The Driller Killer (1979) on Netflix
NR19791h 41mDramaHorrorThriller
Reno Miller, a struggling artist in New York City, lives with his girlfriend Carol and their roommate Pamela. The bills are overdue, and a punk band rehearses nearby day and night.
- Netflix2.9/5
- IMDb5.2/109,543 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes64%
Trailer
Plot summary
Reno Miller paints in a seedy apartment near Union Square that he shares with his girlfriend Carol and their roommate Pamela. The rent and the utility bills go unpaid, and Reno grows unnerved and frustrated. He asks Dalton, an art gallery owner, for a loan; Dalton refuses, but says he will buy Reno's painting of a buffalo if it is finished within a week and he likes it. A punk band, Tony Coca-Cola and the Roosters, moves into an apartment near Reno's and rehearses at all hours. Strapped for cash, Carol writes the landlord a check. Reno notices a Porto-Pack, a battery pack that lets a person carry an electrical appliance around, on sale in a hardware store window, and buys it.
Cast
- Harry Schultzas Dalton Briggs
- Alan Wynrothas Al the Landlord
- Maria Helhoskias The Nun
- Richard Howorthas Stephen - Carol's Husband
- Louis Mascoloas Knife Victim
- Tommy Santoraas Attacker
- Rita Goodingas TV Spot
- Chuck Saafas TV Spot
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Driller Killer (1979)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- While preparing its 2016 Blu-ray release, Arrow Video found its print of The Driller Killer ran five minutes longer than any previous version; Abel Ferrara confirmed he had cut that footage before the theatrical release, and Arrow included it as an extra.
- BBFC principal examiner Mike Bor said The Driller Killer was almost single-handedly responsible for the Video Recordings Act 1984, which banned it and the other "video nasties" in the UK, and Ferrara biographer Brad Stevens blamed the video cover.
- When Vipco released the film on UK video in 1982, its full-page magazine advertisements used cover art of a victim being drilled through the forehead and the tagline "There are those who kill violently!"; complaints flooded the Advertising Standards Agency, though few complainants had seen the film.
- The Driller Killer was Abel Ferrara's first mainstream feature film, coming after his 1976 pornographic film 9 Lives of a Wet Pussy.
