Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

The Driller Killer Blu-ray Movie Review

Drill, baby, drill.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 13, 2016

Rudolf Giuliani may have just taken himself out of the running to be Secretary of State as this review is being published, but Rudy can rest easy that his legacy lives on, if only in a weird kind of way, in Abel Ferrara’s 1979 opus The Driller Killer, a film which seems to be plying at least some standard horror tropes but which Ferrara himself and some others also suggest can be seen as an ultra black comedy. Giuliani’s influence is actually mentioned in a couple of supplements on this new release, with regard to the fact that after Rudy became New York City’s mayor in the 1990s, his well publicized (and perhaps self aggrandizing, as some critics have alleged) attempts to clean up the city made some plot mechanics in Ferrara’s late seventies outing a literal thing of the past. Rudy famously pledged to clean up Times Square, which admittedly had become a pretty squalid intersection by 1994, but Giuliani’s efforts actually did a number of things around Manhattan, including making at least some of the homeless population a little less visible and daily annoyances like people running up to your car to insist on washing your windshield (for a small fee) utterly disappear. But the late seventies were of course a different time, and the grittier, dirtier and probably more hopeless feeling ambience of that era are all part and parcel of The Driller Killer, a film which in its own way flirts with the same murderous artist tendencies that inform both Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Color Me Blood Red and Roger Corman’s A Bucket of Blood. The Driller Killer’s 16mm verité sensibilities are entirely different from either of those films, though, and there’s a certain intentional smarminess running through the film that not even erstwhile porn aficionado Lewis ever really attained in his infamous B-movie outings. The Driller Killer became infamous itself when it ran roughshod over polite British society, earning an honored (?) place on that country’s iconic “video nasties” list, something that of course made it a certain kind of catnip for a certain kind of film fan. Having been banned for so long may have resulted in a situation where “the anticipation is greater than the realization,” for while the film alternately shocks and confounds, it’s also kind of random and haphazard feeling, bouncing from idea to idea and (later) kill scene to kill scene without much organic integration or, at times at least, coherence.

Abel Ferrara’s well documented fascination with Catholic iconography is on display from virtually the first shot of (either version of) of The Driller Killer, as artist Reno Miller (Ferrara, working under the pseudonym John Laine) has been summoned to a neighborhood church, where an elderly man sitting in the front pew evidently wants to speak to him for some reason. It’s an odd, even creepy, sequence, one that contains a purplish hue that might suggest Purgatory if not Hell itself, and with a lingering shot of the church’s crucifix. But what does it all mean? Like at least some of the rest of The Driller Killer’s plot dynamics and passing imagery, it’s not abundantly clear, but it does at least set up the film’s repeated collision of the sacred with the profane.

The film’s horror tendencies aren’t instantly on display, despite its “video nasty” imprimatur and a lot of marketing material that would seem to suggest its the drill, baby, drill equivalent of a slasher flick. In fact the early part of the film is a weird kind of hallucinatory trek through Reno’s deteriorating financial situation, as well as his odd relationship with Carol (Carolyn Marz), his ostensible girlfriend who also has something going with Pamela (Baybi Day). The film’s frequent interstitials showing down and out sorts on the filthy streets of lower Manhattan give the film an unseemly undercurrent which establishes a tone of despair and hopelessness.

The hallucinatory ambience only increases with the incursion of loud music from a neighboring apartment, something which seems to finally tip Reno over the edge. It’s here that the film finally starts indulging in its titular conceit, with Reno kind of inexplicably going after the city’s underclass, though I guess some armchair analysts could find a decent enough psychological underpinning for a crazed guy wanting to rid the world of the sort of person he fears he’s likely to become. This supposedly central plot point plays out simultaneously with Reno’s attempts to actually create art, in another kind of odd similarity to Lewis’ Color Me Blood Red. The kill scenes, while hyperbolically gory, are in fact kind of funny, not just due to the weapon being used, but some less than artful “acting” on the part of both Ferrara and (especially) the victims. (My favorite moment in this regard is the victim who doesn’t seem to quite understand when he should be having death spasms and when he shouldn’t.)

The overview of Ferrara’s career included on this disc as a supplement suggests with perhaps just a bit of understatement that Ferrara’s output is not for everyone, and that a certain appreciation of chaos has to be inherent in any given viewer for Ferrara’s work to really resonate effectively with them. And in fact it’s that very chaotic feeling that gives The Driller Killer some of its most visceral content. As odd as it sounds, the film might have been much more forceful had the whole driller killer aspect been removed, letting Ferrara concentrate on the disadvantaged sorts who (used to?) populate Manhattan’s lower extremities. The horrors of an artist trying to make a living in the Big Apple are at least as terrifying as anything involving a power tool and bums.

The Driller Killer Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Driller Killer is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Films with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.37:1 and 1.85:1 for both the Theatrical and Pre-Release Versions of the film. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the restoration:

The Driller Killer has been exclusively restored for this release by Arrow Films. The film is presented in 1.37:1 and 1.85:1 with its original mono track.

The original 16mm AB camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution on a pin-registered Arriscan at OCN Digital. Portions of the original negative have been lost, so a 35mm print was sourced for these sections. The original mono soundtrack was transferred from the 35mm optical negative.

Film grading and restoration was completed at Deluxe Restoration, London. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and light scratches were removed through a combination of digital restoration tools. Some instances of damage remain, in keeping with the condition of the original materials. The soundtrack was restored to minimse hiss and similar noise issues to produce the best quality results.

The restoration has been approved by director Abel Ferrara and director of photography Ken Kelsch.

Probably the most salient piece of information in the above verbiage is the fact that The Driller Killer was shot on 16mm film, and it's therefore often extremely grainy and gritty looking, something that only supports its kind of "down and out" ambience. As a result, detail levels aren't especially fulsome throughout the presentation, something that's further exacerbated by the often dark environments (including a lot of nighttime shots). The palette is slightly red or purplish looking a lot of the time, something that gives some flesh tones a slightly otherworldly appearance, but which actually supports the blood letting moments quite well. While there's some probably unavoidable crush in the darkest moments, overall shadow definition is quite good and contrast is also consistent. As indicated above, while efforts have been made to ameliorate age related wear and tear, there is still some extant damage noticeable at times. While pretty chunky looking due to the source, the grain field resolves organically throughout all four presentations. The bottom line here is, this may not be a "pretty" viewing experience by any stretch, but as a faithful representation of the 16mm source elements, it's quite convincing.

The insert booklet also contains the following information about the two versions, provided by Brad Stevens:

While restoring The Driller Killer for Arrow's release, it became apparent that the film's negative represented an earlier cut, running 100m 52s, which included five minutes of material excised from the prints (95m 51s) shown theatrically and used for all previous vide and DVD transfers. Abel Ferrara confirmed that it had been his decision to remove the footage in question, but gave us permission to provide the option of watching this 'pre- release version' on the disc.

Stevens then goes on to document the differences between the two versions (nothing that I would term too important).

For the record, the screenshots are arranged as follows:

Theatrical 1.85:1: screenshots 1-5
Pre-release 1.37:1: screenshots 6-10
Theatrical 1.37:1: screenshots 11-15
Pre-release 1.85:1: screenshots 16-19

The Driller Killer Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

All four versions (two cuts, two aspect ratios) sport LPCM Mono tracks that are a bit compacted sounding at times, especially in the hyperbolic punk music elements, but which otherwise render the film's dialogue and urban sound effects quite convincingly. Whatever restorative efforts were made with this track have paid sufficient dividends, for there's no overt damage of any kind to report in this review. Ferrara includes a pre-film text card giving some "instructions" to the viewer and/or listener (see screenshot 21).

The Driller Killer Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Theatrical Version (1080p; 1:35:52) and Pre-Release Version (1080p; 1:40:59) are each available in either 1.37:1 or 1.85:1 aspect ratios (see screenshots and video section for more information).


• Laine and Abel: An Interview with the Driller Killer (1080p; 17:31) is an appealing 2016 interview with Ferrara, conducted in London, who covers a pretty wide swath of information, back to some of his earliest childhood memories.


• Willing and Abel: Ferraraology 101 (1080p; 34:19) is an excellent visual essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas covering Ferrara's career.


• Mulberry Street (1080p; 1:27:52) is a really fascinating documentary by Ferrara about the lower Manhattan neighborhood that's featured in his films.


• Trailer (1080p; 00:32)


• Commentary by Abel Ferrara is available on the Theatrical Version and is moderated by Brad Stevens. It's as far ranging as the above interview with Ferrara, and, like that piece, is occasionally NSFW (should anyone be watching Blu-rays at work) due to some blue language.

Additionally, the insert booklet contains great essays by Michael Pattison and Brad Stevens, as well as information on the Mulberry St. crew, the differences between the two versions, and restoration information, along with a few stills.

The Driller Killer Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm not sure typical slasher film buffs are going to be excited by The Driller Killer, since it takes a while to get to the "good stuff", and Ferrara is at least as concerned with documenting the strife of lower Manhattanites as he is in showing craniums being decimated by power tools. That said, even longtime Ferrara aficionados may find The Driller Killer less satisfying than some other Ferrara efforts like Ms. 45 or Bad Lieutenant. That said, there's an undeniably oppressive quality to The Driller Killer that's almost palpable, and as usual Ferrara isn't shy about pushing various envelopes. With an understanding that this film (to quote the visual essay) "isn't for everyone", but that this release sports solid technical merits and an outstanding supplemental package, The Driller Killer comes Recommended.