The Driller Killer (1979) **1/2

Abel Ferrara's The Driller Killer, his first non-porn feature-length film, stars the director as struggling artist Reno, who, unable to cope with life's difficulties, takes to the streets for a power drill massacre of defenseless derelicts.

This was my third time watching TDK and, as with the other two times, my experience and memory of the film remained the same—it meanders, it feels long (the multiple scenes of  the film's band The Roosters performing last much longer than necessary), it doesn't care about its female character portrayals whatsoever, and the score is loud and shrill. In some ways, it has a similar aesthetic to Liquid Sky (1982) or a grimier Taxi Driver (1976) (my review here) but with less ambition and direction. I mean, I get it—the film is experimental and the lack of characterization was probably a stylistic choice to represent something or other about the human disconnect, etc., etc. But I truly think that with a stronger focus TDK would have been a better film.

The funny thing about TDK is that it was considered a "video nasty", but, aside from a few decent kills by Reno via his weapon of choice—a Porta-Pak battery powered drill—it's not particularly great as a slasher. Films from the same era like Lucio Fulci's City Of The Living Dead (1980) and William Lustig's Maniac (1980) (my review here) are far superior at "delivering the goods" (gore) and, in the case of the latter film, much more offensive and effective at delving into its protagonist's psyche. TDK's Reno is insane for vague reasons (life's hard I guess?). The most disturbing aspect of TDK is the completely unnecessary violence inflicted upon an actual skinned rabbit corpse.

While TDK is worth a look for the snapshot of the late 70s NYC punk and art scene that it presents, Ferrara's next film Ms. 45 (1981) was a much improved revenge flick that holds up better on repeat viewings.

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