Saw it when it first came out at Norwalk Connecticut's Sono theater

I have tons of movies still on DVD and videotape, but Henry is different. Saw it in 1990, four years after it was first released. I went with my friends and was profoundly disturbed by the movie; however, some younger punks (well, a little younger than me) were laughing throughout the film. Even as they walked out they were laughing like hyenas in the movie theater's hallway. I wasn't angry at them, no--I just thought their response told me people can see the movie in many ways. A clean cut couple, probably in their early thirties, were frowning throughout the movie, looking like they had enough, especially during the home invasion scene. I admired the movie so much that I went the next night to see it again. The three leads did an exceptional job and they are forever ingrained in my mind. We all know about how great Michael Rooker is, but the actress who played Becky must realize that even though she never got the Hollywood career she wanted, she can take to heart that she made a film that is a now considered a horror classic. 50 years from now people will still be watching Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer. 50 years from now people will not be watching Oscar bait such as Argo and The King's Speech.

My friend said it is a movie about people with low IQs. Maybe. I just found it to be a really depressing movie that was hypnotic and the best movie I saw that year. I also think that the film has a real grainy truth to it that still, to this day, holds up. I mean, people make movies that are grainy on purpose with expensive video cameras, but this one was the real deal. I think it was made during the Golden Age of independent movies.