The Driller Killer

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The Driller Killer

Released Jun 15, 1979

1h 36m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

64%

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14 Reviews

32%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Enraged by rejection and a punk-rock band, an artist (Jimmy Laine) vents his anger on winos with a power drill.

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Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

a thematically dense, messily grounded film which, although about a drill, never bores - and there is nothing else quite like it.

Nov 28, 2016

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Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

Only sporadically exhibits the skill and wit of [Ferrara's] scintillatingly skuzzy subsequent efforts.

Rated: B-

Apr 2, 2006

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

More grindhouse than arthouse, The Driller Killer does have a striking ambience... If only the rest of the film could match these visceral moments.

Rated: 2.5/5

Sep 15, 2020

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Andrew Pollard

Starburst

Has some surprisingly strong performances, coupled with a vibe and attitude that's a great look into the gritty punk atmosphere of New York City at that time period.

Rated: 7/10

Apr 11, 2018

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James Kendrick

Q Network Film Desk

you can see both Ferrara's strengths and weaknesses at play here, although some of the latter can be explained at least partially by marketplace demands for a low-budget genre film

Rated: 2.5/4

Dec 20, 2016

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Tim Brayton

Antagony & Ecstasy

In a lot of very important ways, the film is stiff and clumsy... there is one way in which the film is kind of brilliant: its depiction of the New York punk scene.

Rated: 4/10

May 30, 2010

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Pet N

Classic NYC grit sleaze with arthouse leanings. The ramshackle cuts and open-ended resolve add to the overall chaos of this B movie splatter fest. This one's a blast!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/22/23

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steve d

No longer shocking so not much is there.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

Disjointed, no reason for the main character to do the things they did. Poorly edited, a fun and gory Halloween movie but not worth a rental.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

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Audience Member

Movies don't get much more punk rock than this. The DIY nature of the whole thing can be off-putting for some, but if you can get behind the idea of a frustrated artist taking out his anger and darkness on those he fears he's one step from becoming... well then you might be in for a treat with this Grindhouse flick.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/22/21

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Audience Member

Story of a talented artist going down the tubes and starts killing people with a drill as his relationship fall apart and he descends into madness and failure. This movie is perfectly summed up by the characters - utter messes that drag everything down with them; and in the case of the bands, never became anything. While interesting in premise, it's executed so poorly that the only way to watch it is with your finger on the fast forward button. There's just one cut after another skipping between scenes that move the plot along, nonsense scenes, and way too long cuts of horrible bands. The acting is bad 50% of the time, and you can tell that the director's sense of plot development came 100% from his experience making 70's era cheap porn movies. In the end, I'm just left with a cautionary tale that demonstrates that living the 'free spirit' lives of a new york artist is a sad descent into obscurity and self destruction - and that porn directors should leave real cinema to people with talent.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

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Audience Member

I love this movie, a classic horror film by Abel Ferrara with good practical effects, great soundtrack and characters.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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Abel Ferrara

Director

Abel Ferrara

Reno Miller

Carolyn Marz

Carol

Baybi Day

Pamela

Nicholas St. John

Writer

Joe Delia

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Synopsis

Enraged by rejection and a punk-rock band, an artist (Jimmy Laine) vents his anger on winos with a power drill.

Director: Abel Ferrara
Screenwriter: Nicholas St. John
Distributor: Umbrella Entertainment [au], Rochelle Films, Magnum Video, Wizard Video
Production Co: Navaron Productions
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 15, 1979, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 4, 2012
Runtime: 1h 36m
Sound Mix: Mono

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