24 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
24 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
capsule : bleak and point-blank -- just the way it should be .
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makes its case with cold-blooded precision and intelligence .
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" serial killer chic " is a relatively new entry to the cultural vocabulary , and one of the more stomach-turning ones .
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i've never found someone automatically admirable or even interesting because they killed creatively or in great numbers , and because of that i had apprehensions about seeing henry .
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i wasn't sure i wanted to see the story of multiple murderer henry lee lucas portrayed as some kind of nihilistic hero/antihero .
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thankfully , that's not the way henry works .
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the director , john mcnaughton , took a small budget and a gallery of actor friends and created a chilling and intelligent piece of work .
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it doesn't provide cheap-jack explanations for henry's behavior : it shows him up for what he is , an unrepentant and un-idolizable man who killed when the mood struck him .
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at the film's opening , henry's friend ottis toole has a sister , who comes by to stay while she tries to find work in chicago .
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in a viciously riveting scene , he admits matter-of-factly to having murdered his own mother , and she covers his hand with hers .
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they are damned together from that moment on .
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henry and ottis eventually begin to kill for fun .
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the movie is especially good at showing how they seem to have drifted casually into it : there's a scene where the two go to buy a new tv .
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the pawnbroker they talk to goads henry with ugly words , and henry responds by stabbing the man to death with a soldering iron .
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no preface -- it smashes into us as suddenly as it does the broker .
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in a scene which many damned the movie for , unseen , they steal a video camera and film the murder of a whole household , playing it back over and over again for their own enjoyment .
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the movie itself , however , does not glorify the killings , but shows instead that henry feels no joy at his work , only irritation .
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henry succeeds thanks to excellent writing and direction as well as acting .
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michael rooker is credible as henry from the first frame , just standing there , and the rest of the cast works by being unaffected and casual as well .
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the producers had originally comissioned a slasher film from mcnaughton , but he decided to give them something more memorable , and consequently the film nearly didn't see release .
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the film does not glorify or justify -- it just shows us , with unflinching coldness , what henry was .
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i'm hard pressed to see how anyone can see this and consider henry any kind of " victim " or " hero " .
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then again , probably , so would henry .
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