The Driller Killer

1979

Action / Drama / Horror / Thriller

7
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 32% · 14 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 32% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 5.2/10 10 9242 9.2K

new york city concert painting artist dark comedy hallucination

Plot summary

An artist slowly goes insane while struggling to pay his bills, work on his paintings, and care for his two female roommates, which leads him taking to the streets of New York after dark and randomly killing derelicts with a power drill.

Director

Abel Ferrara Photo
Abel Ferrara

Top cast

Jack O'Connell Photo
Jack O'Connell as Rooftop Victim
Abel Ferrara Photo
Abel Ferrara as Reno Miller
Paula Nichols Photo
Paula Nichols as Friend
Peter Yellen Photo
Peter Yellen as Bus Stop Derelict
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
926.88 MB
1280*682
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 40 min
Seeds 3
1.68 GB
1920*1024
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 40 min
Seeds 11

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by mmthos 5 / 10

NY PUNK ROCK SCENE

Yes, drills kill in this low budget early outing from self-starring Abel Ferrara, famously going on to "Ms. 45," "Bad Lieutenant", "King of New York" etc. But for me the uniqueness of this project is its accurate portrayal of New York's punk rock scene during the NYC bankruptcy, when the filthy streets were indeed home to thousands of homeless potential drill victims. Several band numbers interrupt the killing, which will annoy viewers who aren't punk rock fans, but do convey the flavor of the milieu that most famously bred "The Ramones."
Reviewed by RomanJamesHoffman 6 / 10

Low budget psychotic romp and prototypical "video nasty"

A deliciously grimy and dirty debut from Abel Ferrara ('Bad Lieutenant'), 'Driller Killer' follows an artist (played by Ferrara himself) whose frustrated attempts to make ends meet and find creative satisfaction against a backdrop of urban decay and the interminable punk-rock cacophony of a band in the apartment above him eventually get the better of him and lead him to emotional breakdown and maniacal, grisly homicide.The story of a city-dweller (New York, no less) who can't take it any more and snaps clearly owes much to 'Taxi Driver' but, in contrast, 'Driller Killer' is distinguished by an almost total lack of the psychological and technical finesse so characteristic of Scorsese's film and makes its point through a relentless inarticulate bludgeoning of the viewer which could be said to be an (ahem) acquired taste. Having said this, the film isn't as gory as its cult status on the list of "video nasties" compiled by the Director of Public Prosecutions in England in the early eighties would lead you to believe and in lacking both the searing transgression of films like 'Cannibal Holocaust' or the all-out gore of films like 'The Beyond' or 'Evil Dead' some may well be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about.However, all things considered the film is an enjoyable psychotic romp (in a masochistic sort-of-way) and I have always found its limitations to be an indispensible part of its appeal as the low budget and technical bludgeoning are central to evoking a genuine sense of the stifling degeneration of New York at its nadir. What's more, the films depiction of the psychosis such milieus engender walks a perfect line between a partly distanced comic-book presentation and a crushingly claustrophobic and authentic sense of madness made manifest.**************************Public domain movie. Watch it free here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaQLbLJiA50Watch short trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Dn57QgvRwWatch extended trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFobdamXZvo
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