Benny's Video

An unsettling if not entirely successful social-cum-psychological drama. Benny - a well-off 14-year-old whose none too warmly affectionate parents have bought him an amazing array of video equipment - has become so desensitised to reality by watching endless violent images on the small screen that he ends up killing an almost total stranger. So far, so unremarkable; but his remorseless, Psycho-style reaction to the deed, his mute 'confession' to his parents via video, and their reaction in turn, are quietly chilling. As a study in the complex relationship between violence and cinema, it's an unsensational alternative to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and Man Bites Dog.