Customer Reviews

Confessions Of A Serial Killer

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I had seen this movie on cable many years ago, couldn't forget it, and searched to find it.

No-it doesn't have a succinct (predictable) plot line. It is the randomness of the murders that is truly cautionary. A girl hitchhiking, a woman whose car has stalled, a woman with a broken air-condition, and so on.

The scenes are intense. Generally the women become leery-and their fear is palpable. They try to extract themselves from the situation, but generally fail.

The scene where a girl is attempting to escape through a field had me on the edge of my seat. As a matter of fact, every scene where I could see a murder coming did. "Hollywood" horror flicks do not affect me so. I routed for the escape of the victims, but to little or no avail.

In my estimation, the directing was right on, as was the acting. I prefer realism for intensity.

This movie stands on its own. Why must it follow the book?

DO NOT BUY THIS DISC!

I watched this years ago on VHS and was very impressed. Owning a multisystem DVD player, I figured I would go ahead and get the PAL version.

The movie is not only severely cut, missing important scenes and lines, but whenever someone curses, the volume goes way down. Absolutely AWFUL!

The late, great art director Robert A. Burns (who worked on the original TCM) turns in a perfectly convincing performance as a serial killer. Too bad he didn't do more acting. I'll say this as well: one of the biggest reasons the 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre works so well is due to the genius of Robert A. Burns' magnificent art direction.

Director/writer Mark Blair shows tremendous talent here as well. This is another talented filmmaker who is no longer around--and it's a great loss, because this guy, with this one film, puts so many of these "masters of horror" directors to
shame.

The only (slight) negative is that the film was shot a bit on the dark side, and you won't find any extras on the DVD, other than a couple of lame trailers for a couple of lame flicks.

More horror fans should know about this one. Even though the gore isn't piled on, you get a more authentic portrait of real life serial killer Henry Lee Lucus than they showed in the John McNaughton version.

Still, both films worked for me.

I saw this movie once in 87. I do remember it quite well.
Why? Because it is disturbing as hell! Burns plays Henry to
the tilt! Looking and even sounding like Henry Lee Lucas.
We start out with Henry giving his confessions to a Officer
about him and his male lover Ottis O'Toole. The movie constantly
flashbacks to Otis and Henry's killings on the freeways of Texas.
Also describes Henry's life in full detail. We also find out
that Henry takes a 12(???) yr.old bride by the name of Becky.
Every thing's fine and all till she gets in a heated argument
with Henry and he stabs her. This is really recommended for
lovers of true life Serial Killer films! I do not care for these
type of films. For although I love GORE to death and love films
like cannibal holoCAUST and TEXAS CHAINSAW(74) they are not at all
on any fact! True there times when you have Cannibals and Sociopath's
killing people in real life. But the films I have mentioned are not
real and from some creative gentleman's imagination. This movie is
clearly based on the sick and disturbed Henry Lee Lucas and for me
these are movies I'm just not interested in. Reason why I gave it 2 stars.
It is actually better than 2 stars and I highly suggest it to ones
who are curious about REAL killers! Also recommend Manson Family
Bundy,Dahmer and Monster for those of you who like movies on REAL
killers. For me I will take HENRY(Michael Rooker) Halloween(78)
Silence of the Lambs,Misery and Deep Red any day over the REAL!

Bad to the Bone. My favorite serial killer movie. I rented this movie in the '80s, and looked for it for years to purchase, I found out I was looking for a different named movie. I love it. It seems like it is really happening, when you watch it, very beliveable story,I could really see this happening, it also mixes a little humour at times. A MUST SEE.

Well, yeah, there are some tense moments, but it's just not as good as Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. And nobody comes close to Michael Rooker's performance, no matter how good they are -- and this guy's pretty good. All-in-all a worthy effort but Henry still leads. Plus, this is a PAL disk, so most people aren't going to be able to see it anyway.

Supposedly based upon the story of Henry Lee Lucas, one of the most notorious serial killers in history, the film starts out well, but soon degenerates into a typical low-budget slasher movie,with a script so fictionalized that all resemblance to the story upon which it is alleged based is soon lost. The plot goes nowhere, and the abrupt ending leaves the viewer wondering if the creators simply ran out of ideas. It's unfortunate that the screenwriters responsible for turning out the script failed to realize that fact is far more interesting than fiction. Don't waste your time on this sorry excuse for a film.