The Driller Killer

Artist Reno Miller (Abel Ferrara) and his girlfriend Carol enter a small Catholic church, where he approaches an elderly bearded man (revealed as Reno's estranged derelict father) kneeling at the pulpit. The derelict seizes Reno's hand, causing him and Carol to flee from the church. Unknown to Reno, his father slipped him a piece of paper. The father is requesting a meeting with him. Reno denies knowing who the homeless man was.

Later at his apartment, Reno receives a large Con Ed electricity bill, and a phone bill, both of which, along with his monthly apartment's rental fee, Reno cannot pay. He shares the apartment with Carol, a former flight attendant, and her drug-addicted lesbian lover Pamela. The apartment is located in a derelict-filled neighborhood in Union Square. Reno visits Dalton, an art gallery owner, and tells him that he is currently painting a masterpiece. Reno asks for a week's extension and a $500 loan to cover the rent. However, Dalton refuses, saying that he has already lent enough money to Reno. However, if Reno finishes a satisfactory painting in one week, Dalton will buy it for the agreed amount.

The following day, a No Wave band named the Roosters begin practising their music in a nearby apartment, which makes Reno unnerved and frustrated. At 2:00 in the morning while painting, Reno becomes increasingly agitated by the Roosters' music. After seeing a vision of his own image saturated in blood, Reno walks the streets in the dark. He sees an elderly homeless man sleeping in a garbage-strewn alley, seizes him and begins ranting. Reno ducks into the alley with the man, where they see a small group of teenage gang members chasing another homeless person down the street. When the gang members are gone from sight, Reno drops the man to the ground and walks away, vowing that he will not end up like a derelict.

The next day, Reno complains about the Roosters to their landlord. However, the landlord refuses to act since the music doesn't bother him. He demands the rent money, and ends up giving Reno a skinned rabbit for dinner. Reno takes the rabbit home, repeatedly stabbing it during the preparation. During a brief reprieve from the music, Reno hears voices calling his name and sees an image of Carol with her eyes gouged out. That night, Reno leaves his apartment and heads outside armed with a power drill connected to a portable battery pack. He discovers a homeless man inside an abandoned building and brutally kills him. The following evening, Reno, Carol and Pamela see Tony Coca-Cola and the Roosters at a nightclub. As the Roosters play, Reno becomes irritated by the music and crowd and leaves while Carol and Pamela dance and kiss.

An over-the-shoulder shot from the murderer's perspective as Reno approaches Dalton to kill him with the drill.

Reno returns to his apartment, grabs his drill and goes out on a killing spree. Throughout the night, Reno kills a number of homeless people all over the city before returning home to sleep.

Later on, Tony visits Reno's apartment to ask Reno to paint a portrait of him. In exchange, Tony agrees to Reno's demand of $500 to cover his overdue rent. As Reno paints, Tony poses by playing his guitar and kissing Pamela.

Next, we see a transient man upset in a nearby alley, who is later attacked and killed by Reno. Afterwards, Reno completes his painting, then wakes and notifies Pamela and Carol.

The next day, Reno and Carol show the painting to Dalton who leaves after declaring it "unacceptable." Carol yells at Reno for sitting with a blank facial expression, which results in her leaving Reno for her ex-husband Stephen by the next morning. That evening, Reno calls Dalton and invites him to see another painting. When Dalton arrives as the Roosters are practising, a dressed-up Reno kills him with his drill. After visiting the Roosters, Pamela returns to the apartment where, upon the discovery of Dalton's body inside, she flees into the hallway before Reno grabs her. Pamela's fate is left ambiguous.

Across town, Carol is back with Stephen at his apartment. She takes a shower while Stephen prepares tea. Reno enters the apartment, kills Stephen, and then hides his body behind a kitchen counter. Carol, exiting from her shower, walks to the bedroom where Reno is hiding underneath the bed covers. She turns off the lights, gets into bed, and tells Stephen to "come here..."; The film suddenly ends, leaving Carol's ultimate fate unknown.

An example of the use of cross-cutting POV shots in the film as the protagonist Reno (on the right) plays pinball while Pamela looks on.

The Driller Killer is a low-budget, independent feature, with a cast of unknown actors, produced by Ferrara's own Navaron Films company 1977–78 filmed on 16mm film and utilised Ferrara's Union Square apartment and adjacent streets as locations.[7] It features many of the elements that became trademarks of Ferrara's later films including Catholic iconography, lesbian scenes, gritty urban locations filmed at night, an eclectic soundtrack combining punk rock and Bach, scenes of extreme violence and a religious theme of redemption, salvation and damnation.[8] The punk rock band in the film reflects contemporary New York punk bands such as the New York Dolls and Television.[9]

In the Driller Killer trailer, Reno is heard to say a line from a scene that does not appear in the finished movie: "It's just a window, Dalton".[10]

As a final footnote in the film's history, when Arrow Films was preparing the film for re-release (the edition came out in November 2016), they discovered that the print they had was five minutes longer than any previous release on the film. They contacted Ferrara, who confirmed that it was a pre-release version, and that he had intentionally removed the footage prior to the release of the theatrical version. Arrow obtained permission to include this version as an extra in their release. The additional five minutes are all in the first half of the film and appear at seven points, including a shot of a Goodyear blimp lasting just a few seconds, a brief lesbian shower scene, and an argument scene lasting a full two-and-a-half minutes. Most of the new footage relates to the characters' development and backstory.[11]

Reviewers had pointed out that the film was not as violent as the original VHS cover suggested[14] and is more of a psychodrama.[15] The Driller Killer has a 64% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 14 reviews; the average rating is 6.06/10.[16]

In 2015, video game developer Puppet Combo created The Power Drill Massacre, a title loosely based on The Driller Killer. The game shares the antagonist's name with the film and uses similar synthesiser noises during the chase moments.

• List of films in the public domain in the United States
• List of cult films
• Grindhouse film
• Driller Killer (band), metal band named after the film
• Vulgar auteurism
• No wave cinema
• Art horror

• Righelato, Rowan. (Nov 30, 2016). The Driller Killer and the humanist behind the blood and sickening crunch. The Guardian

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Driller Killer.

• The Driller Killer is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
• The Driller Killer at IMDb
• The Driller Killer at AllMovie
• The Driller Killer on YouTube
• The Driller Killer on MUBI