The Driller Killer is a 1979 American horror film directed by and starring Abel Ferrara. The film was lumped together with other “video nasties” released at the time and a vociferous campaign was launched by the British press to ban them all. It was added to the list of banned UK films on 4 July 1983. 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“. According to Brad Stevens, author of a biography on Abel Ferrara, the banning of the film was “almost entirely due to the cover of the video.” The film is now in the public domain.
A young artist, Reno Miller (Abel Ferrara) and his girlfriend Carol enter a Catholic church. Reno approaches an elderly bearded man kneeling at the pulpit. Although Reno seems to recognize the man as his long-lost father, he is merely a derelict. After the man seizes Reno’s hand, Reno grabs Carol and runs from the church. Later, in the Union Square (New York City) apartment he shares with Carol and her lover Pamela, Reno receives a large phone bill and cannot pay his rent. He hates his crime-infested, derelict-filled neighborhood.
Reno visits Dalton, a gallery owner, and tells him that he is currently painting a masterpiece. Reno asks for a week’s extension and a loan of $500 to cover the rent. Dalton refuses, saying that he already lent money enough to Reno. However, if he finishes a satisfactory painting in one week, Dalton will buy it for the necessary amount. The following day, the Roosters, a No Wave band, begin practicing their music in a nearby apartment. The loud music 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 portable use of corded electrical appliances.
At 2:00 a.m., while painting, Reno becomes more agitated from the Rooster’s music. After seeing his own image saturated in blood, Reno walks in the dark. He sees an elderly derelict sleeping in a garbage-strewn alley. It seems that Reno plans to accost the man, but instead, he takes him down an alley where they see gang members chasing another bum. Reno drops the bum and vows that he will not end up like him or his derelict father.
The next day, Reno complains about the Roosters to their landlord. However, the landlord refuses to act because the music does not bother him. He gives Reno a skinned rabbit for dinner, but demands the rent money. Reno takes the rabbit home and repeatedly stabs it while preparing it. Later, Reno buys the Porto-Pak. During a brief reprieve from the music, Reno hears voices calling his name and sees an image of an eyeless Carol. That night, Reno goes out with the Porto-Pak and his drill attached to it. He sees another bum sleeping inside an abandoned diner and kills him by drilling into his chest…
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“Ferrara uses overwhelmingly mundane everyday things to drive his character to the edge. Like Chinese water torture; the repetitive riffing of the band and the nagging ‘New Yawk’ nasal drawl of one of the women, constantly changing her mind where she wants a hole drilled, mirrors the grating, incessant whine of the portable drill Reno uses on his victims. The effect is much the same as the unsettling way Marilyn Burn’s screams constantly throughout the end of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974)- un-nerving the viewer. Unable, or unwilling, to deal with the grind of daily life and his apparent alienation from those closest to him. He slaughters the homeless drunks that litter the sidewalks, possibly because of his unbalanced revulsion that he will become like them if his life continues to slide. A repressed sexuality or perhaps impotence is hinted at.” Hysteria Lives
“The acting of the film’s mealy cast is amateurish across board, a cast that includes Abel Ferrara as the painter/boring enthusiast. To the director’s credit, I did find his pizza eating to be disgusting and his drilling to be superb. At any rate, this apparent inexperience only manages to elevate the seedy realism of the piece. The wide array of homeless people who get drilled all had a genuinely disheveled aura about them (they were probably indigent in real life) and the rock crowds during the clubs scenes seemed authentic.” House of Self Indulgence
