From his debut feature outside of pornography, Abel Ferrara when straight to the heart of the dark side of New York.
Growing up in the Bronx and sampling the lifestyle of 42nd street, Ferrara was primed to tell stories that explored what it was really like on the streets of the Big Apple at this time.
For The Driller Killer, the director took on the lead role himself which saw the slow breakdown of a man beaten down by society’s ills before snapping and well…killing people with a drill. Its gritty and you can almost smell the scenes in the grimy apartment and streets of the city. Driller Killer feels like the type of film you need a shower after watching.
Five years later Ferrara would revisit the ills of the city in Fear City, which given the reputation he had acquired, allowed for a more high-profile cast.
He secured Billy Dee Williams just coming off Return of the Jedi plus an up-and-coming Tom Berenger, who would become more high profile a couple of years later with the release of Platoon. This feels like Ferrara really leaning into the sleaze of New York, with a series of attacks taking place on dancers from a Times Square strip bar.
The strip bars would be packed to the rafters with rich, white men waving their $50 notes at the women on show, a social commentary on how the wealthy like to spend their time and money on activities that would be frowned upon in their social circles and presumably the families they go home to after ‘working late at the office’.
While Ferrara continued to make memorable films such as King of New York, Bad Lieutenant and Dangerous Game (starring Madonna), arguably his masterpiece is 1995’s The Addiction.
Shot in black and white, Ferrara is still clear about the dangers of city living, as a young girl is corned and bitten by a vampire, starting a chain of events and unquenchable thirst she can’t control.
While certainly more arthouse than previous efforts, The Addiction is masterfully shot and while a character study, much in the same way as The Driller Killer, this feels like a more complete vision.
Through these three films Abel Ferrara was able to capture the essence of New York throughout the late 70s and 80s before it became something entirely different and commercially appealing. Other filmmakers such as Bill Lustig were able to capture this essence too, but not many do it as genuinely as Ferrara.
Some of the credit must also be shared with his cinematographers, James Lemmo, who also lensed Maniac Cop 1&2, Vigilante and Relentless for Lustig during the 1980s. Ken Kelsch would serve as cinematographer on both The Driller Killer and The Addiction, and would also lense Bad Lieutenant and Dangerous Game for Ferrara and got his start as a gaffer on Last House of the Left (1972).
So if you’re looking for a microcosm of the darker side of New York, check out this unofficial trilogy from Abel Ferrara.
Bloody Flicks 