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The Honeymoon Killers (Leonard Kastle, 1969)
Don't let my rating fool you. This movie is one of the most unique films ever made, even though it's based on a true story which mostly took place in the eastern U.S. during the 1940s. I would say that this film is even at least semi-responsible for such films as the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Remember that this film was made in the '60s and the director never made another flick, but it's often listed in the Top Horror films of all time, and I dare say that the hammer used in this flick is a lot scarier than the one used in Chain Saw. The basic reason I don't give this a higher rating is that it's a very low-budget flick ($150,000) and much of the cinematography is incredibly "contrasty". In other words, for every perfectly-lit shot, there's one overexposed and one underexposed, but in many ways, it adds to the immediacy and believability of the flick. After all, this was the first feature film shot by Oliver Wood, who went on to do Die Hard 2, Rudy, Face/Off and the Bourne Trilogy.
What really sets the film apart and basically makes it a must-see for lovers of horror and cult films are the two lead performances. Shirley Stoler totally encompasses the incredibly-insecure Martha, a 40-ish nurse who weighs about 250 pounds and has never remotely ever found any kind of love in her life. She plays Martha from inside-out and totally goes off the deep end every single time she feels that her miraculous lover Raymond Fernandez (Tony Lo Bianco, in his first decent role, two years before The French Connection) pays any attention to all the other women he tries to take advantage of. You see, Ray has a job, and that job is to woo and sometimes marry lonely old women in order to get their money. Now Ray has never really gotten violent with any of his "victims/sweethearts", at least until he hooks up with Martha. For some reason, Ray has the hots for Martha and even confesses the truth to her, even while making constant love to her (which is obviously a first for Martha). Eventually, Ray allows Martha to join him in trying to flim-flam all the other lonelyheart women he encounters, and Martha brings out the murderous side in Ray and vice versa. Therefore, the couple, playing brother and sister, travel around the U.S., bilking lonely women and eventually killing them and any children or relatives they may have living with them.
I'll be the first to say that I am a "morbidly-obese" (oh how I hate that phrase since I'm never morbid until I read it) person who I hope you would give the time of day if you didn't know me. I already know that those of you who'll meet me in person will have no problem seeing me because you already know me, but there's always those superficial people out there who like to treat people as somehow lesser beings because they aren't superficially "normal". This may seem like me blowing off steam, but no, this is actually the theme of The Honeymoon Killers. Ray is Spanish and insecure about his ethnicity even though he's very happy about his bod and his overall looks. Martha is totally insecure about her looks, but once Ray proves to her that she is his woman, she gets EVEN MORE insecure because Ray is one of those damned Latin Lovers. He's great in bed and can screw all day and all night, so maybe he will cheat on Martha. In fact, no matter how real the psychology of the movie is in a dramatic sense, it works even better as a black comedy. I mean, how many different times can Ray show up to marry his latest sweetheart with his "sister" in tow? One thing's for sure though, and that's that Ray loves Martha, at least as much as he can love anyone other than himself; otherwise, he would never have tried to bring Martha along with him because he could always get as much nookie as he wanted without her. But Ray and Martha are soulmates, and that's why they share equally in what eventually happens to them. Although Martha is a whining Cry Baby when she thinks that Ray is cheating on her, it's Ray who is the weakling and needs Martha to carry out most of the murders and dirty work to get him "clean" from all the dirt he mucks around with. The ending of the film is both shocking and predictable, depending on whose perspective you share.
If you watch this flick, make sure you post your thoughts where I can see them. (Movie Tab II should be good enough.)
Don't let my rating fool you. This movie is one of the most unique films ever made, even though it's based on a true story which mostly took place in the eastern U.S. during the 1940s. I would say that this film is even at least semi-responsible for such films as the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Remember that this film was made in the '60s and the director never made another flick, but it's often listed in the Top Horror films of all time, and I dare say that the hammer used in this flick is a lot scarier than the one used in Chain Saw. The basic reason I don't give this a higher rating is that it's a very low-budget flick ($150,000) and much of the cinematography is incredibly "contrasty". In other words, for every perfectly-lit shot, there's one overexposed and one underexposed, but in many ways, it adds to the immediacy and believability of the flick. After all, this was the first feature film shot by Oliver Wood, who went on to do Die Hard 2, Rudy, Face/Off and the Bourne Trilogy.
What really sets the film apart and basically makes it a must-see for lovers of horror and cult films are the two lead performances. Shirley Stoler totally encompasses the incredibly-insecure Martha, a 40-ish nurse who weighs about 250 pounds and has never remotely ever found any kind of love in her life. She plays Martha from inside-out and totally goes off the deep end every single time she feels that her miraculous lover Raymond Fernandez (Tony Lo Bianco, in his first decent role, two years before The French Connection) pays any attention to all the other women he tries to take advantage of. You see, Ray has a job, and that job is to woo and sometimes marry lonely old women in order to get their money. Now Ray has never really gotten violent with any of his "victims/sweethearts", at least until he hooks up with Martha. For some reason, Ray has the hots for Martha and even confesses the truth to her, even while making constant love to her (which is obviously a first for Martha). Eventually, Ray allows Martha to join him in trying to flim-flam all the other lonelyheart women he encounters, and Martha brings out the murderous side in Ray and vice versa. Therefore, the couple, playing brother and sister, travel around the U.S., bilking lonely women and eventually killing them and any children or relatives they may have living with them.
I'll be the first to say that I am a "morbidly-obese" (oh how I hate that phrase since I'm never morbid until I read it) person who I hope you would give the time of day if you didn't know me. I already know that those of you who'll meet me in person will have no problem seeing me because you already know me, but there's always those superficial people out there who like to treat people as somehow lesser beings because they aren't superficially "normal". This may seem like me blowing off steam, but no, this is actually the theme of The Honeymoon Killers. Ray is Spanish and insecure about his ethnicity even though he's very happy about his bod and his overall looks. Martha is totally insecure about her looks, but once Ray proves to her that she is his woman, she gets EVEN MORE insecure because Ray is one of those damned Latin Lovers. He's great in bed and can screw all day and all night, so maybe he will cheat on Martha. In fact, no matter how real the psychology of the movie is in a dramatic sense, it works even better as a black comedy. I mean, how many different times can Ray show up to marry his latest sweetheart with his "sister" in tow? One thing's for sure though, and that's that Ray loves Martha, at least as much as he can love anyone other than himself; otherwise, he would never have tried to bring Martha along with him because he could always get as much nookie as he wanted without her. But Ray and Martha are soulmates, and that's why they share equally in what eventually happens to them. Although Martha is a whining Cry Baby when she thinks that Ray is cheating on her, it's Ray who is the weakling and needs Martha to carry out most of the murders and dirty work to get him "clean" from all the dirt he mucks around with. The ending of the film is both shocking and predictable, depending on whose perspective you share.
If you watch this flick, make sure you post your thoughts where I can see them. (Movie Tab II should be good enough.)