10 Great Horror Movies That Will Crush Your Soul

Herny: Portrait of a Serial Killer is one utterly horrible film.

That mustn't be misinterpreted as a statement on its quality; it's a tremendous low-budget horror with chilling Cinéma vérité cinematography and two incredible lead performances from Michael Rooker (playing the eponymous serial killer) and Tom Towles (playing his accomplice). Essentially, it's a great movie, but a seriously nasty one all the same.

Horror cinema is filled with serial killers, and they're usually heightened, unrealistic characters... but not here. This is a grounded and realistic look at evil that director John McNaughton films a bit like a documentary. As such, the horrifying events of this movie - including many, many brutal murders and even an incestuous sexual assault at one point - feel unbearably real. 

Interestingly, Henry is less gory and exploitative than many similar movies, with much of the violence taking place off-screen or being shown from a distance. This was a masterstroke, as unlike, say, Lars von Trier's The House That Jack Built - a good movie, but a little too nasty for its own good at times - Henry avoids ever feeling gratuitous, and through the power of suggestion, it creates a suffocating atmosphere of dread and menace. 

Things reach a crushingly bleak crescendo towards the end, where Henry kills Otis after he attempts to r*pe his own sister, Becky (Tracy Arnold), and it is strongly implied that Henry kills Tracy too not long afterwards. This will definitely be a one-and-done for most viewers.