Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer was released on January 5, 1990.

A notoriously graphically violent and bloody indie psychological crime thriller co-written and directed by John McNaughton, the film stars Michael Rooker in a riveting performance that launched his career, playing the titular Henry - a character loosely based on real-life serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. It was Rooker's first movie role and McNaughton's first feature.

The story follows Henry as he executes a random murder spree with impunity. Tom Towles co-stars as Otis, a former prison buddy and accomplice of Henry, and Tracy Arnold as Becky, Otis’ sister. Both were also closely based on actual persons.

The production had its origin in 1984, when executive producers Malik and Waleed Ali hired McNaughton – then a delivery man for their video equipment rental business - to direct Dealers in Death, a documentary about gangsters in 1930s Chicago. An intended follow-up documentary was planned, but the project fell apart when the owner of some needed footage doubled his selling price. Waleed and McNaughton then decided to make a horror feature, with Waleed's single proviso be that it have plenty of blood.

With only $110,000 to work with, McNaughton knew he couldn't make a movie with aliens or monsters, and instead decided to base the film on Henry Lee Lucas after seeing a 20/20 episode on the infamous killer who confessed to over 600 murders. The film was shot on 16mm in 28 days.

Stories have it that Rooker creepily remained in character for the duration of the shoot, even off-set, isolating himself from the other cast and the crew. Costume designer Patricia Hart, who traveled each day to the set with Rooker, said she never knew if she was riding with Rooker or Henry, as the actor would talk about his childhood and upbringing not as himself but as the character. Rooker's wife discovered during the shoot that she was pregnant, but waited until after production was completed to tell him.

The Ali brothers were underwhelmed with the finished film, and shelved it after its 1986 completion until 1989. But Ali employee Chuck Parello - who'd direct 1996's Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Part 2 - saw the film and was so impressed he convinced the Alis to screen it at 1989's Chicago Film Festival. After receiving a glowing review from the Chicago Tribune, the film was then accepted into the 1989 Telluride Festival and the 1990 Splatterfest Festival, and became a sensation at both. The Alis then planned a theatrical release. 

From there, the filmmakers wrestled with the MPAA in a painfully drawn-out rating process. Refusing to give Henry anything but an X, the MPAA asserted that no combination of edits would qualify the film for an R, citing more than the film's graphic violence in their decision. The film was eventually released unrated in the States, a decision that severely limited both where the film could be advertised and play. The BBFC refused to allow distribution of an uncut version of Henry in the U.K. until 2003.
Henry grossed nearly $610,000 during its initial 1990 theatrical run, and both impressed and revolted reviewers. Critics who liked it commented on its unique take on horror, the Chicago Sun-Times' Roger Ebert commenting on the film's "honestly with its subject matter, instead of trying to sugar-coat violence as most slasher films do." Negative reviews often focussed on the detached amorality of the film, which (spoilers ahead) ends with Henry unrepentant and still at large. Complaints against the film were typified by the reaction of one Telluride viewer, who accosted McNaughton after a festival screening there, claiming, "You can't do that." McNaughton simply responded, "We just did."
I saw Henry with my buddy, Eric Maurer - probably in the early '90s, at the prompting of then Detroit-area camera assistant and (still, I'm sure) hip-to-all-upcoming-cool-things-in-film-and-music, Wayne Indyk. Eric and I saw the movie late on a Sunday night, at some crap, rundown theater in a deserted neighborhood in downtown Detroit – in other words, someplace Henry himself was likely to frequent and select a victim or two on which to exonerate his varied psychoses. We didn't get out 'til near midnight, and then had to walk a couple blocks to Eric's Caprice to drive back to Ann Arbor. Once finally safely in the front seat and rolling west on 94, I took a long-held breath of relief and swore a colorful oath at the universe for its impeccable sense of irony. I can't speak for Eric, but I thought we'd just seen one of the most unnerving films I'd yet experience. And that holds true some twenty-odd years later.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is available on DVD and Blu-ray from MPI Home Video. Among other extras, their 2005 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD and 2009 2-disc Blu-ray packages include a commentary track by McNaughton, the making-of documentary Portrait: The Making of Henry, outtakes, deleted scenes, a stills gallery, and storyboards.

Trailer - Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer