The Driller Killer
Encyclopedia
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
.
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..."
It's rumoured that Bruce Willis
cameos
as a car window washer.
and Television
.
" 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. 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. The uncut version of the movie does show certain parts blanked out using the colour red, most notably the final scene.
filmmaker Jed Shepherd. It is reported that this new version of the film will also feature many unusual cameos and an original musical score.
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
directed by and starring Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara is an American film screenwriter and director. He is best known as an independent filmmaker of such films as The Driller Killer , Ms. 45 , King of New York , Bad Lieutenant and The Funeral .-Early life:Ferrara was born in the Bronx of Italian and Irish descent...
. It was on a list of banned so-called video nasties
Video nasty
"Video nasty" was a colloquial term coined in the United Kingdom by 1982 which originally applied to a number of films distributed on video cassette that were criticized for their violent content by the press, commentators such as Mary Whitehouse and various religious organizations.While violence...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The film is in public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
.
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)
Union Square (New York City)
Union Square is a public square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.It is an important and historic intersection, located where Broadway and the former Bowery Road – now Fourth Avenue – came together in the early 19th century; its name celebrates neither the...
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
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
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 FerraraAbel FerraraAbel Ferrara is an American film screenwriter and director. He is best known as an independent filmmaker of such films as The Driller Killer , Ms. 45 , King of New York , Bad Lieutenant and The Funeral .-Early life:Ferrara was born in the Bronx of Italian and Irish descent...
- 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
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
cameos
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
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. 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. The punk rock band in the movie reflects contemporary New York punk bands such as the New York DollsNew York Dolls
The New York Dolls is an American rock band, formed in New York in 1971. The band's protopunk sound prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 1980s-era glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later...
and Television
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
.
Controversy
The film was well received when released in America in 1979. In the UK, the reaction was very different. 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. 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. The film was lumped together with other "video nastiesVideo nasty
"Video nasty" was a colloquial term coined in the United Kingdom by 1982 which originally applied to a number of films distributed on video cassette that were criticized for their violent content by the press, commentators such as Mary Whitehouse and various religious organizations.While violence...
" 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
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
: "The Driller Killer was almost single-handedly responsible for the Video Recordings Act 1984
Video Recordings Act 1984
The Video Recordings Act 1984 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was passed in 1984. It states that commercial video recordings offered for sale or for hire within the UK must carry a classification that has been agreed upon by an authority designated by the Home Office...
" under which it and others of the "video nasties" released at the time were banned in the U.K. 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. 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 BritishBritish people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
filmmaker Jed Shepherd. It is reported that this new version of the film will also feature many unusual cameos and an original musical score.