The Driller Killer
About The Driller Killer
Reno Miller paints in a New York loft he shares with Carol, who has left her husband, and their roommate Pamela. The bills are unpaid. A punk band rehearses next door. He is stuck on a canvas of a buffalo with a staring eye. The dealer rejects the picture. Reno takes a power drill into the street at night and kills derelicts.
Cast & crew
More about The Driller Killer
Abel Ferrara directed, edited, and played Reno under the name Jimmy Laine. Nicholas St. John wrote it. Rochelle Weisberg produced it for Navaron Films. Rochelle Films released it in the United States on June 15, 1979. Ken Kelsch photographed it. Joe Delia wrote the music. The theatrical cut is 96 minutes. A pre-release cut runs 101. Carolyn Marz plays Carol. Baybi Day plays Pamela. It was Ferrara's first feature after the 1976 porn film 9 Lives of a Wet Pussy.
Themes
Making
Ferrara shot Reno's loft and the night streets in New York, and played the painter himself.
Look
Ken Kelsch shot the loft, the band next door, and the drill attacks on the street.
Music
Joe Delia wrote the score. The punk band in the next apartment is part of the noise Reno cannot shut out.
Preservation
Public domain because the first release was not properly registered. The uncut version was cleared by the BBFC in 2002.
Notes
- The 1982 British VHS cover put it on the video-nasties list under the Video Recordings Act 1984.
- The BBFC passed an edited 18 certificate in 1999 and an uncut version in 2002.
- The copyright was not properly registered, so the film is in the public domain.
- An uncut copy is on the Internet Archive as DrillerKillerUncut1979.
- Ferrara's credit on screen as the killer is Jimmy Laine.
Scenes
- The dealer turns down the buffalo painting.
- Reno walks out at night with the drill.
Also available
- Internet Archive (DrillerKillerUncut1979)