Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

Timing: 1:23 (83 min)

6.73/10
664

6.563/10
5173

7/10
44000

All about film

Video 3

Photo 32

Actors and characters

Release date

1986-09-24

Country

United States

Production

Maljack Productions, Greycat Films/Neo Modern Entertainment

Genre

Crime, Horror, Thriller

Budget

$111 000

Revenue

$609 939

Website

Director

John McNaughton

Actors

Michael Rooker, Tracy Arnold, Tom Towles, Mary Demas, Anne Bartoletti, Elizabeth Kaden, Ted Kaden, Denise Sullivan, Anita Ores, Megan Ores
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

John McNaughton, Steven A. Jones, Lisa Dedmond, Malik B. Ali, Waleed B. Ali

Operator

Charlie Lieberman

Composer

Steven A. Jones

Artist

Audition

Jeffery Lyle Segal

Editing

Elena Maganini
All team (35)

• The film is based on the confessions of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas.
• Michael Rooker (who played the main character) used the image of Henry in the music video "All Wrapped Up" by American Head Charge.
• The Motion Picture Association of America gave this film an "X" rating (persons under 17 are not admitted). This film, along with Peter Greenaway's crime drama "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover" (1989) and Pedro Almodóvar's melodrama of the same year, "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!", led to the introduction of the "NC-17" rating (persons 17 and under are not admitted, but this does not necessarily mean the film is obscene or pornographic).
• When Michael Rooker came to audition for the role of Henry, he introduced himself as a technician and auditioned in a technician's uniform. He got the role, but didn't take off the uniform throughout the entire filming process. He only had one jacket, so he consistently took it off before 'killing' someone, so as not to get it stained with blood.
• During the filming of the movie, even when off set, actor Michael Rooker remained in character. He didn't communicate with any of his colleagues or crew members. Director John McNaughton gave him a separate makeup room, unique among the actors. Costume designer Patricia Hart (date of death – April 10, 2011) recounted that every morning she and Rooker traveled to the set together, and she was never able to understand whether he was an actor or the character, because he would periodically start reminiscing about the past, and his childhood, but not Rooker’s, but Henry’s. He became so immersed in the role that when the actor’s wife found out she was pregnant, she didn't tell him until the end of filming.
• The scene in the living room, where Tom Towles (1950-2015) films Michael Rooker and Tracey Arnold’s characters, was improvised from beginning to end.
• The four murders shown at the beginning of the film replicate murders that Henry Lee Lucas (1936-2001, an American criminal, serial killer, robber, cannibal, and arsonist) actually committed – at least, according to his own confessions.
• Work on the film was completed in 1986, but it wasn't released until 1989. One of the reasons for this delay was that the producers originally expected John McNaughton to make a conventional slasher film. They didn't know what to do with the darker and more complex film (it should be noted that the original script had many more scenes of violence than ultimately made it into the film) that McNaughton shot, and they suspected that the film's box office potential would be lower if it wasn't simply aimed at teenagers.
• John McNaughton initially intended to shoot the entire film with a handheld camera. He hired Jean de Segonzac as his cinematographer, who was considered one of the best in the world at working with handheld cameras. Unfortunately, a week before filming began, de Segonzac had to leave the project, leaving McNaughton without a cinematographer. Ultimately, he invited Charlie Lieberman, and together they decided to abandon the idea of shooting everything handheld.
• During the film's premiere at the 1989 festival, nearly half of the audience left the theater during the screening. After the film ended, a deathly silence fell over the auditorium. The audience simply didn't know how to react to what they had seen.
• The film is based on the confessions of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas.
• The American Film Association gave this film an X rating. This film, along with the drama 'The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover' and the melodrama 'Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!', was a reason for the introduction of the NC-17 rating into the rating system.
• When Michael Rooker came to the audition, he introduced himself as a technician and auditioned for the role in technician's clothing. He got the role, but didn't part with the outfit until the very end of filming. He had only one jacket, so he consistently took it off before "killing" someone, so as not to get it stained with blood.
• Even when not on set, Michael Rooker remained in character. He didn't communicate with any of his colleagues. Director John McNaughton gave him a separate makeup room, unlike all the other actors. Costume designer Patricia Hart recounted that every morning she and Rooker traveled to the set together, and she could never understand who he was at that moment – an actor or the character, because he would periodically start remembering the past, but not his own, but Henry's. He got so into the role that when the actor's wife discovered she was pregnant, she didn't tell him about it until the end of filming.
• The scene in the living room, where Tom Towles' character films Michael Rooker and Tracey Arnold's characters, was improvised.
• Work on the film was completed in 1986, but it was only released in 1990. One of the reasons for this delay was that the producers expected John McNaughton to shoot a typical slasher. They didn't know what to do with a darker and more complex film, and suspected that the film's box office potential was low.
• John McNaughton originally intended to shoot the entire film with a handheld camera. He hired Jean de Segonzac as the cinematographer, who was considered one of the best at working with handheld cameras. But a week before the start of filming, de Segonzac had to leave the project.
• This film received an X rating from the Motion Picture Association of America. Along with "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover" and "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!", this film was instrumental in the introduction of the NC-17 rating system.
• When he came to the audition, Michael Rooker introduced himself as a technician, and he auditioned for the role wearing technician's clothing. He got the role, but never parted with the outfit throughout the entire filming process. He only had one jacket, so he consistently took it off before "killing" anyone, so as not to get it covered in blood.
• Even when not on set, Michael Rooker remained in character. He didn’t communicate with any of his colleagues. Director John McNaughton gave him a separate dressing room, unique among all the actors. Costume designer Patricia Hart recounted that she and Rooker traveled to the set together every morning, and she could never tell whether he was an actor or the character, because he would periodically begin to recall the past, but not his own, but Henry’s. He became so immersed in the role that when the actor’s wife discovered she was pregnant, she didn’t tell him until the end of filming.