History Film / HenryPortraitOfASerialKiller

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: {{Deconstructed|Trope}}. [[spoiler:The movie goes through great lengths to remind us just how much of a monster Henry is, which is a lesson that Becky unfortunately fails to learn. She's just gotten out of a relationship with an abusive boyfriend who was a criminal and thrown in jail for murder awaiting trial. When she discovers that Henry murdered his own mother, she endears herself to him, believing she has found a kindred spirit, instead of seeing that as a serious red flag. Given that her father beat and raped her all during her childhood, it's understandable how she'd see men like Henry as attractive. Either way, Henry is heavily implied to have killed Becky by the end of the film, and it's left ambiguous but doubtful how much of his feelings towards her (if any) were real.]]

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: [[spoiler:This is what leads to Becky's undoing. She just got out of a relationship with an abusive boyfriend who was a criminal and thrown in jail for murder awaiting trial. And when she discovers that Henry murdered his own mother, she endears herself to him, believing she found a kindred spirit, instead of seeing that as a serious red flag. Given that her father beat and raped her all during [[BrokenBird her childhood]], it's understandable how she'd see men like Henry as attractive.]]
* AmbiguousSituation: As noted below, this film is loosely based on the murders of Henry Lucas and his partner Otis Toole. However, not only are there several deviations from what actually happened, but [[NoLastNameGiven none of the main characters are given last names]]. As a result, while they are clearly based upon them, it is ultimately unclear if the Henry and Otis in this film are actually supposed to represent the actual Henry Lucas and Otis Toole. They could just be similarly named killers. This may have been intended to help avoid or lessen the controversy that would come from making a film based off actual murders.
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:The {{Jerkass}} fence Henry and Otis try to buy a TV from]] was apparently intended as such according to Word Of God.

* BigBadDuumvirate: VillainProtagonist Henry teams up with fellow SerialKiller Otis to go on a murdering spree. [[spoiler:However, Henry turns on Otis when he tries to rape Becky, and kills Otis in the end.]]

* BlackComedy: Director John [=McNaughton=], on the 20th Anniversary DVD release, says he finds the conversations that Henry and Otis have when they're not committing murders to be this, a sort of very dark comedy duo. He also ruminates that if you watch the movie more than 5 times, you begin to see a "comedy of the stupid", with Henry, while being cunning in his killing, is completely illiterate. Meanwhile, while Otis is able to read, he is completely devoid of social graces. And Becky, despite her social prowess, is also hopelessly naive.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of AllGirlsWantBadBoys and DracoInLeatherPants. The movie goes through great lengths to remind us just how much of a monster Henry is. It also recursively deconstructs "heroic" serial killers like Characters/HannibalLecter and Series/{{Dexter}}. [[invoked]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: While Henry is fine with murdering anyone, including whole families, he repeatedly expresses revulsion towards sex crimes like incest and necrophilia, which is ultimately what puts him at odds with Otis [[spoiler:when he walks in on him raping Becky]]. While Henry [[spoiler:kills Becky himself after saving her]], the disgust that he displayed in regards to Otis's deviant behavior towards her appeared to be genuine, with his response to the sight of Otis trying to give Becky a ForcefulKiss during an earlier scene being to grab Otis and disapprovingly state, "Don't do that Otis - she's your ''sister''."

''Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer'' is a controversial 1986 slasher horror film [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin that follows the exploits of a serial killer named Henry]].

The film starts out with a girl named Becky, who just got out of a tough relationship with her convict husband and heads to Chicago to make some money for herself and her brother. She's staying with her brother Otis Toole who has taken in Henry Lee Lucas as a house guest. Becky and Henry share troubled pasts, which gives them a somewhat romantic connection while Henry and Otis begin a bond based on their shared desires for random violence and go on a killing spree.

The film is notable for two major reasons; 1) launching the career of then-unknown actor Creator/MichaelRooker and 2) its extreme violence and rape scenes that caused a huge amount of controversy with the MPAA and lead to several different edits of the film in the UK as well as on home video.

A sequel, titled ''Henry II: Portrait of a Serial Killer'', was released in 1996. Set several years after the original, it has Henry shacked up with a dysfunctional family headed by an unhinged arsonist named Kai.

The film is notable for two major reasons; 1) launching the career of then-unknown actor Creator/MichaelRooker and 2) its extreme violence and rape scenes that caused a huge amount controversy with the MPAA and lead to several different edits of the film in the UK as well as on home video.

A sequel, titled ''Henry II: Portrait of a Serial Killer'', was released in 1996. Set several years after the original, it has Henry shack up with a dysfunctional family headed by an unhinged arsonist named Kai.

* DestructiveRomance: [[spoiler: Falling in love with a serial killer gets Becky killed. Henry is a stone cold sociopath and having a woman fall in love with him does ''nothing'' to change that.]]

* FreudianExcuse: Played with. [[spoiler:Henry says that he killed his mother because she was abusive, but in context the claim comes off as rather dubious. And while we can infer that having a father who sexually abused his sister didn't do wonders for Otis' mental health, it doesn't seem to be much of a motivating factor in any of his killings.]]

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Henry Lee Lucas was a real serial killer who confessed to killing over 600 people... but was only convicted for 11 killings. The film is more or less based on Lee's claims than his actual crimes. It actually caused a huge scandal as police fed Lucas with details from various crimes, in many cases to clear unsolved murders, thus meaning the real killers were not pursued. Lucas himself got distinction as the only death row prisoner ''spared'' by the then Governor of Texas UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush. He died in prison from cancer. His partner Ottis Toole was not killed by him, but also died from natural causes while incarcerated. Lucas ''had'' served a sentence for the murder of his mother, but all of the convictions except for this are questioned. The person Becky was based on was actually Ottis's niece named Frieda Powell (nicknamed Becky), only about twelve when she met Henry (so no abusive husband), and may or may not have met her demise at his hands (given that in prison Lucas tried and failed to have a hybristophiliac "fan" pass herself off as an older Becky, what happened is probably a ForegoneConclusion).

* HateSink: The killers serving as the BigBadDuumvirate are both awful in their own ways. They have none of the charisma of their contemporary slasher counterparts, nor are they {{Diabolical Mastermind}}s in the vein of [[Film/{{Se7en}} John Doe]] or Franchise/HannibalLecter. At the end of the day, they're simply pathetic, depraved morons who no audience will find endearing in the slightest.

* HateSink: The killers serving as the BigBadDuumvirate are both awful in their own ways:
** [[VillainProtagonist The titular Henry]] displays absolutely no genuine empathy for those around him, simply sitting back and watching a man being murdered in the park. He kills several people before meeting Otis and teams up with him to kill several more, including a whole family, snapping the young son's neck on camera. In the end, although he seems to show a redeeming quality by [[spoiler:killing Otis to save Becky from being raped by him]], he subverts this by [[spoiler:killing Becky — who was being shaped up as a MoralityPet to him — and leaving her dismembered remains on the side of the road]].
** The aforementioned Otis, while not on the same level of depravity as Henry, proves to be plenty contemptible in his own right. He is Henry's former cellmate who's letting him stay with him as he passes through the town. Implied to have been in prison for rape, Otis is introduced perving on [[BrotherSisterIncest his own sister Becky]] while helping her escape her abusive husband. After witnessing Henry murder a couple of prostitutes, Otis joins him in the killing, though Henry has to regularly stop him from raping women. However, he pushes the envelope as far as he can without crossing the line, including molesting the mother of a family the two massacres. [[spoiler:Eventually, Otis gives in to his urges and rapes Becky, only to be stabbed to death by her and Henry, who has gotten sick of his perversion getting in the way.]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Subverted in two accounts. Perhaps Henry's only redeemable trait is that he absolutely abhors Otis's incestuous advances toward Becky, and protects her from them on two different occasions- but [[spoiler:he then kills Becky herself in the end]]. He also isn't particularly enthused by the idea of necrophilia, but in that case it may have simply been PragmaticVillainy and personal distaste.

The film starts out with a girl named Becky, who just got out of a tough relationship with her convict husband and heads to Chicago to make some money for herself and her daughter. She's staying with her brother Otis Toole who has taken in Henry Lee Lucas as a house guest. Becky and Henry share troubled pasts, which gives them a somewhat romantic connection while Henry and Otis begin a bond based on their shared desires for random violence and go on a killing spree.

* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler: Falling in love with a serial killer gets Becky killed. Henry is a stone cold sociopath and having a woman fall in love with him does ''nothing'' to change that.]]

* MoodWhiplash: [=McNaughton=] said this was exactly what he was going for when he went from the murder of the TV shop owner in one scene (which was supposed to be funny and make us root for Henry and Otis), to Henry and Otis videotaping the murder of an entire family the next.

The film is notable for two major reasons; 1) launching the career of the then-unknown actor Creator/MichaelRooker and 2) its extreme violence and rape scenes that caused a huge amount controversy with the MPAA and lead to several different edits of the film in the UK as well as on home video.

''Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer'' is a controversial 1986 film [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin that follows the exploits of a serial killer named Henry]].

The film starts out with a girl named Becky, who just got out of a tough relationship with her convict husband and heads to Chicago to make some money for herself and her daughter. She's staying with her brother Otis who has taken in Henry as a house guest. Becky and Henry share troubled pasts, which gives them a somewhat romantic connection while Henry and Otis begin a bond based on their shared desires for random violence and go on a killing spree.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of AllGirlsWantBadBoys and DracoInLeatherPants. The movie goes through great lengths to remind us just how much of a monster Henry is. It also recursively deconstructs "heroic" serial killers like Characters/HannibalLecter and Series/{{Dexter}}.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of AllGirlsWantBadBoys and DracoInLeatherPants. The movie goes through great lengths to remind us just how much of a monster Henry is.

* {{Adorkable}}: Becky seems to find Henry's soft-spoken, awkward demeanor attractive. [[spoiler:How wrong she is.]]

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The film is (supposedly) very loosely based in the grim exploits of Henry Lucas and Otis Toole, so practically the only thing the characters in the movie have in common with their RealLife counterparts are their first names. The most blatant example is [[spoiler:Henry killing Otis. The real Otis died in prison from a liver disease in 1996]]. As stated above, possibly a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]], given that their full names are never revealed in the movie they could well be fictional killers that happen to have the same first names.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The film is (supposedly) very loosely based in the grim exploits of Henry Lucas and Otis Toole, so practically the only thing the characters in the movie have in common with their RealLife counterparts are their first names. The most blatant example is [[spoiler:Henry killing Otis. The real Otis died in prison from a liver disease in 1996]].