. That night, Reno, Carol, and Pamela watch a TV advertisement for a Porto-Pak, a battery pack which allows a person to walk around with electrical appliances.

At 2:00 a.m., while trying to work on his painting, Reno becomes more agitated from the loud music that Tony and his band continue to play. He sees an image of himself saturated in blood, and goes outside into the dark streets for a walk. At the foot of a garbage-strewn alley, Reno sees an elderly derelict sleeping, and stands him up. It seems that Reno is going to accost the man, but he ducks into the alley with him when they see a group of teenage gang members chasing another bum in the street and run right past them. Reno drops the bum to the ground and vows that he will not end up like him or his derelict father.

The next day, Reno becomes angrier and more agitated when Tony and his band continue to play their music day and night and complains to the landlord about the loud music. But the landlord refuses to do anything because Tony and his band do not bother him. The landlord gives Reno a gift of a skinned rabbit for dinner to show that there are no hard feelings, but then demands the rest of the rent money soon. Reno takes the carcass of the rabbit home to his apartment, and while preparing it for dinner, repeatedly stabs it with a knife.

The next day, Reno buys the Porto-Pak. Later, a troubled Reno tries to sleep when the band finally stops playing loud music for a short while, but he hears voices calling out his name, and he sees an image of Carol with her eyes cut out. That night, Reno takes the Porto-Pak and goes out, with the drill attached to it. Reno sees another homeless bum sleeping inside an abandoned diner, and he drills the bum in the chest, killing him.

The following evening, Reno, Carol, and Pamela have tickets to see Tony Coca-Cola and the Roosters at a local nightclub. Pamela asks Reno to have sexual relations with Dalton. Reno shrugs it off with slight disgust. The band finally gets to play, where Reno quickly becomes more agitated from the loud music and the crowd around him. Reno leaves the club unnoticed while Carol and Pamela dance and make out with each other.

Driven to the edge, Reno returns to his apartment, grabs the drill with the battery pack, and goes out on a drilling spree. All night long, Reno runs through the streets killing one homeless bum after another. Reno returns home for the night to sleep. Sometime later, Tony visits Reno at this apartment where the spaced out rock star comments on his paintings and asks Reno to paint a portrait of him. After Tony reluctantly agrees to pose for Reno's demand of $500 (rent money), he says that they need to start right away.

Reno paints Tony as he poses, and at various times, plays his guitar and even makes out with Pamela who shows up. Nearby, a bum in a nearby alley, restless and indignant due to all the noise Tony made, is attacked by Reno who drills his hands to a wall in a crude crucifix pose and then kills him. Afterward, Reno goes to work on his painting and after nearly all night of working, he approaches the sleeping Carol and Pamela in bed together and tells them that his painting is finally finished.

Reno and Carol show the completed buffalo painting to Dalton. But Dalton declares the work of art "unacceptable", and leaves. Carol then yells at Reno for she is angry that he just sat in his chair with a blank expression on his face as Dalton yelled at him. The next morning, Reno awakes to an empty bed, and he chases Carol as she tells him that she is finally leaving him and going back to her ex-husband.

That evening, Reno, now completely demented, calls Dalton and invites him to come over for he has something else to show him, and Dalton agrees to be there later with some wine. Dalton arrives at the apartment that evening, while Tony and his band are continuing to play their loud music, and Reno drills Dalton to death. A little later, Pamela returns to the apartment after hanging around Tony's band when she sees a bloody drill bit in the door and a dead Dalton hanging from it on the inside. Pamela backs away screaming, but Reno grabs her.

Across town, Carol is back with Stephen at his apartment and while she goes to the bathroom to take a shower, Stephen prepares some tea. Reno sneaks into the apartment and drills Stephen in the back, and hides his body behind the counter. Carol, done showering, walks to the bedroom where Reno is lying under the bed covers. She turns out the lights, gets into bed, and tells "Stephen" to "come here..."

Cast

• Abel Ferrara - Reno Miller
• Carolyn Marz - Carol
• Baybi Day - Pamela
• Harry Schultz II - Dalton Briggs
• Alan Wynroth - Landlord
• Maria Helhoski - Nun
• James O'Hara - Man in church
• Richard Howorth - Carol's husband
• D.A. Metrov - Tony Coca Cola

It's rumoured that Bruce Willis cameos as a car window washer.

Production

Driller Killer was a low budget independent feature, with a cast of unknown actors, produced by Ferrara's own Navaron Films company 1977-78. It was filmed on 16mm film and utilised Ferrara's Union Square apartment and adjacent streets as locations.^[6] It features many of the elements which became trademarks of Ferrara's later films. These include Catholic iconography, lesbian scenes, gritty urban locations filmed at night, an eclectic soundtrack combining punk rock and Bach, scenes of extreme violence and a religious theme of redemption, salvation and damnation.^[7] The punk rock band in the movie reflects contemporary New York punk bands such as the New York Dolls and Television.^[8]

Controversy

The film was well received when released in America in 1979.^{[citation needed]} In the UK, the reaction was very different.^[9] In 1982, the UK distributors of Driller Killer, Vipco (Video Instant Picture Company), took out full page advertisements in a number of movie magazines showing the video's violently explicit cover, depicting a man being drilled through the forehead by the Driller Killer.^[9] This resulted in a large number of complaints to the Advertising Standards Agency, and opposition to the film from the press and elsewhere. However it seems that very few of the complainants ever actually saw the film but rather based their opinion on the poster and the shocking title of the film.^[9] The film was lumped together with other "video nasties" released at the time and a vociferous campaign was launched by the press to ban them all. According to Mike Bor, the Principal Examiner at the British Board of Film Classification: "The Driller Killer was almost single-handedly responsible for the Video Recordings Act 1984" under which it and others of the "video nasties" released at the time were banned in the U.K.^[9] The movie was not officially released uncut in the UK until 2002. Many cut versions of the movie still exist, which show scenes of drilling into heads and abdomens blacked-out.^{[citation needed]} The uncut version of the movie does show certain parts blanked out using the colour red, most notably the final scene.

Remake

In 2008, it was announced that the film will also be remade by British filmmaker Jed Shepherd. It is reported that this new version of the film will also feature many unusual cameos and an original musical score.

Release

On 10 June 2010 was re-released as Video on Demand.^[10]

Cultural references

• The early British punk band The Damned reference the film in their song "Nasty," itself an ode to various "video nasties".
• Swedish Crust punk band Driller Killer took their name from the movie.
• Danish Psychobilly band Nekromantix, UK hardcore punk band Disorder, and US death metal band Mortician all wrote songs inspired by the film, all entitled "Driller Killer". The latter also included a sample from the film in their song. US death metal band Frightmare also wrote a song based on the film, but with the title "The Blood Runs in Rivers."

See also

• List of films in the public domain

Notes

1. ^ "Driller Killer-Uncut : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive". Archive.org. http://www.archive.org/details/DrillerKillerUncut1979. Retrieved 2010-12-26. 
2. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "Driller Killer". Publicdomaintorrents.com. 2007-10-26. http://www.publicdomaintorrents.com/nshowmovie.html?movieid=762. Retrieved 2010-12-26. 
4. ^ "Public Domain Movies Films Videos Desert Island Films, Largest Source in Broadcast Quality High Definition". Desertislandfilms.com. http://www.desertislandfilms.com/films/public-domain/driller-killer-0. Retrieved 2010-12-26. 
5. ^ [2]^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Nick Johnstone (1999). Abel Ferrara: The King of New York. Omnibus Press: 8-9
7. ^ Nick Johnstone (1999). Abel Ferrara: The King of New York. Omnibus Press: 2
8. ^ Nick Johnstone (1999). Abel Ferrara: The King of New York. Omnibus Press: 46
9. ^ ^{a b c d} Nick Johnstone (1999). Abel Ferrara: The King of New York. Omnibus Press: 13
10. ^ "Killer Online Double Feature on Friday!". Dreadcentral.com. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/37962/killer-online-double-feature-friday. Retrieved 2010-12-26. 

External links

• The Driller Killer at the Internet Movie Database
• The Driller Killer is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]