Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer(1986)

Submitted by Evan B

Pooper:
Henry kills Otis when he catches Otis raping Becky. After they dispose of Otis’ body, Becky tells Henry she loves him and they propose a plan to run away together. However, Henry murders Becky too and disposes of her body before moving on to the next town.

Long Ending:
This is loosely based on the story of real-life serial killers John Lee Hooker and Ottis Toole.

Becky (Tracy Arnold) has abandoned her abusive husband and moves into her brother Otis’ (Tom Towles) apartment in Chicago. Otis suffers from clear mental illness and, although he is generally nice to his sister, he also looks at and touches her inappropriately. Otis is an ex-con and lives with one of his old cellmates, Henry (Michael Rooker). Unbeknownst to the siblings, Henry is a serial killer.

One night Becky and Henry bond over their shared childhood traumas – both were abused by their parents. Henry’s abuse was so bad that he eventually murdered his mother (although his stories about her murder are inconsistent, changing slightly each time he tells it). Henry further endears himself to Becky when he violently chastises Otis for touching her inappropriately.

One night, Otis takes Henry out on the town and they pick up a pair of prostitutes. Unable to control his homicidal urges, Henry kills both women in front of Otis. Henry tells Otis that the trick to getting away with murder is to use a different murder weapon each time, to attack random victims, and to move to a new place every few months. Although initially disturbed by Henry, Otis soon joins him in a murder spree. The pair kill a TV salesman in order to steal his technology, lure an innocent good samaritan to a fatal ambush, and violently attack, abuse, and kill a random family. Although Henry is disciplined in his killings, Otis gets more erratic and depraved with each murder.

Becky eventually decides to return home after she learns her husband has been imprisoned for murder. She goes on a date with Henry and asks him to accompany her home. She starts seducing Henry (who is clearly uncomfortable with her affection) when they are interrupted by Otis. Henry goes out to get fresh air and calm himself from the encounter. When he returns to the apartment, he finds Otis raping Becky. The men begin fighting, but with Becky’s help, Henry is able to kill Otis. Henry carves up Otis’ body and the pair dumps his remains into a river. They leave town, with Becky saying she loves Henry (and he begrudgingly says he loves her in return). The pair stop at a motel, with Henry promising to go on the lam with Becky.

The next morning, Henry leaves the motel room by himself. He drives out to the country and pulls over in a secluded area. He goes to the trunk and pulls out Becky’s suitcase, which is streaked with blood (it’s heavily implied her body is inside). Henry dumps the suitcase in a ditch before continuing on down the road.

Order of Deaths:

1. Various women – Killed by Henry prior to the film, we see their bodies in a montage at the beginning. They have respectively been strangled, drowned, and stabbed to death with a glass bottle.
2. Stalked woman – After getting access to her house, Henry strangles her to death and dresses her corpse in a negligee.
3. Prostitutes – While getting intimate with a prostitute in the back seat of Otis’ car, Henry loses control and kills her. When the other prostitute (with Otis in the front seat) screams, Henry snaps her neck.
4. Salesman – After the salesman insults Henry and Otis, they attack him. Otis holds the salesman down (and strangles him) while Henry stabs him multiple times. They then pick up a TV and smash it over his head before plugging it in to electrocute the corpse.
5. Good Samaritan – Otis and Henry lure a good samaritan to them by pretending their car is broken down. Otis shoots and kills the samaritan after he pulls over to help.
6. Family – The teenage son walks in on Otis and Henry sexually assaulting and torturing his mom and dad. Henry wrestles the teenager down and snaps his neck. Otis does the same to the mom. Henry then stabs the dad to death.
7. Otis – Becky stabs Otis in the eye, giving Henry the time to finish the job via stabbing. Henry then cuts up Henry’s corpse and he and Becky throw his body parts into a river.
8. Becky – Henry (impliedly) kills her offscreen. The film ends with his hiding her bloody suitcase in a ditch on the side of the road.