The Driller Killer (1979)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Abel Ferrara

Writer:

Nicholas St. John (writer)

Release Date:

15 June 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | 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:

Painting | Artist | New York | Painter | Power Drill

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

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:

Title is mentioned in the song "Nasty" by The Damned - a song about horror movies that were banned in the U.K. after the Video Recording Act of 1984.

Quotes:

Reno Miller: Look, I can't even think with these guys playing that music in the place below mine. It's like they play all day and all night. They don't quit for a minute. Hell, they don't even stop to go to the bathroom!
Landlord: It's not my problem. It's your problem.
Reno Miller: What do you mean it's my problem? You're the super around here. It's your job to keep this place quiet.
Landlord: My job? It's not my job. Besides, they don't bother me.
Reno Miller: What do you mean? Why should they bother you? Look what the hell you're doing, fixing spark plugs. Nighttime comes you just sit around your place drinking a few beers, watching TV. Me, I've gotta work. I've got a painting due. I can't work with those guys playing that loud music.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Short Film About the Long Career of Abel Ferrara (2004) (V)

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