The Driller Killer – 1979
It will shatter you!
Director
Abel Ferrara

Writer
Nicholas St. John (as N.G. St. John)

Producers
D.A. Metrov associate producer
Rochelle Weisberg executive producer

Cast
Abel Ferrara – Reno Miller (as Jimmy Laine)
Carolyn Marz – Carol
Baybi Day – Pamela
Harry Schultz – Dalton Briggs
Alan Wynroth – Landlord
Maria Helhoski – Nun
James O’Hara – Man in Church
Richard Howorth – Stephen, Carol’s Husband
Louis Mascolo – Knife Victim
Tommy Santora – Attacker
Rita Gooding – TV Spot
Chuck Saaf – TV Spot
Gary Cohen – Voice-over (voice)
Janet Dailey – Girl at Audition
Joyce Finney – Girl at Audition
Butch Morris – Sidewalk Begger
Paul Fitze – Kid on Street
John Fitze – Kid on Street
Karl Metner – Kid on Street
Chris Amato – Kid on Street
Rich Bokun – Kid on Street
Michael Canosa – Kid on Street
Greg Schirrira – Kid on Street
Thomas Baeza – Kid on Street
Frank Hazard – Man Waiting for Bus
John Paul McIntyre – Man Waiting for Bus (as Jack MacIntyre)
John Coulakis – Hallway Derelict
Lanny Taylor – Rooftop Derelict
Peter Yellen – Bus Stop Derelict
Steve Cox – Empire State Derelict
Stephen Singer – Street Corner Derelict
Tim Constantine – Street Corner Derelict
Anthony Picciano – Sidewalk Derelict
Bob DeFrank – Fire Escape Derelict
D.A. Metrov – Tony Coca-Cola (guitar) (as Rhodney Montreal)
Dickey Bittner – Ritchy (bass)
Steve Brown – Steve (drums)
Laurie Y. Taylor – Tony’s Girlfriend
Trixie Sly – Manager
Andrea Childs – Friend
Hallie Coletta – Friend
Victoria Keiler – Friend
Claire Mailer – Friend
Paula Nichols – Friend

Review by Theo Robertson

The Driller Killer (1979)

I Can Certainly Relate To This …….,
……… But before everyone phones the police to have me locked up in an asylum let me please explain that I had the ” Neighbours from hell ” living below me for over three years. Music would be turned on FULL BLAST below my bedroom at any time of the day or night. The music might get turned on at three in the morning and turned off at midday, it might get turned on at midday and turned off at three in the morning, I would never know when the music was going to get turned on when it wasn’t being played and conversely when it was being played – And let me repeat it was FULL BLAST – I’d never know when it was going to be turned off. My life was a waking nightmare, a living hell. My landlords said ” Oh nothing we can do, you’d better call the police ” which is a euphemism for ” We’re not going to do anything because we’re money grabbing parasites who are only interested in the rent – and don’t forget to pay yours before the end of the month Mr Robertson “. I phoned the police but seeing as the neighbours turned their music off every time they saw the police van driving up the road this was a waste of time – Not that the police seemed all that bothered about my trauma.

And it was a trauma, so any film that deals with a man who has to put up with speed addicted freaks playing the theme to PETER GUNN at two O’clock in the morning is my type of movie. The only real difference between the character seen here and me is that I didn’t kill anyone, I do confess I certainly wanted to but didn’t. Oh and in this film the freaks making their neighbour’s life a misery seem to take far less drugs than the ones who lived below me.

There’s actually a very good story trying to get out of this movie, but DRILLER KILLER is heavily weighed back by the technical aspects. The acting, despite not being the worst I’ve ever seen isn’t all that good while aspects like cinematography and sound are very very poor indeed. To tell the truth it’s an almost unwatchable movie, not due to the graphic violence but due to the very poor production values.

But DRILLER KILLER isn’t a total flop. It feels more like guerrilla film making than a video nasty, and it’s certainly better than garbage like I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE and NIGHT OF THE DEMON. And I can’t help feeling if it`d had a slightly more polished feel and a higher budget it`d be compared to the early works of Martin Scorsese