Skip to content
Driller Killer is another of those films I’m watching for the first time as it makes its Blu-ray premiere, with a number of big extras from Arrow.
Beginning with the words, “THIS FILM SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD”, it doesn’t really need to be particularly loud because it was only ever recorded in mono and the quality isn’t fantastic due to its low-budget roots, too.
It takes nearly half the film before the protaganist Reno (director Abel Ferrara) kills anyone, starting with a homeless man. In fact, he mostly just kills homeless men. After that, it just meanders from one death to another, via various irrelevant scenes. As a result, watching this for the first time, I was just waiting for the murders to start.
And given that this was in an age before cordless drills, where did he plug it in? Ah, never fear – the Porta-Pak is here! Yes, it’s a portable battery pack which he sees advertised on TV early on in the film.
If the murders were decent then I could understand the love for this film, but it clearly just got caught up with the ’80s ‘video nasty’ tag (thanks to the Vipco cover reproduced here) and never shook it off. I far more enjoyed the later Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, where Michael Rooker’s protagonist at least varied his weapons of choice even if he didn’t have much of a reason for carrying out his actions.
The film is presented in both 1.37:1 and zoomed-in 1.85:1 versions for both cuts of the movie, and in 1080p high definition. I went with the pre-release version which, at 101 minutes, is the longer of the two. I also opted for the 1.37:1 version because it’ll show the most of what was filmed. Bear in mind the limitations of 16mm film, as well as the fact that this wasn’t the most high-budget movie ever. Most of the time the print is not bad, but occasionally it’s not great and, always, there’s a level of grain on display.
The audio is in mono and again, bear in mind the quality of the original recording not being brilliant. As such, the dialogue sounds a bit hollow. I always put subtitles on as a matter of habit anyway, but they’re certainly required, here.
The extras are as follows:
- Laine and Abel: An Interview with the Driller Killer (17:31): The director and star in an interview shot in London on March 4th 2016. He certainly mumbles a lot.
- Willing & Abel: Ferrarology 101 (34:19): An in-depth study of Ferrara’s films by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. She references the ’80s New York dirty streets in films like Ms .45 and how such sights are lost now after Rudy Guiliani had the streets cleaned up when he was Mayor. Well, just take a look at some of the back streets of Manchester like Little Lever Street if you want to see exactly the same!
- Mulberry St. (1:27:52): Ferrara’s 2010 feature-length documentary portrait of the New York location that’s been a key role in his life and work, and which Ms Heller-Nicholas confirms in the previous extra is a companion piece, and the conclusion of the trilogy, to 2008’s Chelsea on the Rocks and 2009’s Napoli, Napoli, Napoli.
- Trailer (0:32): Well, more like a teaser at that length.
- Audio commentary: from director Abel Ferrara, for the theatrical version only.
My review disc was the film and extras on Blu-ray, but if you buy the finished release, there’s also a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by The Twins Of Evil, and the first pressing includes a collector’s booklet containing new writing on the film by Michael Pattison and Brad Stevens.
The main menu features a short piece of the raucous music set to clips from the film, and there are the bog-standard 12 chapters here, as there’s just NINE, and subtitles are in English.
Driller Killer Special Edition is out now on Blu-ray/DVD Dual Format and Limited Edition Blu-ray Steelbook, and check out the full-size cover by clicking on the packshot.
|
FILM PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
2 6 6 6 |
| OVERALL | 5 |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 96/101 mins
Year: 1979
Distributor: Arrow Films
Released: November 28th 2016
Chapters: 12
Cat.no: FCD1383
Picture: 1080p High Definition
Sound: DTS-HD 1.0 Master Audio (Mono)
Languages: English
Subtitles: English
Widescreen: 1.37/1.85:1 (16mm)
Disc Format: BD50
Director: Abel Ferrara
Screenplay: Nicholas St John
Music: Joe Delia
Cast:
Reno Miller: Abel Ferrara (as Jimmy Laine)
Carol Slaughter: Carolyn Marz
Pamela: Baybi Day
Dalton Briggs: Harry Schultz
Al the Landlord: Alan Wynroth
The Nun: Maria Helhoski
Man in Church: James O’Hara
Stephen – Carol’s Husband: Richard Howorth
Man Waiting for Bus: Frank Hazard
Man Waiting for Bus: John Paul McIntyre
Tony Coca-Cola: DA Metrov (as Rhodney Montreal)
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.