13 – Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

Lots of serial killer movies make the gross mistake of glamorizing the killer as some sort of criminal genius or alluring mastermind. Henry, played by Michael Rooker. is anything but glamorous: He comes off as both despicable and pitiful.

John McNaughton’s low-budget, no-frills drama — loosely inspired by real-life serial killers Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole — had trouble finding a distributor thanks to ratings-board disapproval of its graphic, disturbing content and unflinching representation of it. The most disturbing part of Henry is that it is a true portrait, with no reassuring presence of a detective or “final girl” or other voice of reason to serve as an audience surrogate and call out Henry’s depravity.

It’s a tough movie to watch, but also feels like one of the most realistic presentations of the grim, pathetic life of a serial killer.