ABEL FERRARA TRIPLE

Slaughter by power tool, homicidal rape victim, drug-using cop – welcome to the sordid world of Abel Ferrara, where no one – least of all the innocent – are safe. Ferrara is one of the most unique independents currently operating in cinema and we have supplied reviews for three of his better known films.

The Driller Killer (1979)
Dir. Abel Ferrara. Jimmy Laine
89 mins; MA15+; DVD/VHS

Single-handedly starting the video nasty hysteria of the 1980s, where dozens of films in the UK, US and Australia were confiscated and banned, The Driller Killer is a surprisingly competent film and Ferrara’s debut, excluding his hardcore first directorial exploit under the pseudonym Jimmy Laine. The gritty script is courtesy of Ferrara favourite Nicholas St John, who was allegedly on the brink of suicide when he wrote the film. The Driller Killer follows Reno (played by Ferrara again using the ‘Laine’ alias) is a struggling artist living with his girlfriend and her lesbian lover. Reno’s life is a mess – he is living in a shabby apartment, the rent is ever-overdue and the punk band next door is constantly rehearsing, preventing him from satisfactorily finishing his painting. Finally, he is pushed to breaking point, buying a high power drill (which astonishingly never runs out of battery) and indiscriminately killing the homeless and finally those close to him. Being his first feature, there are several points in which Ferrara appears to be straining – the acting is appalling and the film enshrouded in darkness. The Driller Killer is not an exceptionally violent movie despite its grim name – like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the impact is almost always overstated because of the film’s realistic style – poor lighting, shaky camerawork and a downbeat conclusion. As with Bad Lieutenant, there is plenty of religious influence here including the opening scene that sees Reno confronting his father in a Catholic Church. The film has been compared to Polanski’s Repulsion and Scorsese’s Taxi Driver in the sense that it charts a disturbing descent into urban psychosis. The references to Polanski and Scorsese in The Driller Killer are evident but too unoriginal and derivative for Ferrara’s film to stand alongside their two classics. However, The Driller Killer is an immensely interesting horror film that, while has lost some of its impact, remains one of Ferrara’s most intriguing films. 7/10

Angel of Vengeance (1981)
Dir. Abel Ferrara. Zoe Lund, Steve Singer, Jack Thibeau
79 mins; Unrated; VHS

Another video nasty which is banned in uncut form in the UK, Angel of Vengeance (known in the US as Ms .45) stars Zoe Lund (as Zoe Tamerlis) in one of her few roles before dying of a drug overdose in 1999 at 37 years of age. Angel of Vengeance is Ferrara’s least serious film and a testament to the exploitation era it was produced – a mute woman (Lund) is raped by a man on her way home from work, is raped again at her apartment by a different man (!) and vows revenge on every male – innocent or not – who crosses her path. The film isn't graphic and the violence is probably less than even The Driller Killer. The screenplay was again written by Nicholas St John, but he is having much more fun with this OTT exploitation flick than he was with the downbeat Driller Killer. The Australian VHS is now rare and there has been no Region 4 DVD release, so importation is the primary way to acquire this and, if you’re willing to dish out a few extra dollars to buy internationally, Angel of Vengeance is well worth the money. 8/10

Bad Lieutenant (1992)
Dir. Abel Ferrara. Harvey Keitel, Zoe Lund, Frankie Thorn
96 mins; R18+; DVD

Stamped with the dreaded NC-17 rating in the US; a veritable financial death sentence, Bad Lieutenant is one of Ferrara’s most accomplished films, and certainly his most meaningful. The film follows an unnamed police officer played by veteran Harvey Keitel. The cop is an utter fiend however Ferrara refuses to pass ethical judgement as he uses cocaine after dropping his children off at school, ogles a nude corpse and pockets the drugs of a dealer he has apprehended. But when a nun is raped, the Lieutenant suffers a moral epiphany, dishing out brutal justice and spiralling down a road of self-destruction. Keitel is typically terrific here, reprising his role as a sick lowlife ala Taxi Driver and Reservoir Dogs. The script by Ferrara and Zoe Lund pulls us into a nihilistic, unforgiving world without any filmmaking gloss, making Bad Lieutenant is a difficult film to watch. However, there are many underlying references here that makes Bad Lieutenant Ferrara’s most manipulative film – the religious imagery (including a co-starring role for Jesus) makes this the ultimate Catholic guilt movie and, perhaps if Ferrara refused to pass any moral judgement whatsoever, the film would have been better. 8/10