The Honeymoon Killers (1970)

Wonderful character development!

Absolutely brilliant

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

This movie is a real one-off because, not only was it Leonard Kastle's only foray into directing but also its styles of storytelling and presentation were quite unique and largely responsible for it achieving its cult status. The fact-based story of a couple of ruthless con-artists who add murder to their modus operandi, is told in a remarkably detached, objective and non-judgemental style that also avoids either glamorising the criminals or providing any justification for their actions. The resulting coldness and grittiness that this creates is perfectly complemented by the movie's grainy black and white photography and together they contribute strongly to the extremely realistic look of everything that happens on-screen.Martha Beck (Shirley Stoler) is a lonely, overweight, nurse who works at her local hospital in Mobile, Alabama and is generally unpleasant to everyone he meets. After her best friend signs her up to a lonely hearts club, she gets involved in correspondence with Ray Fernandez (Tony Lo Bianco), a Spanish-American who lives in New York City and this leads to him visiting her at her home where she lives with her invalid mother. During his visit, he seduces her and borrows money but after returning to New York City, promptly writes back to end their relationship. Martha isn't prepared to accept this and so, with the help of her friend, convinces Ray that she'd been so devastated by the contents of his letter that she'd attempted suicide. In the circumstances, Ray agrees to her travelling to see him at his home and it's there that she learns that he's a con-man who makes his way in the world by romancing lonely spinsters and widows before stealing their money.Unfazed by Ray's revelation, Martha places her mother in an old people's home and then, posing as his sister, becomes his regular partner-in-crime. Their love affair continues despite the nature of Ray's work but when he marries one of the ladies as part of a scam and she becomes too amorous, Martha's jealousy becomes so intense that she kills the woman by giving her an overdose of sleeping tablets and this becomes the first of a series of murders that the couple commit before their criminal exploits are eventually brought to an end by actions that Martha takes after discovering the full extent of Ray's infidelity.The real-life crimes that provided the basis for this disturbing drama were carried out in the 1940s and a noticeable feature of this film is that the criminal couple never seem to have anyone on their tails and never get involved in any shoot-outs or chases. They simply seem to carry on what they're doing totally untroubled by the police and ultimately become the architects of their own downfalls. The loneliness, desperation and gullibility of the couple's victims add a certain poignancy to what transpires and the gruesome nature of the murders (including that of a child) is profoundly shocking.Considering the movie's incredibly low budget, it's remarkable how effective the final product was and the performances of the actors playing the main protagonists clearly played a huge part in this. Tony Lo Bianco is exceptional as the sociopathic swindler whose slimy charm is such an important part of his success and Shirley Stoler is unforgettable as his bitter, deeply unpleasant and evil partner whose jealousy ensured that she would never find happiness or peace of mind.

"The Honeymoon Killers" is one of those films that you want to shut off because it's so damned tenebrous, but at the same time you don't really want to look away. The thin plot follows an overweight, depressed nurse who meets her prince charming after her mother places an ad in the lonely hearts section of the local newspaper. The problem? Her smooth-talking Latin boyfriend wants to take her along for the ride on a killing spree of innocent women. Among all of the drive-in grindhouse fare to come from the late 1960s-early 1970s, "The Honeymoon Killers" may be the cream of the crop; it's not sleazy enough to be shelved among its counterparts, but it's also not sophisticated enough by most standards to be thought of as anything else. It's a remarkably ugly film in just about every sense of the word— its characters are vile, its story is downright macabre, and it has one of the most downtrodden but effective endings of any of its peers of the time period. Shirley Stoler and Tony Lo Bianco turn in ingenious performances here and have a surprising chemistry with one another. Also featured is a young Doris Roberts (beloved mother on television's "Seinfeld") as Stoler's friend. Directed by Leonard Kastle (and his only feature film), it is well-shot and takes advantage of its stark black-and-white photography to create effective mood and make even daylight scenes potential threats. Other horror films of the era that feature similar use of photography (Herk Harvey's "Carnival of Souls" comes to mind) may have done so more effectively, but what the photography really bolsters in this film are its bleak depictions of violence. The murder scenes in the film are tonally flat, and that may be why they are so shocking. There is no dramatic cue music, no thunderstorms outside, no killer with a knife— just silence, screaming, and the thwack of a hammer against the skull. Released in the wake of Charles Manson, it's not surprising that "The Honeymoon Killers" was relegated to the drive-in circuit, and in some regard it deserved to be there; at the same time, it had the chops to be playing at art house theaters as well. Its straight-talking documentary style strips the film of any and all potential variation in tone, but its flatness is part of what makes it so appalling and so realistic. It's gritty and expressionless, but still masterfully done and fraught with emotion. It's a remarkably well-made film, but it's so direct that it at times feels dangerous to watch; the fact that it's based on an actual killing spree only amplifies the sentiment. 9/10.

A young woman named Martha (Shirley Stoler) and her Latin lover, Ray Fernandez (Tony Lo Bianco) conspire to defraud lonely old ladies of their money. Ray charms the women into marrying him, on receipt of their money. And Martha tags along, posing as Ray's sister. Based on a true-life 1940s murder case, the film could have been quite significant. But a poor script, poor direction, and generally poor acting short-circuit the effort.What slays me is how Ray could be physically attracted to Martha, a big mama who bitches, whines, moans, and exudes anger at every opportunity. In real-life, Martha was indeed heavy-set, and she practically threw herself onto Ray, who then used her in his marriage scam. That motivation doesn't come across in the film.Further, the script's dialogue lacks subtext. Characters say exactly what they think, which renders sophomoric interchanges. And the story takes way too long to get going. For the first half of the film, not much happens.Though Tony Lo Bianco gives a credible performance, the rest of the performances are below average. Stoler is just annoying, as is Doris Roberts with that phony Southern accent. The actress who plays Janet Fay overacts and has a nasal voice that makes her performance campy. I could not take her seriously.You would think that the director would have placed the story within a proper 1940s context. But at no time did I get any sense of the 1940s. Indeed, with some campy performances, cheap sets, and sophomoric dialogue, the film comes across almost tongue-in-cheek, a relic from the 1950s Ed Wood school of film-making.I know this was a low-budget effort. But it takes little or no money to write a good screenplay. And a good director can do wonders with settings and performances. The only factor that saves this film for me is knowing that the events described really happened. I can, to a limited extent, thus overlook the lousy cinematic end product.

This film, originally titled "Dear Martha" suffers a little for its low budget but ends up being a decent movie. The bad sound which at times makes it difficult to understand the dialog might turn you off at first but if you stick with it, it stops being so distracting. What I liked about the film is that the movie stuck a lot to actual facts of the true story. It is heavily rumored that this couple the story is based on killed a lot more then two people but the film doesn't speculate anything and only shows the two confirmed killings. This is the story of Martha Beck, a lonely, moody nurse, who joins a "lonely hearts club" where lonely people write to each other. Well, soon she receives letters from Ray Fernandez, a charming con- man. They meet, she falls in love with him, and he robs her and leaves. She tracks him down and is so lonely, she convinces him she will help con people as long as they marry one day. They eventually become a team where she pretends to be his sister while he cons money out of lonely women. Martin Scorsese was hired to direct but was replaced after he was taking way too long with each shot and the director feared they would go over budget. That budget was $150,000 which even in 1969 was not a lot to make a movie. Shirley Stoler and Tony Lobianco as the twisted couple are very well cast as well as a small role by a young Doris Roberts who would later play the mom in "Everybody loves Raymond". Good Stuff!