Rating: 
Summary: A rip-off DVD
Review: Ferrara's worst film has a mumbling, slurring audio commentary & when this "director's cut" ends, someone has cut to a red frame before the film ends, causing the director to say, "What! That's not my ----ing ending! Who the ---- cut my film! " His comments abruptly stop--end of commentary! Plus, the commentary track was tranferred about 5 seconds out of sync, all the way thru (not that you can understand him, anyway), tho he has next to nothing intelligent/intelligible to say about the film's production anyhow! Possibly the worst commentary ever recorded; where's our great MS. 45 when you need her!
Rating: 
Summary: "Jimmy Laine" goes insane as "Reno Miller"- THE DRILLER KILL
Review: First off sorry about the poetry. I have a workmate who keeps saying stuff like this, so I think it's rubbing off on me. I considered banging my head against the wall in frustration, but decided against it on the chance that a strong blow to the head could cause me to become normal (ha ha).
DRILLER KILLER opens with the notice: THIS FILM SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD. The film makes the feature directing debut of cult legend Abel Ferrara, and along with MS .45 remains in my opinion among his finest work. Ferrara is also the lead actor, under the pseudonym Jimmy Laine, Ferrara plays Reno Miller; a struggling artist, living in a cheap apartment with his roommate Carol (Carolyn Marz) and her lesbian lover Pamela (Baybi Day).
Reno is currently under a lot of pressure at work. He has been given one week to complete his next painting or he will find himself unemployed. That may sound bad enough, but to make matters worse for Reno if he doesn't pay his rent on time his landlord (Alan Winroth) will evict him. Add to this a deluge of mentally ill vagrants littering the streets outside his apartment block & a Z- grade punk rock group (The Roosters, who sound like The Jesus Lizard, only crappier) rehearsing above his apartment. Despite Reno's complaints the building superintendent won't do anything about it. The noise doesn't bother HIM! All these distractions don't exactly help fuel Reno's creativity, in fact his artwork is not progressing well at all & gets to the point where he has psychotic episodes in which his art "talks" to him.
However one night while sitting around watching TV with his roommate & her lesbian lover, an ad comes on for a $19.95 proto-pak drill.
Reno's first victim is a poor defenceless wittle bunny wabbit which he kills by bludgeoning it with a hammer.
This leads to Ferrara's notable homage to Roman Polanski's "Repulsion", which the movie is more comparable to, rather than its expected slasher or "video nasty" tag of course bestowed by paranoid nitwits who never bother to watch the movies. David Lane: Are you reading this?!
Then he gets his drill... I mean the movie's called DRILLER KILLER, so a hammer wouldn't work. How about a remake with Stallone as Reno? They could call it HAMMER SLAMMER, and Sly sells his own paintings too! Though it's a safe bet his wife pins them on the Stallone family fridge.
Actually, the murders themselves come off as more amusing as opposed to revolting (Watch the movie & you'll understand). PASSION OF THE CHRIST is ten times bloodier than this. Seriously.
A word of warning to first time viewers: It's been noted in some reviews here that others have been disappointed by the film due to its lack of gore. In fact there's only two scenes of graphic violence in the entire movie, & the first drilling, (in which a bum gets it in the forehead) doesn't happen until 40 minutes into the movie & even then, by contempory standards at least, the gore is minimal.. In retrospect its downright bloody daft how this was originally banned in the UK & NZ because a couple of stupid old biddies (namely Mary Whitehouse & Patricia Bartlett) saw a couple of movie posters, & donned their Nazi regalia spewing forth a blatantly fabricated tirade of lies and paranoia to make England & NZ boring, conservative & ignorant just like them. While I'm on the subject of censorship, I think this could have come very close to getting an R16 in NZ if it were cut (something I'm seldom in favour of). Ferrara also composed the Roosters songs under the Lane moniker.
The movie is also chock full of unintentionally hilarious dialogue aided by Ferrara's (presumably) reefer induced performance. Add to that a good lesbian shower scene thrown in for no other reason than to show some T&A.
The Australasian DVD bonuses only include trailers (but not the trailer for DRILLER KILLER), Ferrara's filmography & an intro by Xavier Mendik, Director Of The Cult Film Archive at the University College Northhampton. Sounds like my dream job! But alas, alack, he's a pretentious twonk. And the Vidiot hates pretense. The intro's only about five minutes long, but Mendik is a huge bore with his analysis of the themes of "urban decay" in the movie. I'm annoyed that the Australasian release wasn't the same as the one available here with a Director's commentary and Ferrara short films. That's my only complaint about this.
In summing up, the films detractors will be shocked to know that DRILLER KILLER is not as earlier said, a video nasty; it's not really a slasher and it doesn't actually belong in the horror category either. In actuality DRILLER KILLER is, in my opinion, one of the maverick film-makers best features along with MS .45. It mixes a gritty bargain basement look and feel with some brilliant camerawork, an effectively menacing atmosphere and a number of simple but very effective setpieces, all of which adds up to a movie that you really ought to see at least once. I'm definitely going to watch it again at some point in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Classic no budget psycho-horror romp
Review: Folks who like the slick impersonal Hollywood horror of late like the Scream flicks will run screaming from the theatre.Though not perfect there is a definite personal stamp on Driller Killer. With psuedo-philosophical ramblings of the artist (Able himself) to the guerilla style filmmaking this is the bold mark of someone with an ax to grind. Driller Killer is a great first film from a promising director who has never caught on or fully lived up to his promise. The DVD transfer is by far the best I've seen so far - you can actually see the painings and the color scheme in this copy. The sound is still muddy but much more comes through than on prior VHS releases. Also, not to be missed is the commentary track. How high was he when he recorded that? Rambling and comments that have nothing to do with what was on the screen. great exploitation flick that was never meant to be art-house (a mantle that critics hung on Able). If you really want to scratch your head get the Funeral - the dullest 4 star film I've ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: Classic no budget psycho-horror romp
Review: Folks who like the slick impersonal Hollywood horror of late like the Scream flicks will run screaming from the theatre. Though not perfect there is a definite personal stamp on Driller Killer. With psuedo-philosophical ramblings of the artist (Able himself) to the guerilla style filmmaking this is the bold mark of someone with an ax to grind. Driller Killer is a great first film from a promising director who has never caught on or fully lived up to his promise. The DVD transfer is by far the best I've seen so far - you can actually see the painings and the color scheme in this copy. The sound is still muddy but much more comes through than on prior VHS releases. Also, not to be missed is the commentary track. How high was he when he recorded that? Rambling and comments that have nothing to do with what was on the screen. great exploitation flick that was never meant to be art-house (a mantle that critics hung on Able). If you really want to scratch your head get the Funeral - the dullest 4 star film I've ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: YES, it's gritty, but oh, the commentary track!!!
Review: Folks, this movie is indeed a low-budget slasher with a confused message about life in the big city. Some of the scenes drag, and some are a little too self-indulgent for my taste. However, in my opinion, this movie is a terrific showcase of the punk scene in 70's New York, as well as a realistic snapshot into the life of a struggling artist. It is RAW and powerful in this respect, an aquired taste but once it grows on you there's no stopping it. It seems that few reviewers out there understand that the grittiness of the movie and its impromptu, drugged-out sequences are all part of its charm. Plus, if you buy this edition, you get one of the most entertaining and personable commentary tracks out there. It's not one of those high-falutin' Hollywood guys being smooth and talking big but instead a REAL PERSON, and you could almost swear he was in there with you, watching his first film. Plus, he's a little self-deprecating and can be very, very funny.
Rating:
Summary: Driller Killer
Review: How horrible! I waited years to see this (it's only now allowed to be seen in Britain again) and was so dissapointed. Let's face it..Abel Ferrara movies are crap..he's probably the most over-rated independent director around and Bad Lieutenant his most over-rated movie. The only films of his worth seeing are Ms 45 and Dangerous Games (only because it's the only film ever that Madonna acts well in). Budget restrictions aside, this is still grimy, cheap exploitation (nothing wrong with that) that tries to pass itself off as 'art'. Watch it once but don't add to your collection.
Rating:
Summary: All in all a poor film
Review: I have seen some poor films in my time but this is one of the worst. The plot was weak and hidden between large amounts of tedious and poor punk rock (Don't play the film loud as the cover suggests!). I had absolutely no sympathy for any of the characters and did not feel sorry for any individual that was killed with the poor gore effects. If violent bloodshed is what your after then I would recommend the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Abel Ferrara is attempting to create a documentation of madness of the same quality as Roman Polanski's classic "Repulsion" but ultimately fails. (He even copies the use of the dead rabbit as part of the insanity.)
Rating:
Summary: A Cult Classic!
Review: I have to agree with the reviewer before me. I would only recommend this movie to an avid fan of the horror genre. A casual horror fan probably would not appreciate this type of film as much.
I looked all over for this film for years and finally purchased it. Well honestly the movie wasn't great by any stretch but I didn't find it awful either.
Reno Williams(Abel Ferrara) a struggling artist, trying to make an honest living finds himself driven to insanity by his two roommates, the inability to pay his bills, and of all things a punk rock band living beneath his apartment. When he finally snaps he Reno takes to the streets, killing delinquent bums with a power drill. Some of the killing scenes are decent but from all the hype you may have heard about this movie you may expect to see much more gore and violence than there actually is. The movie is poorly lit and moves at a slow clip but the ending is decent.
If you are an avid horror fan then Abel Ferrara's cult classic "The Driller Killer" needs to be added to your horror collection. Otherwise I would suggest seeing it before you buy it.
Rating:
Summary: The worst film I have ever seen
Review: I read the dossier for this film and thought it would be good, unfortunately it is so bad that I really appreciate other films now. Perhaps I didn't understand the arty approach but if a film is going to be clever (as the guy kills the homeless people because he doesn't want to become one of them by not getting paid for his art) then there must some clue to it. The plot is hidden beneath badly styled, monotonous events that make you glad that there are other similar films that are better. If you want a good film of a similar genre buy, 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'.
Rating: 
Summary: Was this supposed to be serious?
Review: I recently rented this after it had been banned and hailed as the "original video nasty". And I was not dissapointed, it was as funny and silly as I would've expected from a film about some idiot runnig round New York with a drill. It was first class cheesy horror B-movie rubbish. But then i pondered, was this cheesy rip off on Taxi Driver supposed to be serious, and if it was iyt failed on all points. It is the most corny film I've ever seen, which isnt so bad for a film which doesn't take itself too seriously like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but when it tries to be clever like this (and henry: portrait of a serial kiiler) it just fails.
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