The Films of Abel Ferrara, Ranked

“Life is hell in Ferrara, torture without escape, without a moment’s release. His movies doubtless owe much, conceptually, to Nicholas St. John, friend and scenarist of most of them. But they are less about concepts than feelings- how it feels to live without grace, to be victim of force. Alienation is portrayed so intensely, in colors, shapes, surfaces, lights and bodies, that one thinks of the Murnau of Sunrise (USA 1927), alive today and making exploitation flicks. Ferrara’s movies are bad trips, very bad trips, uncompromisingly moral.” – T. Gallagher