SummaryHenry (Michael Rooker) is a psychopathic drifter who has coldly murdered a number of people for no particular reason and without any remorse. Leaving scores of bodies in his wake, Henry makes his way to Chicago, where his murderous streak continues and he settles into the rundown apartment of his drug-dealing former prison friend Otis (Tom Towles... Read More
Directed By:John McNaughton
Written By:Richard Fire, John McNaughton
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Metascore
Generally Favorable
80
User score
Generally Favorable
6.9
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
91% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
9% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
Nothing in John McNaughton's script and direction is exploitative; there isn't a frame of wasted action in what may well remain the year's most tightly constructed movie. As such, you're with this qualified classic all the way, you believe in it all the way, and you're thus forced to take its sporadic atrocities seriously. How many movies (and how long has it been since we've seen one) have really pulled this off? [20 April 1990, p.4D]
88
It's extremely well-made by a filmmaker who knows what he's doing and doesn't let the limitations of a $100,000 budget get in his way. The photography, acting, editing and use of sound effects and music are quite professional; McNaughton's movie looks and sounds as if it cost much more. It's also genuinely upsetting.
User score
Generally Favorable
67% Positive
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
26% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
7% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Nov 20, 2022
8
A very creepy movie with an Amazing Performance by Michael Rooker that surprisingly is accurate of how serial killers act.
May 22, 2022
6
This drama horror has aged surprisingly well thanks mostly to the cast and direction. Loosely based on real life serial killers it offers a unique and disturbing window into their lifestyle.
88
The film doesn't so much bring us closer to the serial murderer as it reminds us of our culpability as spectators.
80
Hard-driving, riveting film will be tough for many to take, but Henry – Portrait of a Serial Killer marks the arrival of a major film talent in the person of director, coproducer and cowriter John McNaughton.
75
McNaughton's film, which has been described as "too arty for the blood crowd and too bloody for the art crowd," is an exercise in revulsion by an often skilled filmmaker. [8 Oct 1990]
75
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is undeniably disturbing, especially that video scene and when it shows us (however discreetly) a body being hacked up in a bathtub. Yet the critics who’ve hailed it as a landmark are going overboard. Henry is just a superior B-movie with an artsy-clinical title.
40
It's precisely Henry's coldblooded affectlessness that is meant to shock and disturb us. But "Henry" leaves us feeling more numbed than moved. Half art film, half schlock-horror cheapie, "Henry" isn't quite sure what it wants to be.
May 18, 2025
3
This is a pretty boring and only occasionally shocking serial killer movie. The violence is more off-camera than on-camera which is bad for a serial killer movie and there just seems to be too many serial killer films like this. It is an arty movie. It is not worth watching as it is not shocking enough. The character part of the story is good. It is a bit slow throughout. The moral tone is low and the actual movie quality is low. Pretty dull really and uninteresting when I think about it.
Production Company:
- Maljack Productions
Release Date:Jan 5, 1990
Duration:1 h 23 m
Tagline:The shocking true story of Henry Lee Lucas.
Awards
Film Independent Spirit Awards
• 6 Nominations
Fantasporto
• 4 Wins & 4 Nominations
Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival
• 3 Wins & 3 Nominations
