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... Read allAn 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.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.
- Reno Miller
- (as Jimmy Laine)
- Voice-over
- (voice)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaCould have easily escaped the UK's "video nasty" list if the original pre-VRA video cover wasn't so graphic. it featured a very bloody close-up of a drill boring into a man's head with lots of blood. The video cover was featured in video catalogs and received many complaints.
- GoofsWhen the Driller Killer drills into a homeless man's head, he does not drill far enough to cause death, as evidenced by the depth of blood on the drill-bit.
- Quotes
Reno Miller: Oh, so it's finished? Thank you. It's finished... Since when did you become such an expert on painting? I mean, you're telling me it's finished? What do you know about painting, anyway? Really, what do you know about paint? I'll tell you what you know about paint, man: you don't know nothing about paint, man. You know what you know about? You know about how to bitch and how to eat and how to bitch and how to shit and how to bitch! But you don't know nothing about paint, so don't tell me when it's going to be done. I'll tell you when it's going to be done.
- Crazy creditsMovie opens with message "THIS FILM SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD."
- Alternate versionsThe film has had a rough time in the UK. Before 1984, when videos were not subject to censorship in Britain, it was released with the killings intact, although a minute of non-violent footage was missing from this version. It then got a reputation as one of the most notorious of the "video nasties", a media-fueled hysteria which led to the UK adopting some of the most stringent video censorship in the Western world. This reputation arose largely because of the video cover, which showed the infamous drill-in-the-forehead scene. After 1984, it became illegal to release a video without a BBFC video certificate, and the films' reputation was such that no-one even bothered trying until 1999, when a version omitting 54 secs from the head-drilling scene and 2 earlier murders was approved for an 18 certificate. The full uncut version was finally passed by the BBFC in November 2002.
- ConnectionsEdited into Gli ultimi giorni dell'umanità (2022)
- SoundtracksInvention in Bb; Arioso
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (as J. S. Bach)
Performed by Joe Delia (as Joseph Delia)
It has an exploitive title and a reputation as a slasher film, so it hasn't found the right crowd. Psychotic 16-year old boys, its most likely audience, will be disappointed for it not being gory enough, and intellectuals will avoid it because it seems lowbrow. But get over it. There's a great Punk Rock atmosphere, Ferarra throws himself into his role, and those are some cool surrealist paintings. More importantly, it's an honest and troubling portrait of an artist who's driven over the edge by his own fear of failure, loud neighbors, getting dumped by his girlfriend, and all the other stress of the big city. Unable to channel these frustrations through his paintings, he turns to killing innocent derilects (In the opening scene it's suggested that is father is homeless, and he's afraid of ending up the same way). And then there's the ambiguous and haunting ending, which will stick with you for a while. Yes, it's technically lacking. But filmmakers are more than technicians. I would rate this alongside Taxi Driver as a brutal portrayal of alienation.
- stexe
- Jan 4, 2004
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- El asesino del taladro
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $20,000 (estimated)