Just Do It

The Driller Killer

by Molly Eichel

Wed., June 25, film starts at dusk, free with admission, Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 S. 36th St., 215-898-7108, icaphila.org

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Artist Reno Miller is losing his shit: His girlfriend is having an affair with roommate Pamela, his art dealer is on his back to finish his labor of love and the punk band that just moved in downstairs won't stop playing. Miller's solution? Prowl the streets of New York, gruesomely impaling transients with an electric drill.

And so goes the plot of Abel Ferrara's 1979 classic The Driller Killer, starring Ferrara as the power tool-wielding murderer. Part of the Institute of Contemporary Art's Whenever Wednesday series, artist Trenton Doyle Hancock chose Ferrara's low-budget masterpiece as his final curatorial enterprise.

Hancock says he has always had an affinity for horror. "Having grown up in a strict Christian household, the language that was spoken to me in church and the language I saw in horror films were similar — images of demons and ghosts are actually real. These things are actually possibilities," says Hancock. Initially drawn to the film because of its title, it's Ferrara's choice of a murder weapon that Hancock finds fascinating. "It's weird that he chose a drill," he says. "He picks up this item that is mostly used for construction, but he uses it for destruction."

The Driller Killer takes its sweet time getting moving, but the last half-hour suggests that most of the movie looks low-budget because Ferrara spent the majority of his money on blood. Still, don't come expecting Saw-style gore — what you'll get is a classic piece of punk cinema, showcasing '70s New York in all of its gritty glory.