The Driller Killer (1979) poster
1979 · horror · exploitation · video-nasty · no-wave

The Driller Killer

Directed by Abel Ferrara1h 41m1979
  • heavy
  • intense
  • bleak
  • cold

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.

Our read · The Driller Killer (1979) reads as a heavy, steady, inventive horror · exploitation · video-nasty entry — extreme in intensity, intimate in scope, cold in temperature, nihilistic in outlook. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

Cast
Abel FerraraCarolyn MarzBaybi DayHarry SchultzAlan Wynroth
Where to watch
All options on JustWatch

Availability in Latvia · via JustWatch

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The shape of The Driller Killer

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
Nearest by DNA

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Geometric closeness in the twelve-axis space — pure DNA distance, not “people also liked.” Distance numbers are listed under each title for sceners who like to know the maths.

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