The Honeymoon Killers

A sombre written introduction informs us that the film we are about to see is based upon one of the "most bizarre cases in the annals of American crime". Hmm, where have I heard that before …?!

Shot in stark black and white, THE HONEYMOON KILLERS recounts the true story of a Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, aka the "lonely heart killers" - a young couple who met through a lonely hearts ad in the late 1940s. It was a relationship that would ultimately find them both facing the death sentence at the infamous Sing Sing prison.

Bernard Kastle's disturbing little movie wastes no time in setting up it's simple premise.

First we meet oversized nurse Martha (Shirley Stoler [THE DEER HUNTER; SEVEN BEAUTIES] in perhaps her finest role). Quiet yet openly aggressive in nature, Martha is a lonely outcast who spends all of her free time tending to the demands of her elderly mother and comfort-eating. Minutes into proceedings, however, and Martha's meddling auntie has entered an advert into the local paper's lonely hearts column on her niece's behalf.

Enter Raymond (Tony LoBianco), a handsome young man of Latino roots, who answers Martha's ad. Their affair develops swiftly thanks to a montage of to-and-fro penpal communications, enabling Kastle to explicitly demonstrate the growing bond between this motley pair without necessitating an abundance of extraneous storyline.

The relationship is consummated in a quietly deranged scene where the lovers drug Martha's mother, then have sex in the same room while the old lady sleeps. And so, the first tell-tale sign of the oddness shared between these two is given.

And odd they truly are. Raymond is a conman - this is established early on. He is already dating another woman when he replies to Martha's ad, with the intention of marrying her then stealing her wealth.

Martha, too, is not without a devious mind of her own. She fakes illness and a foiled suicide attempt in a bid to have Raymond at her side constantly.

Before too long, the inevitable happens and Raymond shares his plans for seducing - then robbing - spinsters, to his love. It takes little to persuade the unhinged Martha, and soon she is wilfully assisting him in conning the lonely woman he so effortlessly woos through dating ads.

Unfortunately for the victims, Martha is prone to letting their brother-sister façade slip by bursting into hammer-swinging, gun-firing fits of insane jealousy …!

THE HONEYMOON KILLERS is rightfully hailed by many as a cult classic. It's hard to think of a film that compares to it's mixture of mannered performances, chilling atmospherics, low-key drama and hilariously overwrought music.

The violence is shot in a cold, matter-of-fact style that contradicts Gustav Mahler's sensation-chasing score perfectly. This creates an oddly disturbing effect. Likewise, the script (by director Kastle) teeters expertly between subtle black humour and realistic subliminal menace.

Stoler and LoBianco offer fantastic performances as the lovestruck couple, confusing the viewer at each turn - forcing us at one instance to pity them; and in the next breath to recoil at their laid-back callousness. What's all the more astonishing is that both were inexperienced actors at the time of filming. Kastle is reported to have shot the movie in chronological order - witness the performances improve as the plot progresses, adding to the off-kilter tension that mounts subtly around you.

This Region 2 PAL disc from Metrodome is fairly basic, but it would be unfair to expect much more from a low budget film that's well over thirty years old.

The film is presented in it's original 1.66:1 aspect ratio and has been anamorphically enhanced. Although there is grain evident, the transfer is generally sharp and copes with the contrasting black and white images well. Audio-wise, we get the original mono soundtrack which grates when turned up to a decent volume (more to do with the age of the track than the mastering, I suspect).

The extras here are restricted to the original theatrical trailer (blessed with a very funny voice-over, but surprisingly well-preserved), a limited photo gallery plus comprehensive filmographies for Stoler and LoBianco.

Definitely worth a look.

Review by Stu Willis