Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 1986

Dave Kehr, Chicago Tribune: McNaughton's direction combines a strict social realism with a cool, Fritz Langian sense of pre-determination, while his work with actors has the improvisational freshness of a John Cassavetes. Read more

Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is as fine a film as it is a brutally disturbing one. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: The film is an honest and disturbing attempt to come to grips with the sort of modern horror that we must -- more urgently every day -- try to understand. Read more

Desmond Ryan, Philadelphia Inquirer: The difference between John McNaughton's incredibly chilling film and the usual serving of screen carnage is the difference between the mind of a murderer and the cynical and manipulative depiction of mindless murder. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: In a world in which eight nearly identical Friday the 13th movies offer the adventures of Jason the ax-murderer as entertainment for teen-agers, maybe we do need this sobering alternative. Read more

Caryn James, New York Times: Mr. McNaughton's observations are so chilling and precise that they gain some artistic stature even when they cross the line that makes the audience voyeurs and accomplices. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The fact that Henry is affectless on the surface but commits exploitation-movie mayhem on the side is, by now, less an unsettling revelation than a rote banality. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: Certainly not for everyone, but if slasher movies are your cup of tea this is a lot better than most, and the use of Chicago locations is especially effective. Read more

Terrence Rafferty, New Yorker: Sure, it's compelling; the nature of the material guarantees that. But it doesn't seem to be telling us much more than that the world is a scary place and murder is ugly. We knew those things. This is tabloid chic. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: A low-budget tour de force that provides an unforgettable portrait of the pathology of a man for whom killing is not a crime but simply a way of passing time and relieving boredom. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: This film gives off a dark chill that follows you all the way home. Read more

Nigel Floyd, Time Out: McNaughton's compelling study of a blithe sociopath makes the flesh crawl and the mind reel. Read more

Daniel M. Kimmel, Variety: [T]his is a movie that will anger and frighten audiences... Many will also find this one of the most impressive film debuts of the '80s. Read more

Hal Hinson, Washington Post: The emptiness in Henry seems like an artistic convenience or, worse, an evasion. What we suspect, finally, is that the deficiencies belong more to the artist than to his subject. Read more