This sequel to the underground classic HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER really does not have a whole lot going for it. The film is even more low budget than the original, and lacks the talent of a Michael Rooker or a John McNaughton (the writer/director of the original). Instead we get Jerry Mathers look alike Neil Guintoli as Henry and first time writer/director Chuck Parello at the helm. Parello indeed studied the original well enough to imbue the script with the traits and feel of the original, but the end result is that HENRY 2 is merely a retread of the original, complete with a duplicate version of the Henry-Becky-Otis relationship.

The original HENRY aimed higher than the genre of the late 80’s by toning down the gore and concentrating on capturing a documentary feel. Henry was no wisecracking killer nor a silent enigma like the Freddy Kruegers or Michael Myers of the world. For the first time, a slasher film was true to life. And the film went on to become am underground classic while the talent (like Michael Rooker) went on to bigger and better things. When I first watched HENRY 2, I noticed an extreme lack of gore and I was under the impression that Director Parello was carrying on the tradition of the original by keeping the gore content low. However, when I viewed the behind the scenes documentary, I saw well executed gore effects that were not even in the feature. The filmmakers had included a high gore quotient after all, and it was just MPI that removed the footage for this video release. To make things worse, all the footage from the behind the scenes documentary and even the trailer are in the 1.85.1 widescreen ratio. Yet MPI only serves up a full frame transfer for this DVD!

As mentioned, the film stars Neil (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) Giuntoli as Henry, and although he comes no where near the menacing performance that Michael Rooker gave to the role, he still does a notable job as the serial killer. His acting and physical performance does the job, but he just does not have the look, as he looks a little too Hollywood, complete with coifed hair that does not ruffle no matter how much running, fighting, and killing he does. Rich (CHAIN REACTION) Komenich plays Kai, a blue collar firebug who has the Otis role. Sexy Kate Walsh plays Kai’s white trash wife Cricket. Carri Levinson plays Louisa, Cricket’s weirdo sister and Henry’s love interest if you can believe that one.

In the Illinois suburbs, Henry lands a job in a porta-potties business, where he meets the burley, alcoholic worker Kai and his wife Cricket. They feel bad for Henry because he is flat broke and take him into their small house, not realizing that Henry is no ordinary drifter. There Henry meets Cricket’s estranged sister Louisa, who is instantly attracted to Henry. Henry discovers that Kai has a skeleton in his closet—Kai has been moonlighting as an arsonist who burns down buildings to help companies cash in on insurance policies. Kai offers Henry the opportunity to join him and earn some cash. Henry agrees, and as the weeks pass, Kai educates Henry on the art of pyromania.

One night Kai and Henry are about to burn down a building when they discover a couple teenagers smoking pot in the dark building. Seeing as how the kids could identify them, they take the kids hostage and Henry shoots one of them and pressures Kai to shoot the other teen, and he does. As Kai spends more and more time with Henry, the more bloodthirsty Kai becomes, and the body count continues.

Louisa tries to get close to Henry, who opens up to her somewhat, but you know what happens to women (or anybody) who want to spend time with Henry. One night after a senseless double killing, Kai informs Henry he has had enough and he wants out. And furthermore Kai’s wife Cricket wants Henry gone from their household. But how do you tell a cold blooded killer he is not welcome?

There is a lot of mayhem and murder in the film (although most of the explicit scenes are clipped):

 One thing the film does have going for it is that it does not go the way of the mainstream horror trends. The film stays far away from the teen horror clichés and rap metal bands and will in no way be confused with the SCREAM movies. There is also some engrossing psychological elements to the film, such as Henry luring the arsonist Kai into the world of bloody murder. The film wisely does not overstep itself and does not provide any deep explanations or insights into what makes Henry tick.

The film tries to recapture the memorable ending of the original, but it only comes off as a cheap retread, as if scriptwriter Parello could not come up an original conclusion; and this holds true for most of the story. The violence is explicit this time around instead of implied. Some of the acting is painfully amateurish especially Carri Levinson’s constant whining. When her character kills herself, you really don’t feel any sympathy for her. If you want to see a decent documentary style serial killer film, check out THE SADIST instead.

SIGHT

HENRY 2 was originally released in the widescreen 1.85.1 ratio. I regretfully report that MPI only provided the full frame version of the film. The image is decent and well defined, but nothing special.. Color reproduction is subdued and without bleeding, or chroma noise. The blacks and shadow details are solid and the many night scenes look pretty good. Flesh tones looked a little pale. Director of photography Michael Kohnhurst actually does a good job with the cinematography as he purposely avoids bright colors to match the tone of the film. Most of the action takes place at night, and all the day shots are cloudy. There are no bright colors or sunny exteriors in the film, which helps contribute to the dark mood. There are a lot of drab browns, grays, and olive colored hues in the visuals.

SOUND

This is a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack. The forward soundstage gets most of the directionality, with occasional activity, ambiance, and score coming from the rear speakers. The bass is somewhat low, but kicks in for a few explosion scenes. The mix is crisp and clear. The movie is mostly dialogue driven and with that in mind the soundtrack is more than adequate; a 5.1 remaster would not have enhanced the film at all. Composer Robert McNaughton taut and tense synthesizer score comes through diligently in the mix and supplements the gritty feel of the film.

FEATURES

Talent Bios are for actors Neil Guintoli, Rich Komenich, Kate Walsh, and director Chuck Parello. There are theatrical trailers for the original HENRY (full frame, stereo, 2:02) and HENRY 2 (1.85.1, stereo, 1:58), although these trailers appear to be made for video release only, not true theatrical trailers. The trailer for HENRY 2 is letterboxed, but the feature is not! How frustrating! There is a Behind the Scenes menu from which you can view the Production Notes or watch the 15 minute documentary on the making of HENRY 2. The documentary is in full frame and in stereo, but features letterboxed film clips and excised gore footage.

CONCLUSION

While a failure as a follow up to the original HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, it could have stood on its own as a slasher/gore film had MPI chosen to keep the makeup effects footage in the film instead of removing it for video release. MPI really dropped the ball when they decided to release their widescreen film in full frame only for this DVD. Like the Patriots, they fumble again when they practice censorship and snip their own film. About the only positive thing I can say about this DVD is that MPI put some effort into the extras, but that effort is undone by the decision makers over at MPI headquarters. Had the movie been uncut and letterboxed I would have given the movie a 3.5 rating, but this presentation really hurts the film.

 HENRY PORTRAIT OF AC SERIAL KILLER 2 is available at DVDEmpire

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